3 Nov 2026
EP 035. From One $5,000 Client to a Multi-Million-Dollar Firm | Ebony Lewkovitz on Leaving the New York Post, Pricing Her Worth, and Turning Her Name Into an Asset
Welcome back to STACKED, the show that helps you become your own best asset. Today's question: how do you turn just yourself, your name, your expertise, and your reputation, into a business people pay real money for? Emily sits down with Ebony Lewkovitz, founder and CEO of Eden Communications, a strategic communications firm working across Wall Street, digital assets, and emerging tech.
Ebony reached the top of Australian journalism by 27, then quit, bought a one-way ticket from Melbourne to New York with no job, no apartment, and no contacts, and worked in a bar while she freelanced. She turned down her old dream job back home, held out, and landed at the New York Post, where she became the paper's Washington correspondent and covered the 2020 election. Starting Eden cost a couple hundred dollars for an LLC and a website domain, and her advice is to skip the expensive branding and get paying clients first. Ebony opens her rate card: why agencies charge a project fee or a retainer, how retainers range from $5,000 a month for a small agency to six figures a month for the biggest firms, her own largest retainer of about $45,000 to $50,000 a month, and the most insulting lowball she's been offered, about $2,500 a month. This is educational, not financial advice. Do your own research.
This episode is brought to you by The Brickell Babes, Miami's largest network of ambitious women. Join for lifetime connections, real recommendations, curated events, exclusive perks, and a community of women who actually show up for one another. Learn more about membership at www.thebrickellbabes.com/membership.This is the episode for anyone who has ever wondered what their expertise is actually worth.
Key Topics:
• From Melbourne to New York with a one-way ticket
• Turning down a dream job to stay the course
• The New York Post and the 2020 election
• Quitting with no backup plan
• Why a journalist makes a great publicist
• Having a point of view so you aren't boring
• Starting Eden with one month of severance
• The $5,000 first client
• What she owns
• Best decision: moving upmarket
• Worst decision: overhiring
• How agencies price a client
• The inflection point is consistency
• Wall Street and digital assets converging
• Turning a lowball into referrals
• Why niche press beats viral press
• Women in digital assets
• How to pivot into a new industry
• What reporters want from you
• Lightning round
Timestamps:
00:00:00 – From Journalist to 7-Figure Founder00:01:20 – Building a Career in New York00:03:30 – Betting on Yourself When No One Knows You00:06:00 – What Makes a Story Newsworthy?00:09:00 – Building a Strong Personal Point of View00:11:00 – Moving From Journalism Into Tech and Digital Assets00:14:00 – Starting Eden Communications With Almost Nothing00:17:00 – Landing the First Client: The Co-Founder of Tetris00:21:00 – Asking for Help and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome00:24:00 – What It Costs to Start a PR Agency00:27:00 – Owning Your Business and Protecting Your Reputation00:29:00 – The Worst Financial Decision: Hiring the Wrong People00:30:00 – How to Price PR Services and Build a Rate Card00:39:00 – Turning Down $50K–$60K Monthly Clients00:41:00 – Managing Crisis Communications and Negative Press00:49:00 – Being a Woman in the Crypto Industry00:54:00 – Why Women Have an Advantage in Digital Assets01:03:00 – The Stories and Data That Make You Newsworthy01:05:00 – The PR Secrets That Can Get You Press01:06:00 – Lightning Round: Business, Money, and Personal Brand
Disclaimer:
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