While most of us dreamt of working in TV at one time or another, for “adopted Brummie” Anita Champaneri that dream became a reality and eventually led to her launching her own business. Described as “the most famous PR person in Birmingham”, here she shares the highs and lows of her career.
For Anita Champaneri, her journey into the world of television started with a dream that took root when she was just 14. The hugely competitive nature of the industry was, perhaps, an understandable concern for her parents, but her unwavering passion for journalism and TV production led her to pursue her chosen path.
It’ll come as no surprise that getting her first break was no easy feat. Armed with a 2:1 media degree from Birmingham City University, Anita embarked on a relentless job hunt, writing more than 200 letters to production companies. Despite her enthusiasm, ambition, and persistence, she faced countless setbacks and rejections.
“My childhood dream was actually to be in Dallas, the 1980s soap opera,” she laughs. “But I went for something a bit more realistic – journalism, and specifically television production. People always talk about getting their big break, but to be honest it just felt like a slog. I was enthusiastic and super keen and ambitious, so I couldn’t understand why I was constantly getting rejected.”
However, Anita’s determination was unshaken. After a free stint as a presenter with an Asian TV channel, she gained valuable work experience on a local London television station, created a showreel, and eventually landed a three-month contract at Sky and then a year’s contract at the BBC. She worked her way up ‘and around’
the ladder through various roles in production as a Producer/Director and in development, crafting and selling TV ideas and formats to broadcasters. Most notably, she was part of a team that successfully sold The Guinness World Records show to ITV and had pitched a behind-the-scenes documentary about Meera Syal’s film Anita and Me, which she later produced and directed.
Anita went on the develop and produce many showbiz documentaries with the BBC and ITV on stars such as Ant & Dec, Kylie Minogue, and the legendary Godfather of Soul, James Brown.
While Anita didn’t directly work for Channel 4, her career took a fortuitous turn when she had to find a presenter for a new show at a production company in Birmingham. This led her to discover the rising talent Gok Wan. “I filmed his showreel and his screen test. We sent it to Channel 4, and then he got picked to do How To Look Good Naked. I made him famous!”
“I loved working in TV and getting to go to events such as The British Soap Awards. But most of all it was meeting larger-than-life characters and hearing their fascinating stories. I devoured showbiz trivia and I was in my element telling these stories for the small screen.”
Transitioning from TV to PR
Anita’s transition from television to PR was motivated by her skills and insights; her deep understanding of how newsrooms operate and how journalists gather stories provided her with a strong foundation. “Lots of my peers were getting to their 30s and moving into PR and I was like, ‘I can do that. I can make the move from TV to PR no problem’. I knew what the inside of the newsroom looked like, what kind of stories made up the news agenda and how journalists liked to work, so these were all perfect tools for a job in PR.”
But as a mum of two young children at the time, it was not without its challenges, and again, Anita faced multiple closed doors. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities and unhelpful recruitment agencies, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She ventured into freelancing and discovered a niche for organising hospitality events, starting with a friend’s restaurant launch. As word of her success spread, her freelance work gained momentum. “It worked well so I thought, ‘let’s see how this goes’. It started to snowball once we did PR for Lasan and Thai Edge. I did Pushkar’s launch, probably about 14 years ago, and once people saw I was doing something well and they were seeing that brand everywhere, I was getting approached left, right and centre. One of my clients even described me as Mary Poppins, waving my magic wand and always pulling things out of the bag!
“However, it was still challenging. My children were little, about two and three at the time, and because restaurant owners were only available in the evenings, I’d look after the kids at home during the day and hand them over to my husband when he got home from work and go out for meetings. Then it was difficult trying to fit everything in around the school run – you’d be in the middle of something, frantically trying to finish by 3 p.m. I always felt like I was running late, rushing through traffic to get to school and struggling to find somewhere to park, running up the school path. It was all so frustrating…and exhausting!”
The birth of Delicious PR
Her desire to take control of her career was the turning point. She decided to set up her own business and launch Delicious PR (‘I was in Debenhams and saw DKNY Delicious perfume and I was like, ‘oh, that’s a good name for a PR company’) and this allowed her the work/life balance she had been striving for.
Taking the reins of her own company has meant running some great campaigns, as well as staging some of the city’s biggest events and enjoying the finest restaurants. The flipside has been navigating the complexities of running a business – especially when it comes to trust – and chasing unpaid invoices!
“I would spend a whole week writing a proposal and then not getting the job. You are working for free in effect, so it’s important to know what’s worth the effort and if people mean what they say. Then some of the work you do win you end up spending more time chasing the actual payments. Sometimes they can’t pay, sometimes they don’t want to pay, so it can be very stressful. Trust is important and you have to learn to go with your gut instincts with people. It’s tough to navigate, I have been wrong on several occasions, and I have been right on many more occasions.”
Sixteen years on and the Delicious PR team has overseen more than 75 launches and won a number of top industry awards. “My husband calls me the oracle because I know everything that is going on, and it’s one of the things that keeps us successful. For a small business, I am proud that we can hold our heads high amongst our bigger competitors. We’re lucky to have survived through lockdown and continue to thrive.”
“There have been a lot of highlights since lockdown – launching Manahatta, Lulu Wild, BOX, Lucarelli with Aldo Zilli, Qavali and Tim Hortons. These are some great brands with some great people behind them. We’ve branched out to music festivals such as Crooked House In The Park and Solihull Summerfest and we’re always on the lookout for the next exciting thing.”
For budding entrepreneurs, Anita emphasises tenacity but also the importance of financial planning, especially in an era of rising costs. “Remember, running a successful business is about making money. At the moment, in a cost of living crisis, everything is so expensive. When you’re in your 20s, you think, ‘I just need this amount of money to cope with my essentials’. But in the long term, weddings, children, houses, school fees and holidays all cost money. Work smarter, it is important to budget, save, and plan. Don’t spend all your disposable income all at once, get advice on how to be clever with your money and your savings.”
Falling for Birmingham
Originally from Crawley, Anita now lives with her family in Solihull and has happily adopted Birmingham as her home. She says its cultural attractions and playing a key role in its thriving business community has made the area the perfect fit for her.
“I studied in Birmingham and then returned to London and thought I’d never come back. Then when Mailbox and Bullring opened, the city was transformed, it started looking pretty cool and now there’s so much more to do. There’s nothing about London that I miss – apart from family – in Birmingham, we have a better quality of life.”
Looking back, what advice would Anita give her 18-year-old self?
“I guess when I was younger I thought you had to graft in your 20s and then it would all fall into place. But by my mid-30s I basically started my career again from scratch and that hard graft started all over again. Just because you have it sorted at one stage in your life, doesn’t mean you won’t have to do that all over again and change the direction of your career. I’ll be honest, I used to want to be the next Tess Daly. When I was at BBC Birmingham I worked on a show with Anita Rani, and I’d have loved to have had a varied career like hers – plus I would have loved to have been on Strictly! But here I am at 50 years-old, still grafting as hard as MD of Delicious PR and still yet to make my millions. Hey-ho, watch this space!”
To find out more head to www.deliciouspr.co.uk