Meet Melissa Libby | Owner of MLA

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Libby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’ve gone from completely unbalanced (all work) to pretty well balanced most of the time. To me, that seems normal when you think about the stress and fear of starting a business compared to 25 years later! I have definitely learned that time off – whether it be 30 minutes to walk the dog or 10 days on vacation – always makes me more creative and a better problem solver.

What should our readers know about your business?
We help restaurants get their message to potential diners. Over the years, the means for getting the messages out have changed but our core strengths are the same: hard work, good relationships and a love of problem-solving!

When I started MLA there were no other restaurant PR agencies so I really didn’t have a model. That definitely made it harder but I got to do it my own way! Those early years were scary and hard but I made it!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For restaurants, go to my website and pick one of my clients!! They are all great, I swear!

I like to take out of towners to farmers markets so they can see what we grow here, and to some of our beautiful parks for walking/hiking. Ponce City Market and a walk on the Beltline is always a great and impressive outing. Depending on government regulations, if there is a music, art or food festival going on while your friend is in town, GO!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh my goodness, I can never name them all! A few standouts include Janis Cannon who was my “last” boss and had to eliminate my position at Swissotel. She pushed me out of the nest and that’s how I started my business. George McKerrow gets a lot of credit for making me realize that focusing on restaurants was a good idea and smart business decision. Steve Goodman gave me cheap office space for years. These days my heroes are my team members who work so hard to do a great job for our clients and my fellow PR industry leaders who have bonded over COVID and always have each other’s backs.

Website: thinkmla.com

Instagram: melissalibbyatl

Linkedin: Melissa Libby

Twitter: melissal

Image Credits
The group photo is from Fox 5 cameraman Tim Whaley