28 | FEBRUARY 11 • 2021 

“I 

was always a grammar 
and words fanatic,” 
says Jamie Sherman, 
a Farmington Hills native now 
residing in Huntington Woods. 
“When I was trying to figure 
out what to major in in under-
grad, I loved communications, 
I loved advertising, and I loved 
psychology. They all center 
around ways to get to know 
people, to express yourself and 
to understand people.”
Her decision was ultimately 
determined by the fact that the 
Public Relations curriculum 
fell under Communications. 
“With PR you still have to 
understand what people respond 
to and how their minds work,” 
she explains. She earned her 
bachelor’s degree from Michigan 
State University in 2008.
After graduating, Jamie 
moved to New York City for 
an opportunity at Rubenstein, 
a large communication agency, 
although she’s always longed to 
return to Detroit. “I was work-
ing with clients like Lionsgate 
Films, Cirque du Soleil, the 
Tribeca Film Festival and the 
Museum of Modern Art. With 

all these accounts the sky was 
the limit, and you could think 
as big as you wanted,” she says. 
Recognizing that her enter-
tainment background was 
making it difficult to translate 
her talents to a Detroit market, 
she broadened her focus and 
switched gears to brand and 
corporate PR. Jamie found 
herself doing the writing and 
crisis communications for such 
notable global brands as BMW
, 
Netflix, HBO, Walmart and 
Refinery29. In 2018, she was 
hired as a communications 
consultant to help with the 
opening of the Shinola Hotel in 
Downtown Detroit.
“What I really want to be 
able to do is help business 
owners tell their story in a way 
that feels authentic to them, 
and that makes sense to the 
audience they’re trying to 
reach, freeing them to focus 
their energy on running their 
business,” Jamie says.
“I want to be the voice that 
guides them through the pro-
cess of communicating and 
executing their mission in the 
most compelling way.” She has 

just created WORDS Detroit, 
her own business and brand 
communication consultancy, in 
order to do just that.
“I decided to found WORDS 
at the intersection of a couple 
realizations: That a lot of peo-
ple absolutely hate writing, and 
that writing is the through-line 
of all my professional experi-
ence — and my favorite part of 
the work I have done,” she said.
“Helping businesses tell 
their stories from the inside 
out is not only interesting and 
rewarding to me, but it is a 
real pain-point for many busi-
ness owners. They can easily 
talk to you about their busi-
ness and why it is important, 
but when it comes to succinct-
ly conveying their passion on 
a website, creating supporting 
content for their blog or news-
letters, or condensing their 
big, complex ideas into digest-
ible soundbites and sales tools, 
it becomes an overwhelming 
and arduous task.”

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL
WORDS offers services that 
include writing press releases, 

speeches and talking points, 
website copy, biographies, 
webinar and blog content, and 
more. What advice does she 
have for business owners when 
it comes to their own branding 
and communication?
“Keep it as concise as you 
can,” Jamie says. “Less is more 
when it comes to your brand 
communications. This can be 
especially difficult when it’s 
your own business because 
every step that you had to take 
to get where you are feels so 
important. That’s why having 
an outside perspective from 
somebody who can home in 
on ‘the point’ can be a good 
thing.”
Jamie also recommends 
resisting the urge to use 
“sales-y” language in brand 
materials. “This is where you 
want to highlight your fea-
tures and benefits, your brand 
mission and your personality 
— with the right words, it will 
sell itself.”
In her own words, “Words 
are not everyone’s forte, but 
they are necessary for every 
business. The right phrasing 
can tell the story of your mis-
sion, set the tone for what your 
clients can expect and provide 
consistency while setting you 
and your unique vision apart 
from the crowd. Corporate 
communications and public 
relations are my trade; words 
are my obsession.” 

Learn more about WORDS Detroit and 

the services offered at www. 

wordsdetroit.com.

New PR firm to help businesses 
improve communication with 
their customers.

REISA SHANAMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Finding the 
‘Write’ WORDS

BUSINESS

“WORDS ARE NOT EVERYONE’S FORTE, 

BUT THEY ARE NECESSARY FOR EVERY BUSINESS.”

— JAMIE SHERMAN

Jamie Sherman

