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AAPRC Weekly: Tiffany Smith

Tiffany Smith
Publicity Manager
CBS Television
Los Angeles CA


As a teenager, Tiffany Smith was certain she'd grow up to be the next Jane Kennedy. Smith was a big sports fan and when the Los Angeles native entered Howard University as a broadcast journalism major, her path was clear. Then, in her junior year, she got her first internship and her first taste of newsroom life at Washington, DC's CBS affiliate. The path came suddenly to a crossroads and the way was anything but clear. Smith hated newsroom culture. "What I didn't like is that it was less and less about the sports and more and more about the athletes' personal lives or trying to find a scoop…It wasn't about the game, per se," Smith recalls.

After graduation, armed with a degree in a field she had no interest in, Smith did a brief stint as an assignment editor at that CBS affiliate in Washington (WUSA), and then moved to Atlanta where she took a job as a cashier at Niketown. At Nike, she advanced quickly and was soon training cashiers and other employees of the Niketowns the company was opening across the country. Smith was named a public relations manager in 1995 and helped open Niketowns in Beverly Hills, San Francisco and New York City. "That was my first taste of publicity, where we would bring in our Nike athletes to open up the stores," says Smith. "I really enjoyed doing promotions and big events. After a while, though, when I had opened up all of those Niketowns the next step would have been to move to Beaverton, Oregon [the company's headquarters] and it just wasn't going to happen."

Instead, acting on a tip from a friend, Smith applied for a position as a junior publicist with Image Public Relations, a small family-run firm started by the entertainer Sinbad. "That's where I say I got to really understand publicity the most," Smith says of her tenure at Image. "This was at a time when he was doing the "Vibe" television show, the music festivals in the Caribbean and he was finishing up a movie."

Smith cut her publicity teeth learning the differences among television, film and international public relations, and advanced to senior publicist in the process. "I stayed there for a while and really honed my PR skills and learned who the people are, who the players are," says Smith. "That was when I realized this is what I want to do."

Smith admits it was a terrific position and she could have stayed with Image indefinitely, but believed she needed to work on the one skill she didn't have to use much while working for the popular comedian. "When you're dealing with a celebrity you never have to pick up the phone and pitch, they came to me," Smith points out. "The only reason I went over to Huff Communications is because I wanted to practice the art of pitching."

In 1999, after two years at Image, Smith joined Agnes Huff Communications Group, LLC as a vice president. There was, she admits, some culture shock. "I went from the world of entertainment to the world of corporate PR. They are so different," Smith recalls. "I was representing the Los Angeles airport, book authors…believe me, when I called people to say there was a new wing at LAX, I got hung up on…I had been like this is so easy I need a challenge and boy did I get it."

In addition to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Smith's clients at Huff included book authors, an orthopedist, and a short-lived perfume company that promised the human pheromones in their product would attract people to the wearer. "The clients were very different and they were all trying to raise the level of awareness of themselves or their product," says Smith. "After working there I felt more comfortable on the phone and being able to pitch anything."

In 2000, after another job tip from a friend, Smith made another big leap. Following a rigorous interview process––the first of the three interviews lasted an hour and forty-five minutes and left her shirt soaked in sweat––Smith was hired as a senior publicist at CBS Television. She was the first person of color hired in that capacity in more than ten years. "My question was: no one came through in 10 years that was qualified? That kind of shocked me a little bit," Smith admits, but believes the reasons are varied. "Most of the people at CBS have been there for 10, 12, 13 years, so it's not as if there's a plethora of jobs that people just leave."

Smith has recently been promoted to publicity manager, and oversees PR efforts for "CSI: New York;" "Cold Case;" special events like the Grammys, the Latin Grammys, and the People's Choice Awards; some made-for-television movies; and an upcoming reality show. "What I like most about it is there is something different every single day," says Smith. "I'm not confined to an office. I'm going on sets, I'm meeting different actors, actresses, producers and directors."

Smith also oversees CBS' internship program, mentoring young people in her department and going out to speak to students, especially students of color, about careers in public relations. As the diversity consultant in her department, Smith coordinates the network's showcases. "Actors and actresses from across the country put on this showcase for casting directors and executives at CBS, in hopes of securing job placement. We have an African-American showcase, a Native American showcase, a Pacific Islander showcase…We just did a disability showcase…," says Smith. "One of the actors who did that disability showcase about four months ago actually got hired on "CSI: New York."

After five years at the vaunted network, Smith is still excited about her work and her workplace. "I definitely admire everyone's hard work that they put in it. It takes a lot to run a show. It takes a lot to have a dream," she points out. "The person who created all of the 'CSIs,' Anthony Zuiker...36-year-old guy, former tram driver from Las Vegas. When I'm around him, it really makes me admire someone's accomplishments…That he had the dream to make a television show. And I get the opportunity to talk about it and to have people write about it."

Of all her many projects for CBS, though, Smith is most proud of the work she did coordinating "Muhammad Ali's 60th Birthday Celebration," which aired on CBS in 2002. "I'm a big sports fanatic…and how could you not be thrilled to be around Muhammad Ali? My eyes were as wide as silver dollars," Smith recalls. "And everyone was very forthcoming in working on that project. Sometimes people don't want to do certain things––I've come on set and actors have run from me before, literally. Working on the Muhammad Ali special, everyone wanted to do it. They were like, I'll stay here all night if you want me to. That was one of my proudest moments."

But even "The Greatest of All Time" takes a backseat to Smith's most recent project, her two-week-old (at this writing) daughter, Vaughan Ryan Anoa'i. "It's the best thing I ever did," says Smith, counting the blessings of her domestic bliss. "I have a wonderful husband and this wonderful, precious little girl."

Though motherhood has been a joy, Smith, who tries to squeeze in reading, letter writing and bike riding whenever she can, has no plans to turn in her cell phone and rolodex for a full-time housewife gig. "I want to continue to be a hardworking woman and show my daughter it can be done with a career as well as a mother," Smith insists. "I want to move up…I want to be promoted to director next year and I know that I will. I want to continue to further my career in this particular arena and let others know about it as well. That's one of the things I learned from my mother and I'm going to pass it on to my daughter as well––a hard day's work is invaluable."

AAPRC's Mission
The African-American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC) is an assemblage of professionals who provide communication conduits among clients, journalists, media and our communities. We come together as a collective because we recognize the importance of building those same conduits amongst ourselves.

A great deal of what we do is professional development––updating our skills, keeping pace with technology, refining and streamlining processes, providing a forum to tackle the issues that impact our work environment––but we believe our professional lives benefit most from the forging of effective alliances. Connected to one another, we possess the power of a nationwide body of committed, knowledgeable practitioners with an eye on the future.

As we move into the 21st century at lightning speed, mass media and its potent messages occupy an ever-larger part of our daily lives and our collective psyche. The AAPRC is focused on helping our members gain a deeper understanding of media's force and supporting their growth as powerful participants in the global communications network.

AAPRC's Contact
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New York NY 10019
1212 765 7910
1212 765 7905
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