Life & Work with Sarah Robarts of Global Communications Agency

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Robarts.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
This story began in Kampala, Uganda, born to Baha’i parents who became refugees from Idi Amin’s regime and fled to Kenya where they raised their 4 children. Then boarding school in the UK, University in Canada, and then France. I then lived and worked in London before moving to LA in 2000. In London I learnt so much working for the very clever Hindmarch family, who are marketing geniuses and very creative people. I was always going to look for a job after I moved to LA in 2000, but friends and businesses asked me to help with their PR needs and very quickly Ballantines Public Relations (BPR was born).
My partner and I both sold our little flats in London and bought a run down hotel in Palm Springs. That shows how depressed the market was back then. It was a mid-century modern gem that we patiently and lovingly restored and it became an oasis for creatives and industry folk escaping LA for weekends and retreats.
Step by step Ballantines has grown with the help and friendship of an incredible team and clients. Twenty six years later, (January 2026 is our 26th anniversary) we span the globe, have over 30 women on our team and have grown into a full-service communications agency serving some of the most incredible creatives and brands that we could have ever dreamt of representing.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No! It has been so bumpy. I never contemplated failure. As a single mother, living thousands of miles from home, I had no alternative but to make the business succeed. I couldn’t have afforded to pick up my two little children and pack up and go back to England. I took risks then that I could never take now. Be bold and take risks when you are younger; it is so much easier.
I didn’t have any assets to secure any operating capital so it was all from cash flow. I didn’t have an MBA or experience to grow and operate a business. Like many women, I encountered gender-based power dynamics along the way. There were moments when professionalism wasn’t reciprocated and when boundaries were enforced, it created real obstacles in my work and threatened mine and my children’s livelihood. I soldiered on. I never compromised my ideals and held my head up high and clung to my Faith. It is all too common in the workplace. I love supporting and mentoring younger women entrepreneurs.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We specialize in integrated communications and reputation strategy – spanning PR, digital, creator partnerships, crisis management and more to help brands scale with intention.
I think we are known for being the smart, strategic, creative and fun women who make up Ballantines and work so hard and brilliantly to deliver all we do alongside our great portfolio of clients. We make magic together that impacts all of our lives and those of so many more touched by creative and impactful campaigns and moments.
I am most proud of the collaboration I witness daily with our friends and colleagues in the media, our partners and team and clients. It is truly collaborative, kind, creative and with each year, I feel it all becomes more meaningful as we too become more selective about who we work with and represent.
I do believe that with all the hours we work and with life being so short that service has to be central to our work. It needs to help others and provide meaning and fulfill us personally, as a company and our wider audience we reach through our clients amazing brands.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
If people want to support us, bring us their work, hopes and dreams. Let’s see how we can collaborate together. In this way, too, we get to give back more. We do so much pro bono PR for great causes. The better Ballantines does, the more we too give back, and the more of my time is freed up for our non-profit, amazing work.

Pricing:

• we quote per project or retainer period

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ballantinespr.com
• Email: hello@ballantinespr.com
• Instagram: @ballantinespr
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahrobarts1