Ashley Rudd & Jennifer Delgado

When Sophie Hughes, a body confidence expert, partnered with UK fashion brand Simply Be, engagement went through the roof and it was one of the brand’s best-performing pieces of content.

The campaign succeeded because MODA PR, the agency behind the collaboration, had identified perfect alignment between the creator’s values of body confidence and female empowerment with the brand’s inclusive size range and messaging.

Established by Jennifer Delgado during the first COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020, MODA PR is an independent female-founded agency that provides strategic public relations and consultancy for brands, businesses, and individuals. 

The agency found its footing when Ashley Rudd joined the team. “Jen and I met for a proper girl dinner. Caesar salad and fries,” she recalls. “I just really picked her brain in terms of what it looked like.” That conversation led Ashley to quit her job and join MODA PR, initially as a freelancer before becoming a director in December 2022.

With headquarters in Chester, UK, and operations in Los Angeles and New York, they work with fashion, lifestyle, and beauty brands on one side, and experts, entrepreneurs, and content creators on the other—defining, enhancing, and protecting their reputations.

“If somebody just referred to us as a third party, that would really upset me,” says Ashley. “We always see ourselves as an extension of our clients.”

Both women bring ample industry experience—Jennifer with over a decade in PR including positions at Hearst’s Cosmopolitan, Sophia Webster, and CAN Associates, and Ashley with a background in digital marketing at several fashion marketing agencies.

From Products to Purpose: The PR Shift

When MODA PR launched during the pandemic, they identified an opportunity as the media ecosystem started transforming. 

According to Jennifer, “Everything was very purpose-driven. There was definitely a gap for an agency that would delve a little bit deeper into their clients’ stories rather than just focusing on the products themselves.”

This approach proved especially valuable for beauty brands whose in-person services were devastated by lockdowns. 

“The industry itself was absolutely battered,” Ashley explains. “There was an opportunity there to switch that narrative and storytelling.” For example, they helped clients pivot to at-home solutions, like launching lamination kits when in-person services weren’t possible.

Their value proposition centers on helping clients achieve strategic, long-term visibility rather than temporary publicity. 

“It’s not about press mentions or having been featured once in a magazine,” Ashley emphasizes. “What is their five-year plan? Where do they want to be, and how can MODA support what’s in our wheelhouse that’s going to get them there?”

The Archaeological Approach

MODA’s relationship-building begins with what they call their “discovery phase”—an intensive first month during which they analyze social media demographics and website metrics and conduct in-depth client conversations.

“Month one is when we’re really like archaeologists,” Ashley explains. “That’s when we get the really good stuff.”

This process often reveals valuable opportunities that clients themselves overlook. “Sometimes our clients don’t realize that the things they say are little golden nuggets of information,” Ashley notes. “A fleeting comment about something—’Oh, yeah, because we’re launching in Dubai’—and we’re like, ‘Well, hold on a second. That’s gold.'”

Jennifer adds, “When we have these conversations and they say things, we see it from a different perspective because we can picture that as maybe a line for the media that will develop into a first-person story. They might just see it as general conversation, and we’re like, ‘Whoa, ding, ding. That’s a headline.'”

This system requires bringing together various stakeholders to ensure consistent messaging. “We have to have chats and discussions with the wider team regularly,” Jennifer explains, noting that they coordinate with clients’ marketing agencies and digital specialists to ensure alignment on target audiences.

Bridging Brand and Individual PR

MODA PR operates across two distinct areas: brand PR and personal PR, each requiring different strategies while sharing core principles.

“With personal PR, it’s very much one individual,” Ashley explains. “I think sometimes it can be quite a lonely, solo journey. Whereas brands, it’s encompassing everything—the products, the founder itself, the messaging, the audience.”

Goals often involve broader market expansion for brands: “Usually with the brands, it’s the bigger, scarier goals. It’s like, ‘I want to be in Sephora, I want to grow into this market over here,'” Ashley notes.

Even when working with individuals, MODA maintains a brand mindset. “Just because you’re a person, you are still a brand,” Jennifer emphasizes. “This can be challenging because sometimes people don’t see themselves as brands, but they really are.”

The intersection of content creation and expertise presents unique opportunities. “Sometimes it can be hard to take the leap from content creator to expert and be a media profile,” Ashley observes. “That disconnect there is almost like the sweet spot where the real work needs to start. You’ve got one foundation pillar done—your content is great—but it’s like all the other moving parts now to elevate you, to take you offline.”

Creator-Brand Relationships

MODA’s relationship-focused approach extends to how it manages creator-brand partnerships. At a time when many brands still treat creators as mere distribution channels, the agency advocates for respect and fair treatment.

Payment terms represent a major friction point. “We’ve had it before where brands say, ‘Oh it’s 60 days.’ That’s not standard. Thirty days is pretty standard,” Ashley explains.

The founders also push back against requests for free work, especially on occasions like International Women’s Day. “We’ve seen brands that have said, ‘Can this creator come in and do a talk?’ ‘What’s the rate?’ ‘I just thought it’d be good exposure for her,'” Ashley recounts. Jennifer adds firmly: “Exposure doesn’t pay the mortgage.”

Their advocacy favors valuing creators’ expertise over their audience size. “We work with a body confidence expert who’s got great numbers, but what you’re also paying for is 20 years of experience, her psychology degree, the work that she did around her eating disorder, the hours and hours of free work experience that she’s done in clinics,” Ashley emphasizes.

The Non-Negotiable Foundation

For MODA, successful creator-brand partnerships must be built on sincere connections. “The creator has to have some genuine connection between the brand and the creator,” Jennifer insists. “Five to ten years ago, any brand or creator could work together, and people didn’t think too deeply about it. Whereas now, I feel like it’s very different.”

They point to artist Jack Harlow’s collaboration with New Balance as an example of authentic partnership. “You scroll back and he’s said, ‘I’ve worn them since high school, like, this isn’t a new thing,'” Ashley explains. “And there’s evidence of him wearing these shoes in high school.”

This shift reflects changing consumer attitudes. “Five to ten years ago, as consumers, we probably didn’t care as much as we do now,” Jennifer observes. “We don’t want to be sold anymore. And I think that has transferred into the creator-brand partnership economy.”

MODA PR’s partnership between Sophie Hughes and Simply Be exemplifies its approach to collaboration. The founders note that the fashion brand gave Hughes creative freedom, resulting in content that resonated with audiences and drove product sales.

EMBED VIDEO HERE: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFlXMzMCgZZ/?hl=en 

The agency also opposes overly rigid creative briefs that stifle creators’ authentic expression. “We’ve seen this multiple times where a brand will send over briefs, but they’re very rigid, and they’re not giving the creator the freedom to really have an input,” Jennifer explains.

This not only respects creators’ expertise but delivers better results. “You can tell a mile off when you’re watching things which brands have told the creators to say what,” Jennifer adds. “And it’s so much easier to work with brands when they give you that freedom.”

Collaborative Future

Looking forward, MODA PR sees industry collaboration replacing the traditional secretive approach to business. “Years ago, it was all very cloak and dagger, very keeping yourself to yourself,” Jennifer observes. “But collaboration now across agencies and creators, I think, is growing more and more.”

This collaborative mindset extends to how agencies work together. “We’d rather have 5% of something than 100% of nothing,” Ashley states pragmatically. “I’d rather do a commission split than cut my nose off to spite my face.”

Jennifer adds, “If you’re an exclusively signed creator, for example, you might miss out on opportunities just because it’s with another agency.”

As MODA expands internationally—with established operations in the U.S. and plans to enter Dubai’s growing creator market—it’s bringing this collaborative philosophy to new regions. “We’ve been quite steady for five years and very cautious,” Ashley says about their growth. “But I think for us, it’s full force ahead.”

Dubai represents a particularly appealing opportunity. “The content community over there is not slowing down,” Ashley notes, with Jennifer adding that the city’s business environment contrasts favorably with the UK’s: “They seem to be very welcoming of entrepreneurship and business, which I feel is refreshing compared to the UK right now, which is very challenging.”