Public relations powerhouse; Fennella Bruce – Working behind the scenes

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“Why hasn’t anyone written in detail about you Fennella,” I asked. “Simone, I prefer to be behind the scenes. It is where I do my best work.”

I was introduced to our Woman Empowered last year, when I began receiving emails from her promoting illustrious events and notable names in the city of Toronto. What I enjoyed about Fennella Bruce almost immediately was her ability to communicate her client’s needs clearly. I was impressed by the fact that she had the ability to use words, and connect with her audience, who was at that time, me.

Over time, our professional relationship has developed, and I started to learn more about her. I am astonished that there was not more out there highlighting this media mogul.

Fennella Bruce is a former news producer who in the last 20 years has secured her position as a media authority. She has served as a producer and senior writer at: CTV News Channel, CTV – Canada AM, CTV National News, City News/Breakfast Television/City Online, CP24 Toronto, and BET News.

Fennella is a 2020 recipient of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women Award, an award that highlights the various roles that she plays in the African-Caribbean community. She is a past Board Member of Tropicana Community Services, Past President of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists, and current member of Sheridan College Advisory Board for Journalism.

She has served as a juror for the Canadian Screen Awards, and the New York Film Festivals International TV Awards. Her love for education prompted her to teach Media Literacy for five years at Centennial College, where she also mentored numerous journalism students.

As current Vice-President of the Board of Dr Roz’s Healing Place, she actively fundraises, and promotes the work being done at the organization. Her work is so well recognized, that she was honourable mentioned in A Groundwork Guide By Dalton Higgins, Hip Hop World (2009).

Fennella has learned to use her power and influence in the world of journalism, entertainment, and news, and continues to utilize mass media to further the cause of others. It’s time to enter the world of Public Relations extraordinaire, Fennella Bruce.

” I am originally from London, England. Both of my parents hail from Guyana, a country on South America’s North Atlantic Coast.

My parents actually met in London and made the decision to move to Canada when I was about four years old. When my parents came, there were not a lot of black families, so we had to hang out together. My cousins and I were all around the same age, and we partied and had fun together. I grew up in a Guyanese household, so that meant I grew up celebrating the amazing Guyanese Culture. I experienced all the Guyanese flavours and foods: pepper pot, curry chicken and rice, cook up rise with fish, bake and salt fish. Such great memories!

We lived in Leslieville, then moved to Scarborough when I was around twelve years old. I lived in Scarborough for most of my adult life. I went to Lester B Pearson, and then Woburn Collegiate Institute.”

“What made you decide on a career in journalism?” I inquired.

“Writing comes very easy for me. I was always fascinated with television. When I graduated high school, I was going to go to Carleton for Journalism, but I decided to go to the University of Toronto. When I was there, I was writing for the school paper, as well as doing programing for the radio station. They didn’t have a television component, so I began looking for one.

I learned about a two-year program at Ryerson, but they only accepted 60 people out of 700 applicants. You can imagine my delight when I was chosen to be part of the program. I was the only black student in the class. The program gave me everything I was looking for. I learned how to shoot. I learned how to edit. I learned how to produce and be in front of the camera.”

Now that she had the theoretical component of her chosen career, Fennella very quickly began to turn the theory into action.

“Once I finished, my goal was to get into a mainstream position. I began volunteering at City TV. I would practice writing for different shows. Not too long after I started at City TV, a position opened up at Breakfast Television. It was myself and four white guys. It was very intimidating at first, and like any job, it had its ups and downs. It was during that time that I also started writing for Pride Newspaper.

Life definitely got hectic for a while. My shift started at 4:00 am at Breakfast Television, and I was up at 3:00 am. After finishing the morning show, I would drive to the Pride Office, and work there for the rest of the day. I did this for a while, and then I was offered a fulltime job at City TV. I helped to launch CP24 and started producing there. When BET came here, I assisted in creating Canadian content for BET News.”

Fennella made the decision to take a break from work life and left to have her babies. It was not for very long, and when she returned, she took the media world by storm.  She started at Toronto 1, launching that station, and then went back to Citytv. She worked there for five years, and moved on to work for CTV, where she produced the news for Canada AM for six years. She then became the Control Room Producer for Your Morning, and her final producer position in news was at CTV News Channel.

After all of these years of working in the media space, there was still something missing for Fennella; something that she needed to do.

“I wanted to depend on me. I was making other people’s business look good. It was my time. Time to build my own brand. I wanted to have more control over my narrative.”

With this came the founding of FKB Media Solutions, which has garnered publicity from major market media including: CTV, CP24, CBC, Global, City TV, CHCH, TVO, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Flare Magazine, Cosmopolitan, CFRB, G98.7, AM640, GQ Magazine and Thrive Global.

FKB Media Solutions is a media consulting company that finds solutions for media problems. Their services include:

• Media Strategies
  Public Relations
  Media Training
  Media Consultation
  Copy Editing and Writing
  Media Literacy Workshops
  Television Writing and Production
  Live stream Broadcasting
  Sponsorship Packaging

Her exceptional background, and extensive media experience has pushed FKB Media Solutions into the forefront of public relations.

Some of their clients include:

• Former NBA player Damon Stoudamire
• Director and Academy Member Frances-Anne Solomon
• TD Black Diamond Ball
• The Grace International Jerk Food & Music Festival
• Caribbean Tales International Film Festival
• Miami Broward Carnival
• How She Hustles, /Start-up & Slay digital series
• Rogers Mosaic Inclusion and Diversity (RIFF) event spotlighting Black female filmmakers
• Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce
• Tazwiz Inc
• YouTube Influencer Auntie Jillian

“Managing my time is the most difficult part of running my business. I also have to wear a lot of hats. It can overwhelm you. My goal this year was to expand my base a little bit more in the US and internationally. COVID clearly had other plans for me, but I am still working on widening my network. Another goal of mine is to extend cross-culturally.”

People tend to underestimate the power of public relations. After speaking with Fennella, I have a brand-new respect for the work that goes into advancing the reputation of a person or an organization. If you have the right brand that communicates with the right target market, it can attract talent, investors, and even new leads. Who better to help you do it than a powerhouse who knows her way around our ever-evolving media environment.