About this episode

In this episode, Dan Nestle interviews Jennifer Kaplan about building a successful PR agency that balances local roots with national sophistication in the AI era.

What if sustainable growth isn't about becoming the biggest player in the market? Agencies triple in size and lose their soul. They chase national footprints and abandon the community relationships that made them valuable. Meanwhile, regional firms with deep roots are building something holding companies can't replicate. In this episode, host Dan Nestle sits down with Jennifer Kaplan, founder and president of Evolve PR and Marketing—Arizona's largest PR firm. Since 2010, Jen has grown to 28 full-time publicists serving more than 140 clients. She's earned Copper Anvil's 2025 Agency of the Year and PR News' Top Women in PR—but the real story is how she built an agency that's simultaneously deeply local and nationally sophisticated. Dan and Jen explore why relationship-driven business is becoming a competitive moat in the AI era, the tension between AI efficiency and human authenticity, and what two decades of agency leadership teaches you about leading through chaos without losing what makes you special. Listen in and hear about... Why local authority often delivers more impact than national vanity coverage Balancing AI tool adoption with authentic client and media relationships…

People in this episode

Host: Daniel Nestle

Guest: Jennifer Kaplan

Topics covered

• sustainable growth
• relationship-driven business
• AI efficiency vs human authenticity
• agency culture
• niche specialization
• leadership lessons

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Evolve PR and Marketing, Copper Anvil, PR News

Places: Arizona

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