Julie Richter took her chances during the Pandemic and launched her own company, J. Richter Communications.  Since then, she hasn’t looked back, and counts “working with the marketing and press team for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, for its first North American production outside Broadway, here in SF” amongst her most memorable work moments.  But there’s also, “watching 1951 Coffee go from unknown to earning national coverage, … and meeting a sweet dog at a media event for the SF SPCA, only to adopt her a couple of days later.”

Current Role: Founder & Principal, J. Richter Communications (Assembly PR) – Boutique PR studio specializing in arts, cultural, and mission-driven organizations in San Francisco.

My Alarm Goes off… At 6 AM. I do a quick scan of the news to see if any big client mentions happened overnight, then it’s off to Pilates, walking my dog Frankie, and getting the coffee going.

I’m Responsible For… Being the filter between my clients and the media. I take everything they’re doing and distill it into exactly what works to tell their story. I’m passionate about educating the community about the arts and important nonprofit work, ensuring these organizations get the spotlight they deserve.

I Got The Job… By creating it. I’d always planned to start my own agency someday, but COVID accelerated the timeline. When the boutique agency I worked for closed as performing arts went dark. I could have waited it out, but instead I launched J. Richter Communications in September 2020, betting that arts organizations would need smart PR more than ever to survive and rebuild. Now I can’t imagine not working for myself.

My Typical Day… Could be anything from pitching journalists at dawn, to managing press at Drag on Ice at night. This week included inviting influencers to early access screenings of Wicked: For Good at Alamo Drafthouse, coffee with a reporter to talk about what’s next for Market Street Arts, and in-studio TV interviews to promote the SF SPCA Holiday Windows launch. Every day is different, which is exactly the point.

The Culture Of My Workplace… Me, my associate Renin, and Frankie holding down the home office – but really it’s a constant collaboration with clients, journalists, and cultural leaders across SF. Solo founder doesn’t mean working alone.

My Most Memorable Work Moment… Working with the marketing and press team for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, for its first North American production outside Broadway, here in SF. There’s honestly so many smaller victories too: watching 1951 Coffee go from unknown to earning national coverage, landing a meaningful front-page story for a client, and meeting a sweet dog at a media event for the SF SPCA, only to adopt her a couple of days later.

My Role Models are… I’m inspired by people like Zara Rahim, who shows how strategic communications can shift culture and power. Also my clients! They are all leaders who understand the importance of arts and community impact, like those driving Market Street Arts to revitalize Mid-Market through creative placemaking, or Minnesota Street Project positioning art collecting as civic investment. Anyone who understands that vibrant communities need creative spaces.

The Most Challenging Part of My Job…Making repetitive events feel fresh. How do you get coverage for year 39 of Holiday Windows? Why should media care about another summer festival season? Plus tracking the musical chairs of media. Reporters are constantly jumping beats, outlets closing, new platforms emerging. My brain is basically a living database of who covers what and why they’d care.

The Best Part of My Job… The moment when coverage translates into action. Whether that is tickets sold, donations made, or perspectives shifted. Watching San Franciscans discover something new in their own city because we got the story right.

After Work…Boundaries are fluid when your job includes evening events, but real downtime means hosting friends (recent highlight: magic night for 60 people), exploring SF with my husband, or diving into my own business strategy. Currently deep in anniversary planning and rebranding to Assembly PR.

Plan B: If I wasn’t doing this, I would… Run programming for a major arts institution or teach the next generation of cultural communicators. The thread would be have to be the same, proving that arts and culture are essential to how cities work. Considering I focused my MBA research on Thai galleries and now have spent 14 years working with SF artists, I’m probably too deep to pivot now.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julierichter/