Sister CEOs Conquer the Public Relations Business -- North And South

First Radio, Then PR, These Sisters Mean Business

BETHESDA, Md., March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When Miami radio reporter Rise Zywotow Birnbaum got a rival radio job for her younger sister, Cori Zywotow in 1978, little did anyone know these sisters of the airwaves would eventually rock the PR world.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080304/DC15733 )

Thirty years later, both Rise Birnbaum and Cori Zywotow Rice have reached the top of the marketing/PR world with their separate PR firms.

Rise helms Z Communications Company (also known as zcomm), a DC area-based national marketing/PR firm that specializes in broadcast PR. zcomm provides services such as radio news releases, PSA, customized radio promotion, and audio and video podcasts - all in English and Spanish.

Cori Rice is President of Hill & Knowlton SAMCOR Communications Company, a Miami-based national PR firm that was bought by Hill & Knowlton in 2002 and generates global branding, integrated marketing, media relations, communications and crisis PR programs to multinational clients. The Miami office is one of Hill & Knowlton's 71 offices in 41 countries around the world.

Both agencies handle Fortune 100 clients. "As sisters it's been a lot of fun that we ended up in the same industry," says Birnbaum. "We are sounding boards for each other regarding our needs, challenges, and resources and have helped each other tremendously over the years. There's never a dull moment in our industry."

Rice feels the same. "Two minds are better than one and as sisters we have had the luxury and closeness to discuss the constantly evolving PR services from research and strategy to execution and metrics." Rice adds, "We both are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to deliver messages and are obsessed with client service. It must be genetic."

Genetics or not, these two PR rock stars are outshining their competition. zcomm has recently ranked #15 in revenues in the DC area, and Rise Birnbaum was just tapped by the Washington Business Journal as one of 2007's Top 25 Women Who Mean Business, one of the city's most prestigious awards. Rice has won many honors over the years as well including inclusion in Miami Magazine's 101 Women to Watch and World City Magazine's Global Business Leaders issue. Hill & Knowlton is a leading international communications consultancy providing services to local multinational and global clients. H&K is part of WPP.