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Stephanie Aukes Amplifies the Effects Of Others

Please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?

My name is Stephanie Aukes. I am a PR-expert and media coach from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I first started in PR when I was about 23 years old. When I was working as a volunteer, organizing entertainment events I met a lot of upcoming music artists. Because of my degree in Communications, these artists started asking if I could write their bios and help them with PR and publicity. I loved the challenge and to my great surprise, I was really good at working with the media and getting my clients free publicity. It all lead to founding my PR-agency Supastar-pr back in 2007. 

I was first doing this freelance PR-work besides my 32-hour per week job. It took a while for me to make the jump to work for myself fulltime but in 2010 I was brave enough to take the leap.

I also started working for non-profit organizations who were really doing good in the community: fighting child abuse, spreading the word about inclusion for everyone, etc. It all lead to working with companies in every industry out there, from start-ups to multinationals. I always love the challenge of working in a new field!

Stephanie, what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from others?

Love this question! What sets me apart is that I truly and deeply care for my clients and their success. I lie awake at night at the start of a campaign when I am not getting the immediate results I want for a client. Luckily for them, I am very tenacious. I’ve been called a pitbull before and I don’t let go until I get my clients the very best results. I am really creative and get my clients published in their dream publications and featured on major tv- and radio shows. 

In addition, I don’t just take on any client that comes my way. It really has to be a good fit with my own vision. I also always make an estimation of the results I expect. Because it is free publicity, there are never any guarantees, but I need to feel that the value I can bring to a client is really going to help their business move forward in a major way. My only goal is to get my clients the eyeballs they deserve and everything that comes with that: more recognition, impact, sales, and simply a better life.

Stephanie Aukes of Supastar-PR

What is “failure” and “success” for you?

I don’t really believe in failure. Failure is only when you give up. I will never give up. Of course, I’ve made some bad decisions in my life and business but I truly believe that those things needed to happen. It helped me get to where I am today and where it will bring me in the future.

We’d love to hear more about your work.

I’ve been in PR and journalism for over 15 years and I’ve helped hundreds of clients become a household name by using free publicity and my method The Amplify Effect. I’ve also worked as a music reporter. I’ve had the chance to interview artists such as Shaggy, Next, Dwele and more.

One of the clients I am working with right now is GOOSEVPN.com. They are the first Dutch VPN-service. We launched the first publicity campaign a couple of years ago and within weeks, their number of users doubled! They continue to grow rapidly, gaining customers from all over the world who want a safe internet connection and not be restricted by regional borders. Very proud of my work for this client! 

What excites you right now?

The new vision for my company. The crisis has actually brought me something. A new way of life, a new target audience. I’ve been working with all sorts of companies, from multinationals to solo entrepreneurs, authors, coaches…you name it.

My new focus is to help plant-based, sustainable, eco-friendly brands reach millions of people with PR and publicity. This is so close to my heart. The COVID-19 outbreak made me realize that being a vegetarian was not enough. I am a huge animal lover and a bunny mom myself. I have two wonderful house bunnies, Punkie and Baby Cakes. 

To me, it no longer felt enough to be a Vegetarian. I am now a vegan. I feel that plant-based companies or other companies who do good in the world could really use my expertise in getting more exposure. In this way, I am contributing in kindness to animals and taking better care of our environment. I love helping the world become more conscious. The plant-based movement is unstoppable. I feel that in 50 years most people will at least eat vegetarian or even vegan. We need more kindness in the world and I love to be apart of this movement.

Yeap, we are in a pandemic, BUT what’s the best thing that has happened to you this year?

The best thing that happened to me was moving back to Amsterdam at the end of February 2020. I love the free-spirited people here, the ambition, drive, and creativity of my fellow Amsterdam people. I moved away from Amsterdam 3 years ago to be closer to my parents who are getting older. I never imagined how different the mentality would be in Eindhoven, the area that my parents live. In addition, the companies in Amsterdam and the surrounding area called The Randstad value PR way more than the southern part of the Netherlands where my parents live. I moved back to be around more like-minded entrepreneurs and scale my business. I was incredibly lucky to find a home within just one week in an overheated Amsterdam housing market! I truly believe this was meant to be. I feel lucky and happy…and the best part? My parents are moving closer to me. We’re house hunting right now!

What ONE thing would you like for our readers to take away from this feature story, about you? 

To never give up on your dreams and to do everything you do with love. One of my dreams for example is to create products for rabbits. I am a bunny advocate and love to share my knowledge on how to make bunnies live a happy life as our pets. Rabbits should for example always have a bunny companion, lots of space to run, and things to do. One day, I want to be able to create products for bunnies, especially older bunnies. Rabbits can live as long as 15 years! As they get older, they are not as mobile anymore as they used to be. I would love to help those older buns be more comfortable. I have never seen products for older bunnies before, and I would love to be the one to create them. I know, one day I will make this second business idea become reality!

How can our readers connect with you?

    Phone Number + 31 202117155

    Email Address: stephanie[at]supastar-pr[dot]com

    Website: https://supastar-pr.com

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supastarpr

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Supastarpr

    IG: https://www.instagram.com/supastarpr

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieaukes