Welcome to this week’s PRmoment Podcast.

On the show we have Damon Statt and Gemma Moroney, co-founders of SHOOK.

Shook was founded in June 2020, just a few months after the start of the first lockdown. In its first year they had a fee income of £335K and they are on target to hit £600K in the second trading year.

Damon and Gemma have worked together since 2006—firstly at Frank, then at Mischief before they decided to co-found their own business in 2020.

Hope&Glory have a minority stake in Shook. Shook recently won Creative Moment’s New Agency of the Year for 2021.

And thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.

Here’s a summary of what Damon and Gemma talked about:

1.30 mins How did Gemma and Damon meet in 2006?

3.30 mins Why was there a bit of a follow Frankie Cory triangle going on there in about 2014?!

5 mins Damon and Gemma joined Mischief after Mitch Kaye and Dan Glover had left. How did they stabilise that business after two huge personalities left?

7 mins How do you fill the gap left by the founders of a PR firm when they leave?

8 mins Is it true that Gemma and Damon have been thinking about setting up a business together for 10 years?!

8.30 mins Do they regret not setting up a business together earlier?

10 mins Why did Damon and Gemma decide to go into business with James Gordon Macintosh and Jo Carr at Hope&Glory rather than going it alone?

13 mins Gemma says one of the most beneficial elements of the investment from Hope&Glory has been being able “to see H&G from the inside.”

17 mins Gemma and Damon talk us through the reality of launching a business right in the middle of the COVID lockdowns.

21 mins Why, when you launch a business, your network isn’t quite as useful as you think it’s going to be!

23 mins Is PR a nicer, more collaborative sector than it used to be?

25 mins Gemma talks us through behavioral design theory which guides much of Shook's approach to its work.

27 mins What are the plans for Shook then? How big do Gemma and Damon want it to get?