I Am African And I Can: Anna Toure

PR Genie Transforming Lives Internationally

She was always the outgoing girl who thrust herself before a crowd to give presentations, the girl who could hold long-lasting conversations in French, English, German, and had an eye for detail. She was and still is the candlelight that brightens people's lives. If Anna Toure were to be disguised, she'd be a genie, capable of bringing people's wildest ideas to life.

Toure is the founder of ANNA Toure | PR, a New York City-based boutique agency, founded in 2012, that provides strategic communication, online marketing, branding and special events for fashion designers, politicians and corporate companies.

She was always the outgoing girl who thrust herself before a crowd to give presentations, the girl who could hold long-lasting conversations in French, English, German, and had an eye for detail. She was and still is the candlelight that brightens people's lives. If Anna Toure were to be disguised, she'd be a genie, capable of bringing people's wildest ideas to life.

"Even the craziest ideas people have I can make them clear so that other people can understand them," said Toure, public relations specialist (PR).

Public relations specialists, based on Toure's description, work behind the scenes. "[They] can help people build their dreams."

Anna Toure | PR is based in New York City, but operates in France, Senegal as well as Ivory Coast.The agency works very hard to get its clients international publicity.

Some of the clients (individuals and companies) her agency has represented thus far are: Selly Raby Kane, Binta Sanor, Obi Cymatika, Toubabe Paris, Le Bireau de la Francophonie, Rue 114 and Stream Africa.

Toure feels as though she did not push too hard to become a publicist because she loves what she does. She also admits that it was her love for PR that kept her going.

Since she was little, Toure would read magazines to educate herself about the fashion industry, but she "never really wanted to design, [she] wanted to do communications."

Fast forward to today, she is doing what she has always envisioned, working in the communication field.

"She is a very independent woman, she lives, eats what she does," Soukena Roussi, founder of GODS Magazine (an online fashion magazine), described Toure. "She also cares about people; it's not only about business."

Some are misconstrued with the idea that PR is all glitz and glamour as PR Samantha Jones' lifestyle is portrayed in the American sit-com show "Sex and the City." Unlike Samantha, Toure does not spend her time shopping all day, neither do other public relations specialists. The reality is, PR "is a lot of work, a lot of time," explained Toure.

What does Toure's world of PR look like?

Regularly sending several press releases to journalists, contacting fashion designers, managing her team, organizing events, planning and more planning.

The entrepreneur explained that there are many people who are creative, but do not know how to sell themselves and their products, and "that's where we come in (public relations specialists)," said Toure.

Toure and her team --three staff and one intern, all from different backgrounds-- are dedicated to helping their clients market themselves uniquely and professionally.

Toure was born in Vichy, France; originally from Senegal and Ivory Coast. She graduated from Université Blaise Pascal Clermond-Ferrand II (Clermont-Ferrand, France) in 2007 with a degree in international business and foreign languages.

Her ability to speak different languages plays a key role in how she runs her business. She said that having a diverse staff is important to her because different individuals can bring different ideas to the table.

She loves traveling because, "once you discover other cultures, it helps you become more creative and open-minded."

In a couple of years from now, Toure would like to see her agency expand its branches in several countries.

Though public relations specialists are known for working behind the scenes, if we were to remove everyone else from the scenes and shed light on the publicists, we'd come to notice that they are, as Toure likes to call them, "simple."

"I am not trying to be a celebrity, I am just trying to do what I love to do," Anna Toure, the PR Genie stated.

A Glimpse of Toure's World

Blackberry Event
Toure points out that PR can be perceived as superficial, but she is confident in herself because she has always remained true to who she is, a person who cares for people