#4PRQs for: Karan Chadda of Evolving Influence

"Fear of failure is a terrible thing and the sooner you get over it the sooner you’ll create good work," tells me today's #4PRQs (Four PR Questions) interviewee, Karan Chadda. Karan is a director and founder of Evolving Influence and creator of the Read.Thik.Discuss, as well as Poetry by Numbers projects.Karan first edited websites as a student in the 1990s, he then took on business development and marketing roles within consulting firms over the following decade.

MK: What was your way to the industry?

KC: It was a pretty zig-zaggy route. I interned at an international development charity editing its website, writing blogs and publishing newsletters. Then I worked in recruitment, finding staff for MPs, Peers, Clarence House and lobbying firms. I carried on editing the charity website on the side. Then moved into business development which bridged into marketing and comms.

What piece of advice, regarding career, would you give your 20-year-old-self?

Take more chances. It’s probably quite a common answer, but it’s very true. Fear of failure is a terrible thing and the sooner you get over it the sooner you’ll create good work.

Fear of failure is a terrible thing and the sooner you get over it the sooner you’ll create good work.

How can PR graduates take advantage of the social and digital platforms, in order to gain attention of the agencies and other potential employers?

Focus on what you want to achieve before you worry about the platforms. Define an objective, think of a creative idea, then think about execution.

Define an objective, think of a creative idea, then think about execution.

What is the most undiscovered area in the industry that could be used as a dissertation topic?

I’d avoid grand, overarching studies about millennials or the attitudes of CEOs. Perhaps pick a business sector, get some solid data and really look at how it’s changed as a market, how the PR it puts out has changed and how it should respond in the future.

***

Make sure to follow Karan on Twitter. You can also check Evolving Influence's work, as well as Poetry by Numbers and Read.Thik.Discuss.

#4PRQs (or Four PR Questions) is a weekly series on the blog. I am on the mission to help PR graduates (including myself) make right decisions about their future careers, by asking industry leaders for an advice.

Would you like to give me a feedback or feature in the series? Drop me a line to kl.marcel [at] gmail.com or tweet me @marcelkl. Thanks for stopping by, have a splendid day!