"The most underestimated part of running a company is the expense of running the company."
Francis Perdue Tweet
Francis Perdue has over 12 years of executive management of public relations departments in fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and educational institutions. Francis’ most recent positions were Public Relations Director and Chief Communications Director for several companies, Homestead Entertainment, Homestead Entertainment Announces New Projects and Team Members (prnewswire.com), Burgerim, Fast Casual Names BurgerIM As One of Top 100 Movers and Shakers – BurgerIM and My Beverages in which she worked remotely.
In 2016 and 2018, her firm was nominated for a Black Business Hall of Fame Award by The Hart Foundation and City National Bank in Philanthropy and Innovation, Technology, and Entertainment categories. Her feature in She Boom was a catalyst that led to the discovery of her talents and philanthropy work. This has made her a hot commodity in the Product Placement side of events, television & film.
With 100 plus products placed for high-end events, The Doctor’s TV Show, and her annual FUSE Pre-ESPY Event Ms. Perdue added a product division to her company. In 2018 she spoke at Lionsgate Studios for Diverse Representation, Francis Perdue Lionsgate Panel Speech – YouTube , about Diversity and Inclusion in Public Relations.
Force Brands, Francis Perdue | ForceBrands Newsroom , recognized the appointment of Ms. Perdue to My Beverages in 2019 as part of their “Movers and Shakers” newsletter that is recognized globally in the Food & Beverage World. Author of Life Is In Session in 2020, Ms. Perdue has created a following for her positive guidance through life and challenges. Inducted into Marquis Who’s Who of America in 2020.
She has held the position of Strategic Alliance Chair for The Black Public Relations Society of Los Angeles for two years. Currently, she is on the board for Imaginetainment, Francis R. Perdue | Imaginetainment Inc., and a member of Color Comm. As a former board member on the Board of Directors for Friends of CID, Center for Individual Development- San Bernardino she implemented change and assisted with publicity. Also has also been a part of the Entertainment Council for The Salvation Army- Los Angeles, City Club Los Angeles and TGS- The Gathering Spot ATL.
As a new venture, Francis has become a producer with her long-term management client Charnele Brown’s company, Tri-Wen Productions starting with the film, The Coffee Pot. Francis created Scooter P Entertainment in 2022, which is an entertainment company focusing on distributing content from BIPOC creators.
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Table of Contents
In the past year, what is the greatest business achievement you’d like to celebrate with your team? Please share the details of that success.
Francis Perdue: This past inaugural year’s greatest achievement is the connection of deserving filmmakers to outlets through our distribution company, Scooter P Entertainment. Our team is growing, but our mainstays, President of Acquisitions Ernest L. Dancy, Quality Control & Content Creator, Jermel Wells, and I, as Founder have worked together to obtain successful pairings and exhibitions of our company. Bringing in the new year of 2023 with filmmakers being able to view their projects on major networks like Fox Entertainment’s Tubi, Pospy on Plex, Amazon Prime, Mometu, and Filmocracy has been a joy.
We have exhibited at Filmocracy, gained support from organizations like The Latino Filmmakers Network, Black Film Space NYC, and met great content creators along the way. Social media and referrals have also been a form of outreach for new filmmakers.
What advice do you wish you received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Francis Perdue: Advice I wish I had received when I started this journey to transition into another portion of Entertainment, TV/Film Distribution, is to treat the acquisitions as a numbers game with clients who may not be ready for what they are asking for. We acquired plenty of projects, and with any industry, the client has to be fully ready to move forward. Clients may not actually possess completed projects or have middle management that has no clue about what to do with the projects.
Next quarter, we will not move forward without proof of completion of the project instead of awaiting completion. We will also open up our acquisition process to include more avenues of partnership so we may reach more filmmakers and content creators. Contests are a great way to show our commitment to communities of content creators who have been underrepresented. Our annual contest will continue to reach filmmakers.
Here is a two fold question: What is the book that influenced you the most and how? Please share some life lessons you learned. Now what book have you gifted the most and why?
Francis Perdue: The book that influenced me the most was, The Game of Life and How To Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn. I am most influenced by the concepts of the Power of The Spoken Word and Claiming What You Want. I learned that I have to stay in the realm of asking God for what I want and then taking the steps to obtain the things that I want. It uses Christianity and basic business sense to explain that you have to be a “Go-Getter” and chase after your dreams vigorously.
Preparation for what you want is one of my favorite portions of the book.
“Man must prepare for the thing he asked for, when there isn’t the slightest sign of it in sight.” – Florence Scovel Shinn, The Game of Life How To Play It.
I prepared for things that have come to fruition.
Life lessons I have learned include a lot of trust in myself and God. I plan but also write down goals in detail and clearly, so they can be backed by my actions and God helping me by sending me hunches and the right people to move to the next level in my life and businesses.
Life lessons include not trusting that projects, agreements, etc. are completed until everything is signed and deliverables are received. Always go with your gut, your first mind, or Spidey sense, which I call God inside me. I learned that when you are an expert you should utilize strategy and not lend to the client for strategy. That’s why they hired you. Trusting yourself is the major lesson in being an entrepreneur and expert.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share with us details about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Francis Perdue: I agree with Christopher Hitchins on the notion that everyone has a book in them. Yes, I have written a Journal that was written like a book. My book is, Life Is In Session: Accomplish The Life You Want With Daily Living. Available on Amazon, and Walmart currently, it is the first of an installment of works to come. It includes the lessons I have learned over the years in Publicity, Business and Sponsorship attainment. Life presents challenges and for every challenge, there is a solution. After losing my mother I was full of lessons that I felt others could benefit from. Life is constantly in session, so the lessons we learn from it are a pathway to understanding our purpose and how to play the game of life.
Overview of the book:
Over the course of several years, Francis Perdue recognized a pattern in her life. This pattern was the overcoming of obstacles in life. There were many things in her life that were challenging yet she overcame them. Ms. Perdue decided to use the term that her god sister, Felicia Fuller, always said to her when assisting her in overcoming life’s complications. “Life Is In Session” is the title of this journal for that reason.
Life is definitely in session. There are lessons to learn and things to overcome. This journal will give you a glimpse into who you are and spark the idea of you making the life that you desire without being trapped in the idea of someone else’s success.
For more information, please visit the website: https://perdueinc.me/life-is-in-session
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?.
Francis Perdue: The most underestimated part of running a company is the expense of running the company. People think about payroll, products, and goods as the only expenses in running a business. Unfortunately, to keep up with the landscape of whatever genre of business you are in there are fees for things that can add up quickly.
Examples of unexpected expenses are licenses, travel, scaling or expanding the business, websites (hosting, updating. graphics, domains, etc.), social media management, business strategists, public relations, healthcare for workers, payroll, taxes and those are just to name a few.
Having a good payroll, tax consult is a good start to keeping a handle on the business expenses.
To plan for expenses, you should look into what software will make your company streamlined as you grow. Scaling your company takes a couple of years however it should be planned out. Taking on loans, applying for grants, etc. to finance your business can be tricky it can definitely be a way to absorb costs as you move toward scaling larger. Having a team of people who can help you who are experts in their fields can take a weight off of you as an owner or founder.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Francis Perdue: Success in this year ahead looks like more deserving clients as filmmakers receiving a distribution from our company. Expansion into production as planned in year two(2) of being in business would mean a successful year for Scooter P Entertainment. Success is in the eye of the beholder, and as the eyes of the beholder, I believe my team will reach the right clients and we will expand our agreement with new partners which will result in more projects representing people of color on the big screen.
Making a dent in the disparity of cultures represented on the screen will make me very happy. There are so many stories that will be told in 2023. My vision is for entertainment to become more diverse in ownership and behind the camera titles for BIPOC creators.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Francis Perdue for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Francis Perdue or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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