While many siblings are each other’s biggest rivals, public relations power duo Briana Cicchelli and Annika Launay have taken a different approach. The sisterly bond has expanded their full-service agency, PDPR Marketing and Creative, with the recent opening of their Sydney-based office, their second location after their Brisbane headquarters. The recent expansion has seen Briana make the permanent move to Sydney to head the new office.

”It’s been a big move for us, not just for the business, but as sisters. In Brisbane, we lived a street apart, car-pooled together every day and had our kids go to school and daycare all on the same street,” said Annika. “We even usually holiday together,” added Briana. “When Annika’s twins were three months old, we decided it would be a great idea to take them and my daughter- who was five at the time- to Europe for a month in winter. The logistics and layers of clothing were mind blowing. But as they never slept, it made checking emails at 4 am in the morning to suit the time zone difference much easier as we were already awake!”

Since evolving PDPR into a full-service agency five years ago, not only have the sisters built a thriving creative agency, they also opened Brisbane restaurant, Fromage the Cow. ”Annika realised she was expecting the twins the same month we signed the lease,” said Briana. ”Excellent timing but having each other’s back makes it all possible and totally worthwhile.”

”We’re each other’s person,” continued Briana. ”I’m a big-picture creative, Annika’s spreadsheets and detail. She’s ultra-organised, I regularly miss flights. But together we make an amazing team- especially in the world of marketing which needs equal parts creative strategy and formulaic implementation.” ”We play to our individual strengths and then look to each other to form strategic business vision in line with our areas of expertise,” added Annika.

Growing up in an entrepreneurial family naturally surrounded the sisters with plenty of business inspiration. ”Our dad had always run his own architectural practice. I guess we learnt about the ‘business’ of running your business from him,” said Annika. As to the future, the duo is planning on launching a third business focused on high-end fashion accessories in 2019. ”While PDPR is always our main focus, we love the drive of business and love watching something we created flourish and grow,” said Brianna.

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