Your Story Has a Signal: Austin Holmes on PR, Purpose, and Business Growth

Awards, Gratitude, And Reviews

And welcome to Tech Diva Biz Talks, where we tune in, dive deep, and level up. I'm your host, Audrey Wiggins, aka the Tech Diva, brand strategist, marketing mind, and your guide through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Let's talk tech. Hello, Tech Diva Nation. Before I introduce today's guests, I have something to celebrate. Tech Diva Biz Talks has earned two Web Excellence Awards for video and podcasting and interviewing and technology. This recognition is especially important as I celebrate 15 years in independent media. To everyone who has watched, listened, shared, or joined me as a guest since 2011, thank you from my heart. You are part of this journey. And if you haven't already, please leave a review or rating wherever you tune in. Help more people discover these conversations. Now let's keep those conversations going.

Meet Austin Holmes And His Mission

Wow. Okay, thank you. He's a purpose-driven entrepreneur, a husband, father, a four, and a tech innovator based in Nashville, Tennessee. Now, after serving in high-pressure military environments and based on the EOD, that's definitely high pressure. He moved into entrepreneurship and helped scale publicity for good from $12,000 to more than $200,000 per month. Now with Signal Raptor, Austin is working to reshape the future of public relations by making media visibility influencer support and credibility building more accessible to startups and emerging brands. Austin Holmes, welcome to Tech Diva Biz Talks.

I am always apprehensive about my uh introduction. I really just want to help people. Like so much of my life has been service. I'm enough of a nerd toward the entire tech environment and the crazy things that have been happening over the past couple of years is just exciting to me. So I'm glad that I can share some of that value.

Absolutely, definitely.

AI, Robotics, And What’s Changing Fast

And since you mentioned the tech piece, um, you as a quick sidebar before we get going, what is your viewpoint or or just reflect on what's been going on for the past even 60 days or 30 days in technology, specifically AI?

Yeah, I'll start with what I saw this morning. I saw a cyber cab on the road. Oh gosh. Like there was a human being in it too, uh, which was I don't know if it was a test driver or a passenger, but that was my first time seeing uh uh one out in the wild. So like the the robotics aspect, whether that be self-driving cars or stuff on the manufacturing side, like that's the crazier part to me. And I think that makes the bigger side, but AI is obviously the engine to run that. And there's been so many advancements uh with the recent models, it really in the past two months. Some of these changes and the research being done. Um, like I I pay attention to positive stories because that's a part of who we are as a company. And uh there's so many medical breakthroughs happening in the test realm, and it it's just really cool to live in this time period.

Yeah, absolutely. Yes, for sure. Thanks for the quick sidebar there.

The Golf Course Job That Shaped Him

So let's get on to our fun fact then. So we're breaking the ice. We kind of broke the ice already, but what is one personal fun fact that you'd like to share with Tech Divination today?

I mean, I I don't know how fun this is, but uh my first job out of high school was at a golf course, and uh it was an incredible experience. I mean, I I think I would go back to being a cart guy at a golf course if I uh if money wasn't an object and I was forced to work. Like it's a pretty good job. So what made it fun? You get to talk to interesting people working outside, but still with like, you know, decent environment. It's just one of those cool experiences of my past that you know has shaped me as a human being.

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Military Leadership That Transfers To Business

Austin, your journey starts in naval special operations and now includes entrepreneurship, family, PR, and tech. What part of your military training still shows up and how you lead today?

On the leadership side specifically, it is trying to set a clear direction, trying to make sure the mission is first and foremost. The people that I got to learn from, study, see early in my career in the military from a leadership perspective were world class. And many of them I have not caught up to. Like, I think that's there's a lot of opinions out there on leadership, but actually creating the end result, accomplishing the mission, that's something that is not as common. And people might feel good, organizations might grow, but like, are you accomplishing what you set out to do is a whole nother bar. And uh in that community, there was a bar of excellence.

So would you consider yourself then a servant leader?

Uh I think I try to be of service, period. I wouldn't call that my leadership style necessarily. Um, and and I've studied a lot uh with my Christian background on servant leadership. But when I look at leadership, I I think one of the things lacking in society, like look at government as a prime example, is clear defined leadership that's not flipping back and forth, that isn't trying to lead people out of personal personal motivation. And so to me, it is accomplishing the mission. It is what is required to get there. And I think that plays into a lot more my leadership philosophy than what's my role in this. I I actually would take myself out of it and what is the best way to accomplish what we're trying to? Um, so I I don't think that's necessarily like the stereotypical servant leader scenario, but I think that's what I always default

Scaling A Business With Coaching And Partnership

to.

Thank you. So you've helped scale publicity per good from twelve thousand dollars to over $200,000 a month, as we had mentioned earlier. So what changed first? The systems, the mindset, the team, or the vision?

So we've been through ups and downs in that cycle. The first thing was getting help from somebody who had been there. Uh this gets talked about constantly of coaching, but finding somebody who has what you want is one of the key things, but also who wants to work with you. Because we've had coaches over the years who are focused on us and then build a relationship with us. And we've had ones where we're just part of their system. If you're not getting that interest of the person you're working with to take you along the path, um, I don't I don't think the results are nearly as good in those scenarios. The other major one that when we figured it out, skyrocketed at our growth was my wife Heather, who founded the company a couple of years before I joined. I figuring out how to work together in life, in business, it's it's a very, very powerful tool, whether you're working with somebody in your family or a partner. The results that two people who are fully in, like we call it all in, when you have two people working towards that mission together and you have clarity of your roles and who's responsible for what, and you're holding each other accountable, that is a very powerful thing. And you'll beat a lot of people who are just by themselves because in the world of entrepreneurship, it's so easy to get overwhelmed to feel alone. Uh, when you have a running mate who holds that space for you, it is a very, very powerful thing.

Wow. Thanks for sharing that. So you mentioned

Building In An Airstream With Less Distraction

Heather. So you and Heather built while traveling in a 23-foot airstream. Now, that is not exactly a quiet office with perfect lighting, or you know, for entrepreneurship. But what did that season teach you about focus, faith, and flexibility?

Yeah, the the airstreaming years were something that uh we often look back to and we're like, oh, it was so easy. Uh, cause because you don't have as much to take care of. Um, we were getting to have beautiful weather all the time. It forced us into a place where, hey, this is what we're focused on, but we get to still enjoy life. And I think that's a balance that a lot of people try and find. And that that season for us was that. We were loving life, we were growing the business, and it was a simple season because in 200 square feet, you can't have a whole lot. So it's like you get to have your cooking stuff and your clothes.

Right.

And uh, so it like that simplicity of it, um, absolutely, especially early on, that that is critical. Like, if you can simplify your life to where the only choice is doing what you really want to do and working hard, that eliminates a lot of distractions. W one thing in there, uh as a side note, is like we didn't have a TV. And so we didn't spend a lot of time on the entertainment side. Our entertainment was like going and having a fire outside and uh cooking some food. And it was just a very focused time period, and we're not in that time period anymore. We have four kids and a much more complex business environment. The simplicity early on probably helped us a whole lot.

Yeah, I I would think so too.

What PR Really Takes And Why It Works

So public relations can feel mysterious or out of reach for small businesses. What do people misunderstand about getting media attention?

Uh I'll start with what it takes because I think that sets the stage. To be the most effective with earned media, uh it's gonna be three things. It's gonna be your time, your relationships, and the systems, the actual doing the work, which could be uh characterized as expertise. Anyone can get good at that. It it's essentially like any other Legion process, cold email is one of the main methodologies. That's a learnable skill. The relationships take time to build, but then what's your opportunity cost for spending four to six hours a day reaching out to the media? Essentially, what it takes when you don't have the systems in place. The result from that media, I think, is the bigger gap. It is something that builds. It's awesome to go market and give Facebook a dollar and get two dollars back. But in the world of media, you might do a hundred interviews and get very little result, but you might go to that 101st interview and it'd be a national show. It gets seen by the right people. Rogan calls you up because he saw you on whatever show you were on because he has that interest. And so the connections that can come as a result of people seeing you in a place that they're paying attention to. This is the power of other people's stages. They have other audiences that you don't have. And the media is one of the most trusted, even still, of those audiences. Um, and they have massive reach as you progress in your media journey. It really only takes one connection to radically change your trajectory. That's one aspect. But when people are looking at valuation on businesses, they're gonna say, What's your positioning in the marketplace? And if no one knows about you, even if you have a really good business, that that's gonna hurt your multiple. So having that brand recognition is something that some of these PAE firms are very good at going and leveraging. This brand is known for this. I think I think Poppy is a semi-recent example. They had incredible positioning, they had a great business, but they had incredible positioning as well in the marketplace. And so when they were purchased, they absolutely blew up because now you have access to every single distributor uh type of deal. And it's just a powerful leverage item as opposed to a multiplier.

Why Signal Raptor Makes PR Accessible

So Signal Raptor is designed to disrupt and democratize PR. You kind of alluded to this. So, what gap did you see that made you say we need to build something different?

Several different like iterations in our thought process came about as a uh like to lead up to us deciding to create Signal Raptor. Uh, the the first was, you know, people were getting shut down during the pandemic, and we're like, we're in the communication space. Our job is to get stories out, like that this just seems wrong that they're being shut down. And and then that led into so many conversations about people who didn't have the resources but had the incredible story. And we wanted to take everything we had learned on the agency side, uh, the technology changes that have been happening over the past three years, and find a way to make it much more attainable for somebody to get their story out. Because we are publicity for good, that brings a lot of people to us who have incredible stories and we want to help them get that story out so that they can accomplish their goals, so they can accomplish their mission. So that's what we've built. And it's come a long way since we it was a little idea on a whiteboard, probably about two and a half, three years ago.

Wow, that's awesome. So after this announcement, we're gonna come back and learn more from Austin Homes. Ready to make AI practical, useful, and a lot less intimidating? With pathways in AI, training includes programs such as Gen AI Biz, AI Biz, Identic AI Viz, designed for professionals, entrepreneurs for everyday business, communication, productivity, decision making, and teams who want to understand AI without losing the human touch. The curriculum we use is by CertainX's. Explore your next step at pathwaysinai.com. Pathways in AI. Grow stronger, learn smarter, and stay human.

Credibility In The Age Of AI Search

Austin, let's talk about credibility for startup or emerging brand. Why does earned media still matter in a world full of social posts, ads, and all AI generated content? You did talk about that a little bit, but can you expound upon it more?

Yeah, the the AI has been the most recent addition, and that's kind of upset a lot of the other systems. Is okay, people are searching in a different way for information. And this used to happen of people going and searching for a review on a business, but they might like look at one or two or three on Amazon. You're going and seeing, hey, what do people think about this product? But AI has pushed that to where it can look at every single thing that somebody else is saying about you, and it can do it in a matter of seconds. And that access to information has improved the ability for people to make decisions based on what's out there about a company or product or service. And that has made the actual credibility of media of anybody's opinion much more powerful when it comes to purchase decisions. And so that credibility piece, going out and building trust with the audience, with your potential customers, that is why it's so important now. Um, it's always been a part of the decision-making process, it just used to be a lot more narrow. The other thing is it's competitive. So the brands who rise to the top tend to be the better brands. And there's obviously all kinds of different factors. But because whoever is sharing your story with their audience, they have their trust with their audience to preserve as much as possible because that's what helps them run their business. Um, and so whether it's somebody posting on social about your brand or you know, all the way up to the ABC, NBC style stations, then they have their trust and authority and credibility to maintain, and they have a vested interest in that because it's taken a long time to build. People don't want to look stupid for recommending a product in front of their friends, like uh because there's the personal feedback side of that. And so everybody wants to kind of share the truth, as it were. So you going and building those relationships, building that audience, building the trust, that credibility then helps people become attracted to your brand. And AI does that in a much, much more efficient way now. It ties back to transparency as well, of having that information out there, but that only goes so far compared to what other people are saying about you.

Where New Brands Should Start In PR

Yeah, absolutely. So Signal Raptor includes article placements, influencer management, and custom media strategies. If someone is brand new to PR, where should they start?

Well, it depends on budget, absolutely. It depends on how much time you have available, and it depends on what else you're working on. The best results that we see across any of our clients and subscribers is definitely the people who have business systems in place. Now, early PR, you want some of that third-party validation, you want some of that credibility. This place you see it most often is on somebody's website. And when you're clicking on and you see, oh, this person's been featured on XYZ, or this is a review that somebody gave this business. That's one of the fundamental things that you want to be able to show as you're promoting your business. That's a great place to start going and securing some of those opportunities. Those are very low cost in some cases, and uh there's a lot that you can do yourself. If you're in a small town, go talk to the local newspaper reporter and say, Hey, I started a business here and I would love to share my story. Um, those opportunities are all over the place, but it takes the time and it takes reaching out to them and building that relationship oftentimes.

Family Intentionality While Growing A Company

You run purpose-driven businesses while raising four children. How do you protect what matters most while still building something big?

Oh, this is a daily struggle. We have a core pillar in our business and in our lives of intentionality. Going back to the coaching, we have learned so many little things from who we pay attention to, who's living the life that we want, and from our coaches. And we try to be intentional with applying those things. Uh, what one of the best things is spend time with your family every single day as a non-negotiable, whether that's five minutes or five hours, that depends on the day. I can't recall a five-hour day recently, but um, intentionally, like the thing I use every day with my kids is I just ask them questions or for the ones that are old enough. That is a repetitive thing. They they know to expect that they're able to more readily answer the questions now than when I started. But that intentional connection of finding out how they're doing, we we apply that to our team as well. We value those relationships and being intentional with your practices is the starting point. Now, the question that you have to ask is like, are is what you're doing in alignment with what you want to want as an outcome? That's where learning trial and error comes in, and aligning your daily practices with what you want. So we we've tried to do that and we're learning

The Entrepreneur Magazine Keystone Win

every day.

So you've been featured on in Fox News, USA Today, Business Insider, Family Life Radio, and more. What media moment stands out as the most meaningful to you and why?

I was able to write an article for a major outlet, and it's so if you guys want to go find where this is, it's Entrepreneur Magazine. Got to write an article that is coming out in the September, October issue. Um, and so I I'm super excited about that.

Yes, because I subscribe, digital and print.

Nice. That that's cool. So yeah, you'll uh find it in uh it's like the mom and pop section. Uh they're doing a really cool piece on like how mom and pop businesses can be successful. Main Street, I forget exactly what it ended up being called, but uh yeah, it it was an interesting process to go back and forth through like real editing process because so much of the stuff we do is like uh either teams doing a baseline and we're like editing or approving or like Like, hey, I'll throw notes in and here here's our newsletter. Like, but going through that uh professional editing process and multiple back and forths and uh hard, very, very hard deadline dates. Um it was a cool experience. Very, very excited about that. And it's definitely the biggest that I've uh been a part of so far.

So, how did that opportunity come to you?

That was a very intentional effort. Uh at the beginning of last quarter, we said, all right, let's try to secure one huge keystone opportunity. Uh, a lot of the features that I've gotten in and been talked about on have been in relation to PFG or in relation to um, or it's Heather and me together. We had a bunch of stories about the Airstream stuff. But this was kind of the first one where I got to be a contributor talking about not PFG. Yeah, that's what we do. Um, we we're constantly searching for opportunities for our clients. Uh a huge part of our team is dedicated to that. And so uh the team member who's responsible for my account, so to speak, um, secured the opportunity and then got it set up, got the first draft over to them. But you know, it if it this is an absolute practice, what you preach moment. If you're a business owner and you're not utilizing your product or service, like that's a really bad look. And so we're we we are constantly trying to get in the media ourselves as a proof point, but also that hope helps us grow our brand, just like any other brand who's getting in the media. So me getting this opportunity was a huge part of that. It's also a great training opportunity for some of our newer publicists as they're coming in to work on our stuff because there's a lot lower risk of us firing ourselves. Um so it it's a good training environment too. Of you know, if you're a marketing agency, maybe you have your newest employee come in and do the marketing for you or at least assist on that account because the risk factor is a lot lower.

Absolutely. That's fantastic. Congratulations. I'm excited to hear that.

I still don't uh fully understand why they're asking for my opinion, but I gave it and uh I I think it's a pretty good article. So hopefully it helps some people out there.

Yeah, I'm

The Next 6 To 12 Months Of PR

sure it will. So looking ahead, Austin, what do you believe the future of PR and business communication will look like over the next six to 12 months?

Relationships are as important as ever. Uh that's that's the huge advantage that we have as an agency. Uh whereas somebody just starting out trying to reach out to at least national media in our case, that's a difficult hill to climb. But because we've worked with so many media members already, like they know our name, they know our publicist's name. And uh the an interesting stat on this is when we're working with a new media member, it's about a 20% chance that something real ends up happening from that. When we're working with somebody who we've worked with in the past, that raises to about a 60% opportunity conversion rate. So it that that's the best metric I have for the relational aspect. And I think that continues, um, especially as the AI slot factor continues to grow. Um people are trying to look to people they know. Um, and that relational element, I don't think uh changes. It probably increases over the next six to twelve months. But also there's the technology management aspect. I think there's so much stuff coming out, resources um that uh allow uh people to operate more efficiently. And so I I think uh as adoption of that increases, the experience for clients, for team members continues getting better because things just become easier. The work still needs to be done, but for instance, if you don't have to proofread and you can just throw it into whatever AI system you're using, that's a time savings. What you choose to do with the time you get back, that's that's the debate. And I think a lot of people will choose different paths and we'll see who wins.

After this next announcement, we're gonna come back and we're gonna have what I call the Tech Diva Rapid Five segment. So get ready. Did you know? Up to 20 times a day. It's the first thing people do online, even before looking at social media or other news. But viewers retain only 10% of what they read, adding video to email, the retention skyrockets to 95%. Video plus email equals success. It's time. The future of email is here. Goodbye, email. Hello, video email. Ready to ride the wave? Visit all together.packlesion.com.

Where To Go Next For Visibility

Austin, this is your moment for the entrepreneur, founder, or small business owner in the audience who knows they need more visibility, credibility, and media support. Where should they go next and what will they find when they get there?

If you're a more established brand, definitely publicityforgood.com is a great starting place. Um, or check us out anywhere on social for Signal Raptor. If you're a newer brand, if you're just looking for um a good baseline, consistency is so vital when it comes to media. Check out signalaptor.com and you can find me everywhere on a Austin Holmes. I love talking business and uh will do that all day if given the opportunity.

I certainly enjoyed our conversation today for sure. But we're going to get to the Tech Diva Rapid Five.

Rapid Five And Final Takeaways

All right, Austin. You already know what time it is. It's time for the Tech Diva Rapid Five. Five quick questions, five quick answers. Are you ready?

Good to go.

All right, let's go. One word that describes great leadership.

Repetition.

The PR myth, you would retire immediately.

PR drives sales directly.

Tool, habit, or system you rely on every week.

Hermes, every day.

Best business lesson fatherhood has taught you.

Build a plan for the next generation as early as you possibly can.

One thing every emerging brand should do before pitching the media.

Clean up their profiles website so that it all matches and you don't have conflicting information.

Oh, that is huge. Thank you, you are trooper, for hanging in there with me through the Rapid Five. Austin, when people look back at your work with Publicity for Good and Signal Raptor, what do you hope they say you helped make possible?

Because we love working with purpose-driven brands, we love seeing that impact come true. Whether it's, you know, building a well or providing somebody who might have some difficulties with employment, seeing those missions come to fruition is absolutely the most fulfilling part of what we do.

Austin, this has been a powerful conversation. Really appreciate you being here. And what I'm taking away is that visibility is not just about being seen, it is about being ready, being clear, and having a message that can carry weight when the right opportunity does show up. You've shown us how discipline, purpose, family, faith, and technology can come together in a very real way. And for the entrepreneurs out there in our audience, especially those who feel like media coverage is only for the big names. This conversation is a reminder that your story has value, but you have to be intentional about how you share it. Austin Holmes, president of Publicity for Good and Signal Raptor, thank you again for joining me on Tech Diva Biz Talks.

Yeah, it's been a pleasure. And one last thing is people are out there looking for your story, and you just have to tell it.

Thank you. That's it. That's a good place to end it. Thank you, Austin. And to the Tech Diva Nation, you already know your message matters. Your story matters. And when strategy meets purpose, that's when the signal gets stronger. Until next time, stay smart, stay human, and keep building something worth talking about. That's it for today's Tech Diva Biz Talks. Hope you caught a gem or two. If you did, share it, review it, and most of all, put it into action. Until next time, tune in, level up, and talk tech.