In this series, we’re highlighting the paid subscribers who support biznewsPA. By subscribing, spreading the word about our publication, and leading in their respective industries, these professionals are contributing to Central PA’s flourishing business community. At the end of the day, these subscribers are the reason we have stories to report.
Founded in 2000, the Harrisburg-based marketing and public relations firm, Deeter Gallaher Group, is celebrating 25 years in business.
Founder Anne Deeter Gallaher graduated from Shippensburg University with a dual bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, and English. Days after graduating, Deeter Gallaher began working at Christian Publications Inc., a publishing house based in Camp Hill. During the five years she spent at the firm, Deeter Gallaher had a front row seat to all in-house processes. From writing and photography to printing, she learned everything she could, eventually working her way up to director of editorial services.
After five years, Deeter Gallaher transitioned from her full-time role, taking a 15-year hiatus to raise her three sons. She continued working part-time for the publishing house, attending meetings and honing her craft. As her sons got older, she saw an opportunity to start her own business.
Now, Deeter Gallaher is the founder of Deeter Gallaher Group, a firm focused on “powerful language and smart marketing.” She is the author of the books “Women in High Gear”and “The Future Belongs to Students in High Gear,” and co-hosts the podcast Grit and Gravitas alongside Anne Carnathan, president and CEO of Universal Media Inc. in Mechanicsburg.
Deeter Gallaher spoke with us about why she subscribes to biznewsPA, what challenges and opportunities are currently facing the communications industry and words of wisdom for her fellow leaders.
This conversation has been edited for concision and clarity.
biznewsPA: How has your industry changed since you founded your company 25 years ago?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: Every business and corporation needs powerful language and good writers. What has changed now are the channels that we’re writing in. The speed with which we do things has tremendously changed, but some things have not changed, such as the power of good relationships, building your own little board of advisors and being able to communicate. If you want to succeed in business, mastering powerful language is probably one of the best skills that will take you to whatever goal you have.
biznewsPA: What are some of the challenges currently facing your industry?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: We’re in an attention economy. It’s easy to get caught up in the speed and not try to, if you would, be where my feet are. I do appreciate that about Joel; he’ll do a deeper dive. I love the facts and the bullet points, but then he’ll give quotes from the source so you can go a little deeper. We appreciate speed, but we don’t sacrifice that for what the facts are or the heart of the story.
At Deeter Gallaher Group, we treat everything we write as if we want to be able to search it a decade from now and say, “Wow, that just was really good stuff.” We gave 110% and we are proud of that.
biznewsPA: Given the industry’s fast-paced nature, what opportunities can you leverage to your advantage?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: AI tools help us with that. It is almost like having another person to bounce ideas off and conduct research, which would have taken one of our team members four hours before. Now, it’s taking them five minutes to do that task. We can use the remaining time to focus on strategy or attend a chamber event, seminar, or conference. It’s made us much more efficient.
I enjoy spending time on professional development. Whereas before we might have gone to classes or executive education, now we can find a lot of that online. In the evenings, I dedicate a lot of time to webinars and learning. Nobody knows everything about this and you just have to try it. Everything still has to be fact-checked, so it doesn’t replace us as people, but it gives us new tools to make our work day much more efficient, and we’re discovering crazy information.
biznewsPA: How has podcasting impacted your business or impacted you as a leader?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: We’re starting year five for the podcast. Most podcasts never make it past seven episodes because it’s a commitment. It’s a ton of time and you have to find good guests. We’re just curious about people. We’re curious about leaders.
Because I started my business at age 40, I needed to shorten my learning curve. That’s really what we have tried to do with Grit and Gravitas. You’ll hear all that kind of stuff that you won’t learn in a textbook. We always ask every guest, “What would you tell your younger self?” And I love those because some are just so surprising. A lot of them revolve around courage and bravery.
Every year we do an in-person [party] the week between Christmas and New Year’s and invite every podcast guest. So, everyone who’s there, most of them did not know each other, and now there’s like our own little network. It’s really turned into its own ecosystem of women helping women and shortening the learning curves of the younger generations.
biznewsPA: What advice would you offer fellow leaders?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: Whatever your idea is, believe in yourself, stop overthinking and just do it. We get in our own way. Make the ask. Start the business. We don’t have all the answers by any stretch, but you have to try to put yourself out there. You can always iterate. You can go a different way. Don’t wait for a big moment. Just go toward it. Invest in yourself. Ask everyone around for support. No one’s a mind reader. Sometimes we just feel like, “Well, they should know what I want.” No, they don’t. So, don’t be shy. I think we all surprise ourselves with the outcome when we realize, “Oh, I can do this and there are people who are standing alongside me who will help me if I ask.” There’s more people who believe in us than those who would ever work against us
biznewsPA: Why do you subscribe to biznewsPA?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: I’m getting biznewsPA at 5:30 in the morning. It’s the first thing [I read] before my day starts. It’s easy to digest. It’s simple, but you’re still getting all the facts. I don’t have to wade too deep. I really appreciate how Joel is going further into statewide news, as well. His stories are getting a little deeper, which I appreciate, too. I’ve sent it to clients I’m working with. We’ve really come to depend on what he’s doing.
biznewsPA: Is there anything you’ve read that has shaped the way that you’ve done business?
Anne Deeter Gallaher: That’s happened a lot of times. On the commercial real estate side, I have forwarded a piece of news that [named] who’s developing a property, who’s doing something with a warehouse, or something like that. When you get it that early and read it that early, I love to be first to know. I appreciate [Joel’s] lens; he sees things, and he has such a great business background. I think it’s a perfect blend of his business acumen and understanding the media and what we in business are looking for, really the stories that matter.
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