Name: Florence Quinn
Title: President/founder
Company, city: Quinn PR; New York and Miami
Number of employees: 50
Recent project: Building our 10,000-square-foot penthouse office in Manhattan
First job: Picking strawberries for 10 cents a quart when I was 14
Little-known fact about you: I can make animal calls, from guinea pig to elephant.

Your Business

Essential business philosophy: Be yourself.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Love what you do and work hard.

Yardstick of success: Progress, not perfection

Florence Quin as a Traveler

What is the most important item you take when traveling? Laptop packed in an L.L.Bean bag with newspapers and magazines

How do you spend your time on board? Working

What is your favorite restaurant in the world? Black Dog, Martha’s Vineyard, circa 1977

What is your favorite destination in the world? Carmel Valley, Calif.

About Your Quin PR

Give our readers a brief history of Quinn PR.
I started Quinn in 1987. It didn’t register with me that starting a business in an economic downturn could be a bad idea; I was too excited, and every client felt like a gift. I never had a company-wide business plan other than profitability goals. I’ve kept the focus on the work. When we won our first Platinum HSMAI Award, they invited me to the gala to receive it on stage. We opened Miami because we were up for a cluster of Florida hotels we knew we couldn’t win without an office there. In the pitch, we took a chance and committed to opening an office in Miami; we opened and won the business.

What is the biggest challenge in travel public relations?
Mastering the shift to content creation and distribution. I love this area because it’s what we do anyway, but now we are only limited by our imaginations. Content can be many things — a creative idea, a story, a slide show, a blog post, a social media campaign, a top list, a press release, a cause-related marketing program and more. The big shift in distribution is toward owned and paying for non-owned.

What are your favorite travel hot spots and advice to women travelers?
My favorite places are anywhere where I can walk and hike. This summer on Martha’s Vineyard I walked between my house, the Chilmark General Store, the library, yoga and the beach. If traveling solo or with folks who don’t like to hoof it, I recommend walking/hiking on populated paths; carrying a cellphone for safety; and inviting someone you meet in exercise class, for example, to join you. Now that we represent VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations and Country Walkers, I am looking forward to going on my first group-walking trip — maybe Italy.