How PR Builds Trust, Attracts Customers, and Drives Referrals with Lexie Smith
Summary
In this episode of Your Customer, Your Success, Gary sits down with Lexie Smith, Founder and CEO of GROWTH MODE, PR strategist, thought leadership expert, three-time entrepreneur, and host of the Pitchin’ and Sippin’ podcast.
PR is often reduced to press releases, media coverage, or crisis communications. Lexie takes a much broader view:
The second word in public relations is relationships.
Those relationships can help a business reach new customers, strengthen existing customer relationships, build credibility, generate referrals, and create a community around the brand.
Lexie introduces her seven relations of PR: the public, customers and clients, media, industry, community, investors, and employees. She explains why public and customer relations are especially important for small and mid-sized businesses trying to grow.
The conversation moves from visibility to execution. Lexie explains when a business is actually ready to invest in PR, why its owned assets need to be in order first, and why earning a media placement is not the finish line. The businesses that create value from PR understand how to leverage credibility across their website, sales process, customer relationships, and future opportunities.
Gary and Lexie also explore the other side of growth: the customers a business already has.
Existing customers can become repeat buyers, advocates, and referral sources, but referrals require more than simply asking someone to keep you in mind. Lexie explains why people are far more comfortable referring a business once they have experienced it, trust it, and feel confident putting their own reputation behind the recommendation.
Lexie also breaks down her five-layer Trust Stack:
Founder Trust → Owned Trust → Earned Trust → Social Proof → Community Trust
They discuss the opportunities and risks of building a brand around its founder, why founder visibility has to be managed as a company grows, and what happens when customers expect access to the founder but ultimately work with a broader team.
The conversation closes with a timely challenge for business leaders. Podcasts, creator platforms, AI, and new publishing tools have created more opportunities to become visible than ever before. But AI-generated content and easier access have also created a more skeptical marketplace.
That makes trust more important, not less.
For the business owner who is tired of being the best-kept secret, Lexie’s advice is straightforward: start with the channels you control, develop a clear point of view, choose where your audience already spends time, and begin building from there.
What You’ll Learn
- Why PR is fundamentally about relationships, not simply media coverage
- The seven relationships that make up Lexie’s approach to PR
- How PR can help small and mid-sized businesses attract new customers
- What a business should have in place before investing in PR
- Why earning media coverage does not automatically translate into revenue
- How existing customers can become advocates and referral sources
- Why trust is essential before someone will confidently refer your business
- The five layers of Lexie’s Trust Stack
- How much of a company’s brand should depend on its founder
- Why AI is creating both greater visibility opportunities and a more skeptical marketplace
- Where founders should start when they want to build thought leadership and visibility
CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold Open
01:15 Introduction
03:26 What PR Really Does for a Business
04:34 The Seven Relationships of PR
06:15 How PR Helps Businesses Reach New Customers
07:35 When a Business Is Ready for PR
11:40 Turning Visibility Into Business Value
15:16 Strengthening Existing Customer Relationships
16:59 How Trust Drives Referrals
22:06 The Five Layers of the Trust Stack
24:44 How Much of the Brand Should Sit on the Founder?
27:35 PR, AI, and a More Skeptical Marketplace
29:57 Where to Start Building Thought Leadership
31:40 Does It Hold Water?
33:52 Chip Shots
Book Recommendation
A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J. Maas
Connect with Lexie Smith
GROWTH MODE:
Join the GROWTH MODE Memo:
https://growthmodeon.com/newsletter
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexie-smith-pr/
Pitchin’ and Sippin’ Podcast:
https://theprbarinc.com/podcasts
🔗 Connect with Gary Marra
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-marra/
Schooley Mitchell:
https://www.schooleymitchell.com/office/gmarra/
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@yourcustomeryoursuccesspodcast
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Looking to Reduce Business Expenses?
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ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER, YOUR SUCCESS
Your Customer, Your Success is a leadership and business growth podcast built around a simple idea: client focus is a growth strategy.
Hosted by Gary Marra, the show sits at the intersection of customer experience, employee experience, leadership, entrepreneurship, relationship building, and operational discipline. Each episode features practical conversations with founders, executives, advisors, and business leaders about how better relationships, stronger execution, and client-centric thinking create trust, retention, referrals, and sustainable growth.
ABOUT GARY MARRA
Gary Marra is a Strategic Partner with Schooley Mitchell, business advisor, customer experience leader, and host of Your Customer, Your Success.
Drawing on deep experience in financial services, client management, operations, and cross-functional leadership, Gary brings a practical business lens to customer relationships and growth. Through Schooley Mitchell, he works with businesses to identify opportunities to reduce essential operating expenses while maintaining or improving service.
His perspective is grounded in the belief that relationship building drives revenue, client focus creates competitive advantage, and disciplined execution builds stronger businesses over time.
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