Trudy Johnston - Founder and Director of TJC

Trudy Johnston, founder and director of TJC, is a woman with a big vision, a love of life and oodles of creativity to burn.

At just five years of age, Trudy’s future career path was determined when her Kindergarten Blue report card stated she was “very good with scissors and glue”. (A talent not dissimilar to pulling together media kits, she muses.)

Even at this tender age, Trudy was a true performer but certainly no diva. She was a devoted dancer (and could be found regularly donning her pink frilly leotard) and enjoyed nothing better than showing off her new dance moves to entertain her family and friends. These dance pursuits were almost as satisfying for Trudy as beating the boys at school at marbles!

It was during university, where she gained a BA Honours (Drama) from La Trobe University, that Trudy’s inquiring mind decided to give academia a shot. After graduating, she relished in a short stint teaching theatre history at Swinburne University (Victoria). While Trudy thrived in the environs of University life, she quickly realised her personality and passion were better suited to working beyond the walls of an institution.

And so Trudy sought her true calling – a career where she could explore new ideas, communicate with a purpose to the greater world and work with creative, like-minded souls. As a single mother she knew a thing or two about juggling acts and working against the grain, a skill she’s always putting into practice.

Trudy landed her ideal job at the Victoria State Opera as their Publicity Assistant in 1996. This began Trudy’s never-look-back foray to becoming one of Australia’s most respected and successful arts publicists and marketers. Her vast experience includes two fruitful years at the Australia Council for the Arts, where she specialised in the international promotion of Australian arts and artists.

Trudy was a member of the ausarts2000 team, which promoted Australian arts to incoming international journalists during the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Her love of international art was indulged by promoting Australia's representation in the 2001 Venice Biennale and Australia at ARCO 2002. True to form, Trudy generated an unprecedented level of media coverage and promotion, both in Australia and internationally, for these events.

And as Publicist for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, she honed her talent to tell great stories and build public awareness about the talented musicians at the ACO. Trudy significantly raised the Orchestra's national profile. The results of her success form the basis of her PR and Marketing ethos: to connect and communicate with integrity, positivity and real beauty.

Launching TJC was a less than glamorous affair but one fraught with a visionary purpose, a pioneering attitude and a desire to make it work. Like many new small businesses, Trudy started working from the kitchen table of her inner city terrace with the support of a single client. That was 2002.

Fast forward almost seven years later, and TJC has evolved as an admirable publicity and marketing business with a heart, working with some of this country’s greatest artists, musicians, innovators and entrepreneurs.

Not satisfied with just one string to her bow, Trudy’s passion for teaching bright young minds and sharing her knowledge led her to lecture part time at the College of Fine Arts (UNSW), teaching Marketing and Promotion (2003-2005).

Trudy’s long term vision has come to fruition: Today, Trudy is proud that TJC is a thriving team of devoted publicists, marketers and media trainers who are all about taking their clients with them on an amazing journey. TJC is about realising one’s potential and making a difference. Achievement-orientated but able to infuse a sense of heart and soul into her work, Trudy’s business focuses on integrity and finding deeper meaning for her clients big or small.

Trudy’s dancing moves and spiritual evolution remain a vital part of her life, whether that be kicking up her heels during a tango or centring herself with a bout of yoga and meditation. Her boundless energy means she doesn’t get much sleep, but instead she can be found whipping up various vegan culinary delights, planning her next adventure or devouring stacks of books, where she admits to reading everything from global trends to the latest fiction.