27 Years Solo. Four Industry Crashes. Zero Employees.

27 Years Solo. Four Industry Crashes. Zero Employees.

From The Jo Show by Jo McKee

May 21, 2026 · 34 min · Episode 26

About this episode

Jim DeLorenzo shares insights from his 27 years as a solo PR operator navigating multiple industry crises.

Most solo operators don't last five years. Jim DeLorenzo has run his PR practice for 27 years — solo. He started in July 1999. A year later, the dot-com bubble burst. Two years after that, 9/11 wiped out his two biggest clients in a month. Then the GFC. Then COVID. Then AI. He's still doing his own work, one client at a time. In this episode, Jim shares what's actually worked across four industry collapses, why he still hires himself for every job, and how he uses ChatGPT without sounding like ChatGPT. You'll learn: How to rebuild your reputation (not yourself) when an industry collapses The reorient-don't-restart playbook for handling a crisis Why the story you think no one cares about is usually the one that lands How to land earned media with no budget and no PR team A solo operator's actual ChatGPT workflow (and why he prints everything out) What 27 years of disruption taught him about staying in the game The line he uses every time something falls apart _________________________________________ CONTACT JO: The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what's actually working in…

People in this episode

Host: Jo McKee

Guest: Jim DeLorenzo

Topics covered

  • solo entrepreneurship
  • crisis management
  • public relations
  • industry disruption
  • reputation rebuilding
  • ChatGPT workflow

Keywords

  • solo operator
  • PR practice
  • industry crashes
  • earned media
  • reputation
  • ChatGPT
  • crisis playbook

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McKee Creative

Products: ChatGPT

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