What does public relations mean to you? Many people hear PR and jump to the assumption that public relations is simply working with the press and media. In reality that is one small aspect of the large field that is public relations.

Public relations has many aspects but the main focus is how you communicate with your publics, including your employees and externally to many audiences. Both disciplines require a number of different approaches and a strategic plan with an end goal in mind.

As Owner & President of Hostetler Public Relations, Rae Hostetler works with her clients to identify and set those goals and outline a strategy to reach them. Hostetler Public Relations works with its clients over a period of time, establishing long term relationships. Together, working to identify their pain points and business objectives then implementing an execution plan plan to reach their end goals.

Graduating from IU with her BA in Journalism, Rae started her career in radio and television news in South Bend, Indiana. Eventually moving to Indianapolis, Rae continued her work in television news working for Fox 59. At that point, she made her transition to public relations in order to have more work life balance first working for Newfields (then known as the Indianapolis Museum of Art) in the PR department. Eventually, she moved to a position as Public Relations Manager for Resort Condominiums International.

Following her time with Resort Condominiums International, Rae started working as what was then known as a public relations freelancer and formed Hostetler Public Relations in 2000. For the last two decades, Rae has worked as what’s now referred to as an independent public relations practitioner. Clients include mid-sized to large businesses and nonprofits. Each client has a custom public relations strategy with focused goals. And Rae and her team strive to establish long-lasting relationships, to help business owners and leaders improve their communication and reach those business goals.

Each of her clients faces different challenges communicating internally and externally and both  require different approaches. Oftentimes, problems arise when communicating internally with employees. These issues are two-fold: from the side of the employer as well as the side of the employee.

Beginning in 2013, Rae worked with the Rolls-Royce factory location in Indianapolis for 5 years on internal communication surrounding cultural change in the company. She supported the corporation in their communication efforts related to culture change in the Indianapolis factories to help the local team earn a new $500 million dollar investment for the local facilities.

More recently, Rae has worked with and supported the Stutz Artistic Association in their efforts to engage the central Indiana community through opportunities that support local art and artists. One event the Association hosts annually is an open house where members are able to display their work and support local art.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, Rae worked with the Stutz artists to move their annual open house online. Vignettes for artists were created and shared across the Stutz Artists Association’s social media channels in April during the height of the recent quarantine. Daily artist features gave a link for artists to be directly contacted to support their sales efforts.

These are just a few examples of when Rae has successfully worked with her clients to reach their goal. Each time, strategically planning out their internal or external communication and aligning it with their business goals.

Getting to know Rae on a more personal level…

• Rae has two sons, one will be a senior at Zionsville Community High School and the other will be a junior at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
• Both of Rae’s children are engineering-minded students. Her younger son plans to study Biomedical Engineering and her oldest son is currently studying Mechanical Engineering.
• Rae loves to travel, has taken 20 cruises and has enjoyed recent trips to Europe including Ireland last summer.
• Rae enjoys a glass of red wine with family and friends at the end of a long work week. She and her husband Bruce can often be found frequenting Zionsville restaurants on the weekends.