In 2003, Rebecca Hall felt stalled at her public relations job, prompting her to consider launching her own agency or switching to another firm.
The choice was easier to make than she expected—a potential new employer rescinded a verbal job offer. She took it as a sign, and at age 29, she founded Idea Hall in 2003.
“I didn’t have the fear anymore of going out on my own,” she told the Business Journal. “I really wanted to build an agency that was high performance.”
Hall has since built a mainstay PR and marketing firm in Orange County with a local client portfolio that has included Be Well OC, AO Architects, OCVibe, Goodwill of OC and Irvine Company.
Hall won a Business Journal Women in Business Award on Oct. 15 at the Irvine Marriott. Upon accepting the award, Hall said she was grateful to have been nominated for several years and had gotten used to cheering on her peers, clients and colleagues in the past.
This year, her award was introduced by keynote speaker, City of Hope OC Chief Executive, and her friend Annette Walker.
“It was a delightful surprise to me. What has happened since then, that’s been even more amazing, is the outreach of people from all aspects of my life,” she said.
Multiple community members, from people at Hall’s childhood church to Chapman University’s newly inaugurated president Matt Parlow, have reached out with congratulations.
When looking back at starting up the PR firm, Hall said there was bliss in not knowing the road ahead of her.
“What’s the same is we’re still solving problems in interesting ways,” she said.
Rebuilding Client Base
Hall credits the diversification of Idea Hall’s client base as key to its survival. The agency’s portfolio was almost 100% commercial real estate and banking clients at the start, Hall said.
When the Great Recession hit, Hall knew she had to pivot.
“That’s when we really started putting more effort into nonprofit,” she said.
A big win was when The Orange Catholic Foundation hired Idea Hall to work on its capital campaign to raise funds for refurbishing the Crystal Cathedral, now known as Christ Cathedral, in 2012.
Hall added that it was Robert Neal of Hager Pacific Properties who pointed her in the direction of the foundation.
“It put our skills to work in a different way, and it was a real turning point in the type of work we wanted to go after,” she said.
Hall said another “ultimate” moment was working on Be Well OC’s branding and PR when the nonprofit first arrived in the county.
Idea Hall has since worked with OC’s top architecture and engineering firms such as C.W. Driver and McCarthy Building Cos.
The firm has also added government agencies, water districts, healthcare agencies and higher education clients such as UCI and Cal State Fullerton. It counts clients in hospitality and tourism as well, like Ocean 48 and OCVibe.
Hall said they’re currently looking into transportation companies.
“We like variety,” she said. “I think it helps with creativity.”
Chapman Alumnus
Born and raised in the city of Orange, Hall attended Chapman University— the place where her professional journey started.
“I had the good fortune of landing at Chapman University when Jim Doti arrived as the president,” she said. “And I credit that for a huge turning point in my own beliefs, because I got a very up-close view to what it means to go from a ‘preachers and teachers college’ to a nationally ranked university.”
Hall credits the school’s leadership for her philosophy of “if you can dream it, you can build it.”
She has since served on the alumni board and is currently the executive vice chair on the university’s board of governors. Hall is also a board member of the School of Communications and advisor to both the Argyros College of Business and Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
In March, Hall was named as this year’s chair of the Orange County Business Council board.
“Maybe since very early in my career, I was not afraid to go for big ideas,” Hall said. “And I kind of made a reputation around that. Pushing and advocating that we can make a bigger impact, and I love to champion other causes.”
