Stop playing small: the six-figure mistake even the best PR pros are making

I have been coaching PR professionals for 15 years. And in that time, I have seen one pattern show up more than any other.

The most talented, most knowledgeable people in the room are playing it small.

Not failing. Not struggling. Just… shrinking. And the worst part? It looks like humility. It looks like gratitude. It looks like being a good person who doesn’t want to seem full of themselves. And underneath all of that is one belief that’s quietly costing them everything.

The belief that they are not enough.

Let me be real with you for a second, because this makes me genuinely sad to say out loud. I have watched women walk into our community who are wildly capable, getting incredible results for their clients, with experience that Fortune 500 brands would happily pay top dollar for. And they show up to calls almost looking for permission to call themselves an expert.

Did that land? Good. It should.

Playing small doesn’t look like failure

That’s what makes it so sneaky.

It looks like introducing yourself with an apology. “I’m still kind of new” or “I’m not a huge agency yet.” It looks like reducing your rates the second anyone pushes back (or even before they do). It looks like staying quiet about your wins because you don’t want to come across as braggy. It looks like writing “I think” when you actually know.

That last one gets me every time. You could be a two-decade expert in your niche and still soften every single point with “I think” when what you mean is “I know.” And for the record, I don’t see men doing this. They just declare. Whether they know it firsthand, heard it secondhand, or honestly kind of made it up. They declare.

We have to stop doing that.

Here’s what playing small is actually costing you

Real numbers. I’m talking upwards of six figures.

I have seen members of our community leave that kind of money on the table because they were pricing to their comfort zone instead of to the value they provide. They were describing their agency as “just me” in every conversation, even when they had a team. They were not pitching themselves for the rooms, the opportunities, the clients who would have happily paid a premium for exactly what they do.

And here’s the thing about premium clients. They are not going to track you down and beg to pay you what you’re worth. You have to show up. You have to declare. You have to be visible.

What I see on our coaching calls

Inside the Agency Accelerator Mastermind, I run coaching calls every single week. And every single week, I see brilliantly talented women who came from agency roles where they were the lead on Fortune 100 accounts, getting results that clients paid massive retainers for. And now that they’ve gone out on their own, they’re thinking, “Well, it’s just me. I can’t charge those rates.”

But here’s what they’re missing. When a client hires you directly, they’re getting you. Not a big agency that’s going to farm the work out to a junior account executive. Not a middle layer between the decision-makers and the person actually doing the work. Direct access to you. The person who has been in those rooms, who knows how to get the coverage, who has the contacts and the track record.

That should cost more. Not less.

The imposter syndrome trap

I have to be honest. I did all of this. Every bit of it.

For the first five years of running my agency, I kept repeating to myself: “Why would anyone hire a lawyer to do PR?” I was getting great results. I had incredible clients. And I still thought I was just lucking into it.

It took me five years to have the moment where I finally thought, “I’m actually really good at this.” I had two clients on the Ellen DeGeneres Mother’s Day episode and another making her Today Show debut, all on the same day. I was with my clients in the green room watching it happen. And I realized that was not luck. That was skill.

I don’t want it to take you that long.

You do not need a green room moment to declare yourself a pro. You decide you’re a pro when you decide. That’s it.

There is no expert fairy

I say this on every call, and I’ll say it here too. There is no magic wand tap that grants you expert status. Nobody is going to show up one day and say, “Congratulations, we have reviewed your credentials and we are officially declaring you an expert.”

That is not coming.

You decide. You submit. You show up. I started winning awards (an Inc. Best in Business Award, an international Stevie Award for PR mentorship) once I started submitting myself for awards. That is the whole story. Nobody was scouting for me. I threw my hat in the ring, and I won.

Here’s how you start

Start with your language. Today.

Instead of “I do some freelance PR,” it’s “I run a PR agency and our team can support you.” That one shift can earn you tens of thousands of extra dollars. I am not exaggerating.

Share your wins. Not to brag. To demonstrate. Your case studies show potential clients what their problem looked like, how you approached it, and what happened. That is infinitely more powerful than a list of services you offer.

Raise your hand for things that scare you. Pitch yourself for speaking opportunities. Reach out to podcasts. Apply for awards. The worst anyone can say is no, and that is fine. You are never going to hear a yes if you don’t throw your hat in the ring.

Price to the value you provide, not to what you think a client can handle. You don’t know their budget. Have the conversation.

And get in rooms where you are not the most experienced person. That is how you elevate your game.

Your expertise is worth more than you think

The world does not need another talented PR pro quietly playing it small.

It needs you, fully showing up, charging what you’re worth, owning every bit of experience you have earned.

Your five years is someone’s dream. Your 50 clients is someone’s “I wish.” Wherever you are right now, you have expertise that is genuinely valuable. Someone out there is looking for exactly what you know how to do and they are willing to pay a premium for it.

You just have to let them find you.

Ready to stop playing small?

If you want to know exactly why premium clients aren’t finding you right now, grab the free Premium Positioning Audit. It takes five minutes and will show you exactly where the disconnect is and how to fix it fast.

And if you want to get in a room with PR pros who are doing this work, stepping into their expertise, raising their rates, and going after the clients they actually want, that’s what the Agency Accelerator Mastermind is built for.

It’s your time to shine. Decide.