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Insights

Some good news. Also: why I love my job.

Nicole Bestard ·

Three white lambs with brown spots are seen sitting cuddled together in some hay

Three lambs resting at the SR Houston Solar Farm in central Georgia on February 12, 2025. Also, symbols of good things in the world.
By Nicole Bestard
Public relations is a tough job. It is often misunderstood and undervalued, and it requires a high tolerance for rejection and a strong barometer for bullshit. It also requires reading, watching, and listening to the news on a daily basis—and lately, the lion’s share of that news has been bleak. But for those of us who apply our PR skills to purpose-driven companies, the job becomes something more.
I love my job. Not because I’m blind to the relentless tide of bad news, nor because I’m some sort of Pollyanna. I love my job because I have the singular privilege of sharing stories of people working to make the world a better place. I get to create the good news for a world that desperately needs it.
At Quarter Horse, we connect smart reporters with stories about real, tangible progress—stories that remind people the world isn’t all doom and dysfunction. And while the massive media wins are exciting, the deeper reward comes in forging relationships with smart, passionate people who care about making a difference. Not every client or journalist relationship goes beyond the transactional, but when it does, you realize that your work, your counsel, and your humanity are not just valued, but essential.

In that vein, I want to share a few positive stories from Quarter Horse PR over the past few weeks:

  1. We brought eight local and national reporters together in central Georgia to work alongside the shepherds helping to run the solar farm owned and operation by our client Silicon Ranch Corporation. We witnessed a ewe give birth, helped to feed lambs, and even assisted in rounding up escaping lambs that made a break for it (you could say they went on the lam). It was fun and sweet, but more than anything else it was enlightening—for all of us. In a tense climate of increasing rollbacks in renewable energy investments, we had meaningful, tactical conversations about the tangible benefits that solar energy can bring to the land and the community, especially when it’s paired with regenerative farming.

  2. The following week, Quarter Horse team members traveled to Washington DC to herald the launch of mobile navigation app Waymap that helps visually impaired people (and anyone who can use extra support navigating underground) find their way around the entire DC metro system without wifi or a data connection. We got to meet a para-Olympian, talk with multiple reporters glad to cover some good news coming out of our nation’s capital and meet a bunch of super hard-working civil servants—including Evelyn Valdez, who is blind and has found Waymap to be a fabulous addition to her arsenal of tools.

  3. Last night, my colleague Katie Jacobs and I organized a dinner with our client Caliber, a reputation intelligence company. Journalists from Bloomberg, The Guardian, USA Today, and Vanity Fair joined us for a candid conversation about how the current political climate is changing everything from how reporters cover the news, to how corporate executives engage with their primary audiences. The matter of stakeholder communications has never been more fraught, and it was a fascinating conversation—one that I know will help inform and strengthen reporters’ coverage during a chaotic, uncertain time.

In an era dominated by misinformation and calculated outrage, sharing stories of innovation and impact doesn’t diminish the gravity of everything else happening in the world. If anything, it’s what keeps us going. Good news isn’t just a reprieve—it’s a reminder of what’s possible.
This is a call to action: share your stories about what has brought you fulfillment or purpose at work in the last few weeks. Share your good news—we all need to hear it!