Mihaela Balan: From Journalism to PR – The Story of a Successful Career in Communication

Mihaela Balan is an entrepreneur in the communication industry. Ten years ago, she started her career in journalism and then in PR, being guided by a strong aesthetic sense and a passion for writing. After a few years of writing fashion editorials and creating visual content for glossy magazines, she spent an energetic period crafting the local communication strategies of some powerful international brands. The last decade has been about strategy and creativity for the clients of Circle&Square agency.

C&B: Mihaela, please describe your activity.
Mihaela Balan: I manage multiple PR & marketing accounts together with my team, both international and local brands from industries such as lifestyle, fashion, tech, beauty, or real estate. We craft strategies, implement communication plans (content, social media, traditional PR), and organize events that complete the complex universe of a brand in the long term.

C&B: How would you describe your career evolution?
Mihaela Balan: In three words (my story) would be: desire, passion, courage. Imagination has been my driving force, as well as the motivation I’ve nourished through my passions related to art, exhibitions, conversation, travel, and photography.

C&B: What were your visions as a child/teenager and how do they differ now?
Mihaela Balan: As a child, I would have loved to be a translator in the context of diplomatic institutions, as I was a Francophone spirit. Now, I want to pave new paths in understanding the essence and presence of a brand in a market like Romania.

C&B: How did the idea of starting your own business come to you?
Mihaela Balan: The idea of an agency wasn’t something that was incubated for a long time, but rather a natural consequence of an evolution, a growth that I could only sustain by letting go of all the other projects I was involved in. I believed in my unique way of looking at reality, and it worked!

C&B: What are the life and work principles you follow?
Mihaela Balan: I guide myself by honesty, and I choose the people I work with based on how their lifestyle aligns with the concept of a campaign.

C&B: Have the pandemic and economic crises influenced your activity?
Mihaela Balan: Yes, they gave me two months of breathing space. Sometimes, these slowdowns come with benefits: the opportunity to step back, make decisions you wouldn’t have made otherwise, and take the time to explore other paths.

C&B: Can you share any funny situations from your work?
Mihaela Balan: I am still surprised that many proposals lack attention or strategy. Grammatical errors, lines without spaces, presentations without links, old emails with names and IDs that don’t match. In the end, I don’t know exactly who I am talking to.

C&B: You have a potential client/partner or employer in front of you. What’s the sentence that convinces them?
Mihaela Balan: Your perspective is fantastic, I can see why we communicate so easily, and I am confident we can achieve these objectives together!

C&B: What advice would you give to those just starting or undecided?
Mihaela Balan: A career is a game, but a serious game. With seasons, characters, rules, good and bad stages – what matters is your positioning and how you shape your personality. If something is holding you back, it’s your mind, but you are not just “the mind.”

C&B: What is your opinion about society and its evolution?
Mihaela Balan: People are increasingly scared of direct interaction with technology. Everything is perceived, filtered, and amplified through the screen. Therefore, all future experiences, from a marketing perspective, will make room for digital personalities and incredible on-offline transitions.