How A PR Exec Survived Lads’ Mags, a Riot, And A Near-Top Gun Airspace Incident

What happens when the person paid to pitch stories decides to live them instead? We pull back the curtain on 90s Soho PR, where relationships were built over ringing landlines, long lunches, and last-minute invitations, and where the distance between press release and personal risk got uncomfortably thin. From beer brands and lads’ mags to editors who wanted proof you’d done the crazy thing you pitched, we trace how a career at the edges turned into a catalogue of hard-won lessons.The ride starts with hedonistic newsroom camaraderie, then swerves into a series of commissions that demanded nerve over notes: witnessing a Boca Juniors vs River Plate riot in Buenos Aires, chasing the feeling of landing Tony Hawk’s 900, and even the absurd hustle of visiting twenty-six massage parlours in a day. The stories escalate toward a 30-day bid to earn a pilot’s licence in San Diego—only to hit sea mist, lose all visual anchors, and drift into Miramar airspace, a live parachute zone, and an unintended step toward Mexico. Mayday calls, a wrong airfield landing, uniforms closing in, and a second takeoff later, the final lesson lands: curiosity without judgment is roulette.We unpack why those scars matter for modern comms work. Curiosity fuels ideas and access, but judgment prevents spectacle from turning into liability. Risk translates into instinct—how to read a room, how to name danger early, how to keep the energy without burning the plan. If you’ve ever wanted to know how chaotic experience can become a professional edge, this is a field manual disguised as a joyride. Listen, share with someone who loves a near-miss story, and leave a review with the boldest lesson you learned the hard way.Click here to listen to the full episode 94.Send us Fan MailStruggling to prove marketing's worth to your board? Grab our free one-page Board-Proof Scorecard: 👉 Download the scorecard 👈Got a marketing problem you would rather not admit to? Reply to this and we will answer it anonymously on the show.Subscribe to our newsletter The mistakes we see marketers make, every fortnight. 👉 [Subscribe here] 👈Follow Chris:X, TikTok, LinkedInFollow Will:LinkedInFollow The Show:TikTok, YouTube