Ask most people what makes a great publicist and they will point to a media list. Alyson Dutch would tell you it is something quieter than that. After nearly 40 years placing brands and products in the press, what sets her apart is not only who she knows. It is what she does in the room, next to the client, when the pressure is on. It is a job of preparation, temperament, and nerve, and she has spent a career getting good at all three.
The publicist who stays in the room
There is a version of public relations where the publicist books the opportunity, hands the client over, and hopes for the best. That is not how Alyson works. When Jess Todtfeld was brought in to media train a group of her clients, what he noticed first was how deeply she stayed involved: checking that everyone's temperament was steady, that each person felt comfortable, that they knew the messages they were there to deliver. She was not managing from a distance. She was in it.
Inside the 1MD Nutrition campaign
A recent campaign shows the standard up close. The client was 1MD Nutrition, and the spokespeople were a group of doctors, each behind a different formula for heart, gut, brain, and prostate health. Brilliant people who had spent years building these blends. But expertise and being ready for a camera are two different things, and Alyson knew it.
So before anyone went on the air, she built a platform: the same core information, repeated consistently, so the message held up interview after interview. Every doctor was to open with the same lead-in line before giving their own answer: "I believe in the power of nutrition." It is not a natural thing for a doctor to say, which is exactly why she locked in the messaging in advance and brought in a media trainer to make it stick. She sent pages of guidance ahead of time and stayed for the whole session, because getting the platform right is that important.
Knowing what a client actually needs
Part of what makes her effective is that she does not take a brief at face value. Most problems in a service business, she has found, come from a hidden expectation: something a client needs that is different from what they say out loud. One founder just landed in Walmart and needs feet through the door. Another built an 85 million dollar company in six years and wants the cover of every magazine that celebrates women in business. Two completely different jobs. Serve the wrong one flawlessly and you have still failed the client, so she gets clear on the real end game first.
The calm in the storm
The part clients feel most is her composure. A good publicist absorbs the chaos so the client does not have to, keeping the room steady so the person on camera can focus on the one thing they came to do. Alyson learned that early. Back in her Miss Universe and Miss USA days, a reporter arrived with a live broadcast camera and started firing controversial questions at contestants from countries that were, at the time, hostile to one another. She stepped in front of the lens and ended it on the spot. That instinct, to stand between the client and the moment that cannot be taken back, never left her.
Watch the conversation
Alyson Dutch and Jess Todtfeld sat down to talk through how a publicist actually earns a client's trust, the 1MD Nutrition campaign, and the discipline it takes to keep a spokesperson on message. Here is the full conversation.
What actually makes a great publicist
Strip away the glamour and the job comes down to a handful of habits, practiced over decades. A great publicist gives a spokesperson a clear lead-in line and two or three core messages, then has them practice until the message survives the pressure of a live camera. She insists on seeing a reporter's angle in advance and hands her client a short outline of what to keep in mind. She has been known to stand behind the camera with cue cards, mouthing the key points, because the message a client worked so hard to build is worthless if it never makes it out of their mouth.
- Stays in the room. Prepares the client, reads the temperature, and does not disappear when it counts.
- Builds a platform. One lead-in line, a few core messages, repeated until they hold under pressure.
- Protects the client. Sees the reporter's angle first and steps in when a moment goes sideways.
- Serves the real goal. Finds the need underneath the brief, not just the request on the surface.
- Stays calm. Absorbs the chaos so the client can focus on the interview.
Two lanes, one standard
Alyson brings that same care through two front doors. Brown & Dutch PR has run customized, full-service campaigns since 1996 for brands ready to invest in the whole arc of press and placement. Consumer Product Events is a flat-fee matchmaking service between products and press, an affordable option for founders who have a product that needs to be seen but are not ready for a full firm. Different budgets, same standard of care.
- Think Thin nutrition bars, positioned for a 217 million dollar acquisition to Glanbia
- Mrs. Fields Cookies and Perrier-Jouet Champagne
- Miss Universe & Miss USA pageants, in the early years
- Consumer packaged goods and services, from pet and kid products to clean energy
Nearly four decades in, she still calls it a super fun business, because she is always learning something new, and says she will never retire. That is the tell of a great publicist. Not the client list, though hers is long. It is that after all these years, she still treats every client as if the whole campaign depends on the next moment on camera. Because it does. The right publicist in your corner makes all the difference.