Ilinca Stanoevici: The whole experience of being a journalist helped me uncover the communication’s secrets

She started her career in 1997 as Production Secretary at Castel Film and her journalistic path began one year later at Radio Romania International as Program Producer and Anchor. Then followed Radio Contact,Radio 21 and in 2004 Ilinca Stanoevici took the first step towards her life as a communication specialist, at Catavencu Press Holding. After deepening her experience in the agencies Zoom Zet Media and Ogilvy PR and on the client side at Porche, Stanoevici moved to Brasov in 2015 and started her own company – Univers Divers. 

AdH: What made you decide to chose a career in journalism? When did you discover your passion for radio and how?

I was just a teenager in high school when I was sticking my ear to the radio speaker in order to listen to Exarhu and Gheorghe. It started to give me a dependency, therefore everything that followed later in my career was just a natural continuation of this passion. From a newspaper I found out that BBC opens a Radio Journalism School in Bucharest, I presented myself to the contest and I was accepted. We were initiated in radio’s secrets by a professional from BBC London, finding out what also happens behind a radio show, not only in front. I graduated the Radio Journalism BBC School with the documentary ”Bucuresti, capitala europeana?” (Bucharest, European capital?), then I enrolled at the Superior Journalism School while, at the same time, creating and presenting two radiophonic shows at Radio Romania International. During my 10 years of career in mass-media I collaborated with the majority of the commercial radio stations in Bucharest,knowing interesting people that put their mark on my professional path.

AdH: What are your most treasured moments from your radio career and why? What do you consider to have been the best moments of your career so far?

The moment of turning on the Live red light is in itself a special moment that gives butterflies and raises the adrenaline. Definitely, the most intense goosebumps were felt during the humanitarian raid “Cu papucii prin desert” (With the slippers in the desert), where beside the pilot position that navigated the desert at a pick-up Dacia’s wheel I have been realizing transmissions for Radio Contact throughout this long adventure, for a month, on a 10.000 kilometers distance. The radio transmissions were realized in any weather condition available (sandstorm, sultriness, wind), no matter how high was the fatigue degree.

AdH: Did you have a mentor? If so, whom and why?

The two persons that have definitely influenced me, made me love the radio, treasure it at its true value, the ones that I was listening with sanctity are Andrei Gheorghe and Razvan Exarhu. If I close my eyes I can hear their voices even now from “Midnight Killer” and “Rondul de Noapte” (The Night Shift).

AdH: What did you learn from each step you took?

The Me from now is composed of every slice of tasted and fully savored life: the young journalist’s curiosity, the radio news anchor’s passion, the communication specialist’s interaction with different types of people, the mother of today’s devotion. All those slices of life crayoned me,taught me to meet people and keep moving on!

AdH: What determined you to leave journalism and go into advertising and then PR?

After 10 years of radio I felt the natural need to turn towards an area close to journalism: the communication world. The offer to be part of the then newly launched PR & communication department of the Catavencu media corporation gave me the chance of developing a career in the field I am activating even today.

AdH:  What did journalism offer you that a career in advertising & PR didn’t? And vice-versa. 

Journalism and communication have many aspects in common, from the playing with words to the right connections between people, the interaction in different areas, the fact of always being anchored in reality and of communicating on everyone’s understanding, with the right messages, all of those aspects are a continuous preoccupation. The only thing that is missing is the Red Light of the Live,the sensation that you have when you know that just by using the words, the tonalities, the nuances, it must be enough to transmit the right message to those who are listening. This unique sensation is something I haven’t found somewhere else and I sometimes miss, I must admit.

AdH: Who were the aspects of your experience as a journalism that helped you the most in your career afterwards and why?

The whole experience of being a journalist helped me uncover the communication’s secrets. In fact, journalism is communication and vice-versa. You must hold the art of handling the words, to be able to adapt the manner in which you communicate every situation by itself, to succeed in connecting the right people with everyone’s needs. Therefore, I felt as a fish in the water. I found it easy to start this journey.

AdH: What about aspects from your experience that made it a little hard to be a PR specialist?

So far, I haven’t felt any difficulty from this point of view. I consider that the road is reverse, from communication to journalism, maybe sometimes a little harder, you can encounter some situations you haven’t before.

AdH: Looking back, do you have any regrets? Would you change anything?

I have absolutely no regret, I wouldn’t change anything. Everything I lived made me be whom I am right now, every happening, every event, contributed to the communication person I am today: complete, mature, balanced.

AdH: In 2015 you decided to move to Brasov. Do you consider it was a good decision or not? (professionally speaking)

It’s the best decision from all the points of view! Now Brasov is Home for me, there I can live closer to nature, but also close to very diverse types of events. Lately there is a lot of effervescence in this aria in Brasov: business, cultural, sportive, charitable events, therefore, as a communication specialist I cannot say I have time to get bored.

AdH: How would you define the Brasov communication market? (in terms of budgets,creativity,projects, ideas,etc)

You cannot compare Brasov with big cities, such as Bucharest or Cluj-Napoca, but, for sure, there is a big development potential for the communication market. The number of foreign companies that activate in the aria is growing year by year, the number of foundations, associations, organizations of different types is growing as well, therefore the need for communication grows exponentially.

AdH: What do you like the most about it?

I like a lot the projects, the festivals,the events born in Brasov County, the ones that have continuity and spectacular results from one year to another. This situation shows a maturation of the market, a settling on a normal path.

AdH: What do you believe it should be changed?

I believe it should be offered more confidence and trust to the local market, not letting all the big decisions be taken from Bucharest. There are local specialists in advertising, communication, marketing that truly know the local market and that can create and develop campaigns calibrated to the local situation.

AdH: How was 2017 for your PR business and what do you want from 2018?

2017 brought me a collaboration that I am very fund of,with a hearty and very active team, the team of the Community Foundation Tara Fagarasului: http://fundatiactf.ro/ Together we create and develop projects for the community that I am very proud of and for 2018 all the plans and actions continue in an accelerated rhythm.

AdH: You also have a handmade products company. How is that business fitting next to your career as a communication specialist?

My small floral creation workshop cannot be considered a business, it remains a hobby that I am always coming back to with pleasure, that it relaxes me and makes my soul happy.

AdH: Have you ever thought about returning to Bucharest or do you believe you found the best place for you in Brasov?

As I was pointing earlier, Brasov is now HOME for me and my family. In Bucharest remained the first part of my life, with the people, the places, the happenings back then and Brasov represents another chapter that I desire to live beautifully, alongside new,interesting, big hearted people. The story goes on!