Francis Perdue, Owner, Perdue Inc. Founder, Scooter P Entertainment
Francis Perdue, owner of Perdue Inc., was born in Los Angeles, California with strong Alabama roots. She was born to Birmingham, Alabama natives Franklin R. Perdue, a Navy veteran who earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology and mother who ended up running the BX/PX, Navy Exchange. She grew up the first part of her childhood in Compton, California and remembers the diversity she experienced from her Navy Brat years. From eating Lumpia, walking to the corner candy store to seeing her babysitter smoke a pig in the ground.
Francis’ contributions in philanthropy and her work ethic in Entertainment Public Relations and Talent Management has deemed her a hot commodity in the Product Placement side of events and television & film. With 100 plus products placed for high end events, The Doctor’s TV Show and her annual FUSE Pre-ESPY Event Ms. Perdue added a products division to her company. In 2022, she opened a BIPOC TV/Film Distribution Company entitled, Scooter P Entertainment.
What's your industry?
Entertainment, Communications & TV/Film Distribution
How did you end up sitting where you are today?
Through self-discovery, mentorship and a constant yearning to win I ended up "sitting here" today. My background is in Education, Public Relations and Business. I started in entertainment by default in college as a radio DJ and on-air personality. That led to many opportunities to be a film location scout to producer on a film. When life changed in 2004 from analog to digital a lot of people lost their jobs and my dream of going to a major station was deterred. I ended up in Education. Then I was asked by various people to manage them and ended up managing talent and eventually a publicist. I connect people to things and things to people.
What kind of work does your daily role involve?
Day to day general operations is full of a lot of emails, phone calls, rolling calls, loading data, pitching clients for press, pitching tv/film projects to outlets. We speak with a lot of potential clients and outlets weather on publicity and tv/film side. My job is to connect clients (CPG, Entertainment Clients, Business Owners, Celebrities) to news outlets through to pitches journalists and editors. We create opportunities for clients to gain positive press opportunities.
What gets you excited about your industry?
Publicity, Business and TV/Film Industry are the industries we are in. People should know how at Perdue Inc. we assist their companies or people who see themselves as a brand obtain press through media placements (Interviews on tv, radio, print media and new media (blogs, integrated marketing shows etc.). At Scooter P Entertainment we connect filmmakers and content makers to opportunities to distribute their projects on streamers. When we think about the consulting in business and providing services for people, we think of the end in mind. The client's goals for business are important to us. We think of their end game and work backwards to the present to plan out the campaigns for the project.
What's the best advice anyone ever gave you on your journey in business?
Always keep your four agreements (Dr. Ruiz, The Four Agreements).
Be Impeccable With Your Word.
Don't Take Anything Personally.
Don't Make Assumptions.
Always Do Your Best.
In business, keeping your four agreements goes into every aspect of running an entity. Being as authentic as possible is key to be successful in any genre of business.
What's the most challenging project or situation you've overcome to date?
The most challenging situation I've overcome in business is keeping to my non-negotiables when it comes to business. My non-negotiables included but not limited to pricing, extra deliverables and types of clients to interact with. I had to create my ideal client, pricing and stick to it. People in business will sometimes give excuses of why they are unable to pay for your services but feel entitled to them. It is ok to say no to the client and say come back when they have a budget.
Are you using any AI tools right now to help grow your business or, if not, do you plan to use any this year?
Yes, Chat GPT is a product that is good for helping structure things. We use it for structuring currently.
Overall, do you see AI as a good thing for business?
Yes. AI helps save time, money and energy when preparing products and services for clients. It allows you to gain a larger audience and clientele.
Overall, do you see AI as a threat or an opportunity in business?
AI is an opportunity to take the load off of the person or company using. Utilizing technology gives an opportunity to become more efficient and save time on projects.
If you had one wish for the future of your industry, what would it be?
For the industries we service I believe it is constantly changing. Remote work is something I would like to stay. I my wish for the publicity industry to create a standard of positive news to focus on instead of the headline grabbing articles and industry outlets. For the TV/Film industry I would like the wish for the future to be giving more access to capital and opportunities to level the playing field for creators.
