Crisis Control

As JULIE PARKER knows, handling crises is a challenge. But for her, it’s also the best part of her job.

Parker is president and CEO of Julie Parker Communications, a woman-owned crisis and media management firm with a focus on training and guiding police departments, government agencies, universities, and for-profit entities.

Guiding her clients through the management of difficult events, she says, is both personally satisfying and a public service. “I enjoy the ability to help them get all the pieces of the news that you need to tell their story,” Parker says, “and then to tell it in such a way that the public appreciates it and respects you for sharing the facts.”

While in college, tedious business administration classes led Parker to transfer schools and try her hand at broadcast journalism. Her new focus led to a handful of TV news internships, which began her unexpected journey to a career in crisis management.  

Once graduating, she worked in local news outlets in D.C., filling roles from camera operator to producer. Her responsibilities began to evolve, and her work in the newsroom, eventually on-camera, included coverage of events such as the Academy Awards and breaking news such as the 9/11 attacks. 

Parker’s work in broadcasting was recognized through an Emmy Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award.

Looking for a new challenge, in 2011, she joined a police department in Maryland as its media relations director. “I hate being bored,” Parker says. Five years later, she joined a police department in Northern Virginia in the same capacity.

Instead of relaying news stories to the world, she was now finding the ideal way to deliver information directly to the media and the public on behalf of the organizations involved.  

She decided to take Julie Parker Communications full time in February 2020, having officially started the company in 2014. Within a month, a large county government contacted her to help manage “a strange new virus,” and then in 2021, she worked with the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) on navigating media and social media in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot.

Julie Parker Communications has continued to flourish since then. In 2022, Parker earned two awards for crisis response and reputation turnaround for her work aiding the USCP, and she hired her first full-time employee. That same year, she made her way south to Wilmington, having heard wonderful things about the city. “I was seeking more warmth both in temperature and in people’s temperaments,” Parker says.

Today, she leads a team of twenty-five employees who help her train and consult with government agencies and others across North America. Julie Parker Communications is based in Wilmington, though her team members span the United States.

Parker plans to continue taking on clients and fearlessly guiding them, especially in the age of social media. “It’s among the hardest parts of the job,” Parker says, “but we can’t ignore it.”  

Her advice to organizations is straightforward: “Don’t wait until there’s a problem to find the right crisis communications firm,” she says. “Identify them before the crisis hits.”

Looking towards the future, Parker says she wants to broaden her business network. “I have no doubt we will be here in Southeastern North Carolina,” she says, “soaking up the sun and working hard.”

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

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