Sheldon Harte knew that hiring a publicist would be more of a marathon than a sprint. His PR partnership is still going strong decades later.

Many years ago, Sheldon Harte’s uncle gave him some sound advice. “He was in advertising, and he told me that you have to give a publicist a minimum of five years,” says Harte, founder and principal of the Irvine, California–based design firm Harte Brownlee & Associates. It was an early lesson in not expecting instantaneous results: “There has to be repetition and a relationship. They have to know you and know what they’re pitching.”

Sheldon HarteDouglas Friedman