Blair Kaplan Venables is an expert in social media marketing and the president of Blair Kaplan Communications, a British Columbia-based PR agency. She brings fifteen years of experience to her clients which include global wellness, entertainment and lifestyle brands. She is the creator of the Social Media Empowerment Pillars, has helped her customers grow their followers into the tens of thousands in just one month, win integrative marketing awards and more.
Blair is listed in USA Today as one of the top 10 conscious female leaders to watch in 2022 and Yahoo! listed Blair as a top ten social media expert to watch in 2021. She has spoken on national stages and her expertise has been featured in media outlets including Forbes, CBC Radio, Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. Blair is an international bestselling author and has recently published her second book, ‘The Global Resilience Project.’ She is the co-host of the Dissecting Success podcast and in her free time, you can find Blair growing The Global Resilience Project’s online community where users share their stories of overcoming life’s most difficult moments.
Tell us something about your organization. What is it about and how is it helpful for people?
Blair Kaplan Communications is a Public Relations company that focuses on social media and publicity. We offer products and services that help our clients and followers uplevel their social media skills, increase their visibility and help them be seen as thought leaders in their industries. We create Social Media Empowerment Plans (PR and social media strategies), we create content, we teach and we empower. I’m also a writer and speaker. My philanthropic work has led me down a path to also be an expert in resilience. I’m the Founder of The Global Resilience Project which is a community where people can share and read and listen to stories of resilience. Sharing your story and listening to other people’s stories can help you heal and move through a challenging time.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
I am a social media and publicity expert so when physical businesses went online during the pandemic, a lot of them needed support. My business significantly grew over the last few years due to an increase of people who needed access to my skills, knowledge and experience. The important lesson here is that you should always have an online and physical element to your business, just in case we need to be fully online or if the internet vanishes, we will be better set up for financial stability.
What has been the response of the consumers towards your venture?
Here are testimonials:
From A Coaching Client-
“Blair is a pioneer of social media marketing. Before the title, “Social Media Marketer” officially existed she was there helping to carve out this new business frontier.” – Michael Toru Marketing Specialist, Michael Toru Marketing
“Blair has an incredible ability to elevate. I was feeling unsure about my next steps in creating my own brand/company, and she immediately put me at ease by meeting me right where I was at. We started our session with a beautiful gratitude exercise (my jam) and built on strategy from there. I left our meeting feeling crystal clear on my next steps, and had the digital blueprint to keep me on track. Blair is also just so positive and easy to chat with, she’s a gem and I’m so grateful for our time together!” – Alli Epp, Ceremonialist and Emerging Hypnotherapist
“Blair clearly knows a ton about social media, but it’s her enthusiasm that sets her apart. Too many speakers just speak, Blair gets you going in a Nike Just-Do-It kind of way. She puts you behind the wheel and shows you concrete ways to get to the goal line. Her high-energy approach is infectious, empowering and our conference-goers massively appreciated her ideas and advice.” – Ian Robert Jones, Content Designer, Arts BC Annual Conference
“Blair is an exceptional presenter. Her workshop was not only entertaining and engaging but also packed with valuable tips and takeaways for everyone who attended. She is very knowledgeable, charismatic and down to earth which are all qualities of an excellent speaker. We are looking forward to having her back at Elevate to share more of her expertise with our attendees.” Marie Hunter, Creator and Host, Elevate Marketing Summit
“Thank you Blair for the incredibly moving and heartfelt address at our JCFS (Winnipeg) Annual General Meeting. Your ability to tell your story in the context of motivating you toward positive change and helping others change is inspiring. We’re glad that we were here to help your family and that you are in a position to give back to your community. Wishing you much success in the future.” – Al Benarroch, Executive Director at Jewish Child and Family Service
Paige Brettle:
“Blair provided our financial planning practice with an achievable and realistic framework to help us re-imagine marketing – specifically social media marketing. Our time together focused primarily on amplifying Facebook and Instagram efforts as well as traditional high reach media. Her analysis and recommendations incorporated elements of psychology and sociology as the basis for our social media marketing campaigns.
Deliverables included: A social media strategy (i.e., growth hacks, media management) and a media kit as well as PR training. Our contract with Blair led us to repurpose current content, such as turning our national television series into a podcast, as well as advances in our content creation and content marketing.
Blair assisted us in defining the voice and personality of our brand (TIP: Be human first!) and underscored the importance of ongoing community development – creating real connections and interactions to encourage brand ambassadorship (i.e., customer shared content, reviews, word of mouth online and off).
Ultimately, her evaluation and overhaul of our current marketing program provided an innovative blueprint for business growth. Key takeaway: Understanding patient capital in building a thought-leadership platform and the business value of social media engagement. As a professional services company, we cannot recommend Blair highly enough if your objective is to make your social media presence and marketing more human!
Blair provided our financial planning practice with an achievable and realistic framework to help us re-imagine marketing – specifically social media marketing. Our time together focused primarily on amplifying Facebook and Instagram efforts as well as traditional high reach media. Her analysis and recommendations incorporated elements of psychology and sociology as the basis for our social media marketing campaigns. Deliverables included: A social media strategy (i.e., growth hacks, media management) and a media kit as well as PR training. Our contract with Blair led us to repurpose current content, such as turning our national television series into a podcast, as well as advances in our content creation and content marketing. Blair assisted us in defining the voice and personality of our brand (TIP: Be human first!) and underscored the importance of ongoing community development – creating real connections and interactions to encourage brand ambassadorship (i.e., customer shared content, reviews, word of mouth online and off). Ultimately, her evaluation and overhaul of our current marketing program provided an innovative blueprint for business growth. Key takeaway: Understanding patient capital in building a thought-leadership platform and the business value of social media engagement. As a professional services company, we cannot recommend Blair highly enough if your objective is to make your social media presence and marketing more human!” – Melissa Deally
“If you are like me and social media is not your thing, you need to connect with Blair! She is a wealth of knowledge in this arena, calling herself a pioneer as she’s been in this field for over 20 years! Blair has tools and tips to get you set up for success, while teaching you her EMPOWER formula to help you optimize your social media and get the best results. You are in good hands with Blair, she’ll take away the pain & frustration of trying to figure social media out on your own!
If you are like me and social media is not your thing, you need to connect with Blair! She is a wealth of knowledge in this arena, calling herself a pioneer as she’s been in this field for over 20 years! Blair has tools and tips to get you set up for success, while teaching you her EMPOWER formula to help you optimize your social media and get the best results. You are in good hands with Blair, she’ll take away the pain & frustration of trying to figure social media out on your own!” – Theresa Lambert, CPC , ACC
“Blair is an incredible entrepreneur and brings a passion and energy to her work that’s both contagious and inspiring. She’s a true professional and understands the importance of building authentic brands and sharing the message through smart and engaging PR initiatives and stories. I’m honored to be working with Blair on a new Podcast project and cannot wait to see it come to life.
Blair is an incredible entrepreneur and brings a passion and energy to her work that’s both contagious and inspiring. She’s a true professional and understands the importance of building authentic brands and sharing the message through smart and engaging PR initiatives and stories. I’m honored to be working with Blair on a new Podcast project and cannot wait to see it come to life.” – Melanie Anne Bitner
OnAll LinkedIn members
“Where to start? Blair is a bundle of energy and talent. Blair is knowledgeable in many areas of marketing including PR, social strategy, writing, and social media management. I have worked with Blair in a variety of different capacities. Always on time, respectful and high integrity are thoughts that immediately come to mind when I think of our working relationship. Blair is a beautiful human being, using her expertise in passionate ways as she gives back in myriad ways. I would recommend Blair as a solid and trustworthy addition to any team.“
How has your life changed because of your venture?
I have complete freedom to choose how I spend my time. Time is an important currency because you will never get more of it.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
We all need to support one another. We should celebrate with one another. There really is no such thing as competition and when we all work together, we are empowered to achieve our goals.
Give a motivational message for the audience/women who are reading this.
Make sure that everything that you are doing each day is because you want to do it. The purpose of your existence in this lifetime is to be happy and to live a fulfilling life.
