Here's to Bob

The stroll from FRAUSE’s reception desk down the hall (past the lovely intern desk) to the conference room is decorated with the awards FRAUSE and agency team members have received throughout the years. I counted a total of seventy-six, although those are just the awards on display – there are many more than those on display in our mini-museum. After talking to various Frause folks here in the Seattle office, favorite awards include the PRSA Puget Sound Totems and the Washington’s Best Workplaces awards given by the Puget Sound Business Journal.


Most recently, we are especially excited about the Jay Rockey Lifetime Achievement Award that will be presented to our Founder and Chairman/CEO, Bob Frause at the PRSA Puget Sound Holiday Gala on December 6. As stated on PRSA’s website, “The Jay Rockey Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2002 in honor of Jay Rockey’s commitment to the public relations profession. This award recognizes the career achievements of a Puget Sound area public relations professional who has advanced the field of public relations and demonstrated outstanding professional ability and conduct throughout his or her career.”

Here at FRAUSE, we are so thrilled to see Bob celebrated for his work in the industry and his commitment to PRSA and ethics in the PR profession. As the intern, I have the opportunity to participate in office culture, but also observe with the perspective of a fly on the wall. In so doing, I have witnessed and shared in the magical work environment Bob creates daily.

I have noticed Bob leads the FRAUSE team through example. Everyday he is the first person in the office – commuting from his home on Whidbey Island. He constantly lends his counsel to clients and colleagues. And last but not least is the dedication to PRSA Bob illustrates for the FRAUSE team — from paying the PRSA dues for senior staff to encouraging participation in PRSA events.


FRAUSE is a great team, and lucky for us, Bob is the icing on our cake. Here’s to Bob as the 2011 recipient of the Jay Rockey Lifetime Achievement Award!

Decking the Streets

On my stroll into work this morning, it was the first day I noticed that downtown Seattle’s trees are now glowing with Christmas lights. Unless you are Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch, it is impossible not to feel your mood elevate as you walk under twinkling lights that for me mark the beginning of the holiday season. At this time of year when the sun doesn’t rise until 7:30am and it disappears over Puget Sound by 4:30pm, the decorative lights of downtown create a holiday atmosphere that I and many of my fellow Frausies look forward to.

While the lights do create a feel-good environment, they also have a strategic purpose. As holiday consumers are making their shopping lists and checking them twice, they head to downtown retailers to cross gifts off their list. The lights cater to shopping festivities and builds upon the giddiness this time of year creates – encouraging many shoppers to do their holiday gift buying downtown and reach deeper into their wallets once they are here. This holds especially true for this holiday season when the economy threatens to curtail purchases and more consumers are doing their gift buying online.


Following General Electric’s release of Christmas light kits in 1903, lights have become a staple of the holiday season in the ranks of Frosty the Snowman and stockings hung by the chimney with care. They light our dark November and December days in the Pacific Northwest and beckon Seattleites downtown for some holiday cheer – something I now get soak up on my way to and from Frause.

Seattle U PRSSA at Frause!

Today, members of the Seattle University Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter visited Frause for a tour of our offices and a sit-down conversation with some of Frause’s team! The conversation started with an overview by Bob Frause of our work and history, interspersed with advice for communications students. Bob shared two main “theories” that are relevant to beginning a career in the industry.

A Tale of Two Theories
#1 First Job Hierarchy. Bob’s first theory pertains to first jobs and their impact on career paths. He recommended, if possible, beginning at a communications agency for the reason that young professionals learn versatile skills that allow for greater flexibility later as they gain experience. If an agency in not an option, go for a corporate in-house communications position. The third and fourth options are nonprofits or NGOs followed lastly by public sector agencies. These two types of organizations made the bottom tier because Bob hypothesizes once young professionals begin their careers in such sectors it is challenging to transition across the job spectrum later due to industry biases.

#2 Informational Interviews Don’t Exist. Bob’s second supposition is the “theory of how to get a job.” According to this theory, there is no such thing as an informational interview. He claims that any interview is a “real” job interview. Subsequently, be prepared to be smart and up sell your skills. Most importantly, always ask for the job if it is the company where you know you want to be. If that company is not currently hiring, ask to get on “the list” of professionals they will be contacting the next time they are interviewing. Lastly, never walk out of an office without two or three names of other professionals to get in contact with.

Separately from Bob’s great knowledge, pertinent advice was passed onto Seattle U’s PRSSA as freely as our business cards! Richard Kendall suggested doing internships in multiple sectors because internships are as much about shaping interests as determining what you are uninterested in. Nathan Hambley recommended coming to interviews with at least two objectives you wish to accomplish during the internship or the next phase of your professional development. He also encouraged doing something that sets you apart from your peers, whether it is a mood board (Bob loves these!) to visually tell a story or a portfolio or an unsolicited letter of recommendation.

Amy Graham shared her unique experience of having interned for Frause and then being hired full-time. She advised the PRSSA students on how to maintain a work-life balance—of making time for things that provide personal happiness while still delivering top notch work and advancing your career.

The Seattle U PRSSA students had the opportunity to ask questions throughout the conversation, guiding the shared dialogue. It was a formative discussion where the students seemed to be curious and appreciative of the opportunity to stop by. The best part was the student group included Emily Nauseda, which made the event a summit of Frause interns past, present and maybe even future.

A Window of Opportunity

Frause’s intern desk is a small cubicle in the hallway between the reception desk and the conference room. While it is an unglamorous workstation, it is also a desk of opportunity. It is where I work on diverse client accounts and internal projects.

Every week is a professional adventure right from my keyboard and wheelie office chair. I have explored the ins and outs of the communications industry through online communications, public affairs, social media, community relations and media relations. I have researched, typed, brainstormed, compiled, evaluated, emailed and called. I have listened and been heard. I have gained experience in the industries of hospitality and tourism, consumer and retail, natural environment and community development. I regularly participate in meetings and have even had the opportunity to attend a press release workshop and tour the Gates Foundation.

With all that I have checked-off my revolving to-do list, the amazing thing is that I am only half-way into my internship with Frause. Everything I have learned, attempted and accomplished has been in just the last month and a half!

I have no delusion that the intern desk is glamorous, although I love the way working at Frause makes me feel like a grown-up. About two weeks ago, I printed out a picture of a window opening out to a tropical beach and taped it to the wall behind my monitor. This is my way of personalizing the intern desk, and pretending that I have a window whenever I glance up. During these moments when I glance up from my computer to my window, I reflect on the significance of my seat at the intern desk, and the long-term opportunity this seat in Frause’s hallway is providing my young career. It has become what I dubbed, “my window of opportunity.”

Founder Bob

On my first day at Frause, I came across a friendly gentleman in the hallway who introduced himself to me as Bob. My excited response was: “Founder Bob!” He chuckled and said, “Yes, Founder Bob.” One month into my internship at Frause, I had the opportunity to sit down and ask questions of the guy who started Frause in 1998. This is what I learned.

What led to the decision to name the agency based on your last name?

Bob mused that when he founded Frause he “only had $72 to his name. I rolled the dice and went for it solo.” In testing a potential name for the agency Bob pretended to answer the phone. He experimented with, “Hi, this is the Bob Group” or “Good afternoon, Creative Communications, this is Bob” and “The Frause Group, how may I help you?” After he pondered it a bit more, Bob realized his advantage was his “black book.” So he wanted to keep his last name in the title. He ultimately decided on The Frause Group, simply because it sounded like there was more than one person working at the agency. As the agency grew, the name evolved to simply Frause, with a logo created from Bob’s own handwriting!

What do you enjoy most about your job?

“The game,” he said. “Having an idea for building a business, seeing if you can make it happen, and then creating a great place to work. That’s the real challenge.” His idea was to create a place to learn and be happy while making some money doing it. For Bob, working at Frause now is different than when he first started. He no longer has to worry about putting his son through college or some of the many challenges he encountered earlier in his career. Today, he says “It is primarily about having fun and doing great work.”

What do you find most challenging?

For Bob, the challenge resides with the “status quo – I don’t like it.” Bob noted people can become buried in the status quo, and he prefers optimism and innovation instead. Now Bob just wants a “transporter so Scotty can beam me up.”

Frause was founded with three guiding principles:
1. Deliver services ethically.
2. Provide an open workplace where employees are given the opportunity to learn about the business of running a business, and cultivate staff as business partners first and communication professionals second.
3. Build a supportive and desirable place to work, such that when looking back on their careers, employees will think of Frause as the best place they ever worked.

What experiences in your personal or professional life led you to develop Frause with these guiding principles?

When Bob founded Frause he only had one thing to prove, “that I could make it on my own.” But as Bob started hiring employees, he wanted to activate those principles. He has found that by “showing people how to be business people where you challenge and support them and pay them well – they stick around.”

What does the post-Frause world look like for you?

Bob is mulling around several ideas of how to spend his time once he “retires.” Bob shared he might, “buy a van and stock it with tools to become a maintenance man for old ladies. Go work at Home Depot and get an orange apron. Write a book on ethics. Start a business with his son, or even go back to school for a Masters of Fine Arts in welding or painting or a degree in integrated communication.” For Bob it all boils down to “Why not try something new? The only disappointing thing is to not have enough time to try everything.”

On Frause’s website a lot of attention is paid to turkeys. It describes you as a “social pillar/turkey killer” who occasionally lives with turkeys, and the “extras” tab on the website sometimes states, “Turkeys can run up to 20 MPH.” How would you describe your relationship with turkeys these days?

Bob does indeed occasionally live with turkeys! He explained, “The ‘social pillar/turkey killer’ mentioned in my bio comes from the chorus of a song my friend wrote for my 50th birthday.” The biggest argument Bob ever had with his wife was whether or not to get chickens. His wife didn’t want to be tied down by poultry, although they did eventually get chickens. After they got their first set of chickens, their animal kingdom grew to include rabbits and even cattle. They decided to ditch the cattle for a baseball field in their backyard, but this created a sort of animal void. Turkeys were the answer. Over the years Bob has “raised and butchered more than a couple hundred Turkeys.”

Frause has a well developed internship program and sponsors the PR education fund that pays the first year of PRSA dues for recent college graduates. Why do you think it is important to provide such professional development opportunities for students and recent grads?

These are opportunities for interns to sharpen practices and acquire news skills. They provide real world foundations to establishing careers. Bob hopes, “Ideally, every intern will learn to pay it forward and do the same thing for the next generation of communications professionals when they are the big shots.”

Fun Facts:
Favorite color: Blue.
Favorite food: Pork.
Favorite pastime: Amateur radio, gardening, art, piano and carpentry.
Favorite memory from Frause: Winning the Washington State Best Companies to Work For in the small business category for the first time in 2002. The second was a Frause retreat to Palm Springs where we had a Project Runway task with two teams sewing dresses.