Whitney Lee: Winner of the 2025 Great Companies International Women Entrepreneur Award

Name: Whitney Lee, APR, CPRC

Business Name: True Story

Location: Phoenix, AZ , USA

Establishment (Year): 2013

Category: Marketing & PR Consultancy

Website: www.truestorypr.co

Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-lee-sociallee/

Company Detail:

True Story is an internationally recognized public relations agency specializing in the hospitality, travel, and tourism industries. The agency is committed to crafting compelling brand narratives, building strategic partnerships, securing impactful media coverage, and enhancing brand visibility. With a mission to connect clients with the right audience through the right message, True Story has earned a reputation for delivering exceptional results. This award-winning team has successfully collaborated with renowned global brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, among many others.

Unique Selling Proposition or Competitive Advantage:

True Story approaches each client engagement with a tailored strategy, focusing on how to maximize the value of the agency-client relationship. For some organizations, the agency serves as a fully outsourced team, handling both strategic development and hands-on implementation. For others, True Story operates in an advisory capacity or as a Fractional CMO, creating the overarching strategy while guiding execution through contractors, partner agencies, or in-house teams.

Challenges Faced During the Journey:

Whitney never worked in an agency before building her own so she had no frame of reference on how to grow a team or operate. Honestly, she never really aspired to own her own business - she was more interested in climbing the corporate ladder. So figuring out everything from day one - contracts, pitches, service offerings, structuring agreements, hiring employees, payroll, systems and processes. It has certainly been a journey.

Advice for Women Entrepreneurs:

Businesses and brands can hire cheap labor to do tasks all day long. What they can't find is a trusted advisor that helps navigate their decisions for the business. Earning the trust of clients and having them value your word is the key to taking you far... in any business! And in a world full of people behind screens... answer the phone!