How Apollo, Citadel, Blackstone, & Bridgewater Built Their Brands

Jennifer Prosek (0:00)

My name is Jen Prosek. Prosek Partners is known as an integrated marketing communications firm.

Molly O'Shea (0:05)

You were top three in M&A communications, ranked number one globally in deal volume in 2026 You hit nine figures in revenue. Am I allowed to say that?

Jennifer Prosek (0:13)

Yeah.

Molly O'Shea (0:14)

That's crazy. You have a clear monopoly on all of the branding and marketing PR comms and strategy behind some of the largest institutions and also companies as well. You have $70 trillion in clients AUM.

Jennifer Prosek (0:27)

A lot of money. I started the business in my 20s, and I had this crazy idea that the finance world would care about brand in an offense way. I had this cockamamie idea that we were going to be the firm that did that. We were selling something no one wanted to buy for years. And then the financial crisis came and Goldman famously had the vampire squid and many, many other firms were damaged. So famously, the Goldman's of the world decide this is not a defense game.

They went to the market and said, who does this? And we were like, we've been talking about this for years.

Molly O'Shea (1:10)

Today we're sitting down with Jen Prosek, one of the most influential brand builders in finance and technology.

Jen is the founder and managing partner of Prosek Partners, the reputation management firm behind some of the biggest names across private markets, asset management, venture capital, banking, and tech. For more than two decades, she's advised financial institutions managing hundreds of billions, and in some cases, trillions of dollars, helping them shape their brands, build trust, manage crises, and turn reputation into a competitive advantage. Today, I want to unpack what she's learned from having a front row seat to some of the most powerful firms and financiers in the world, who has built the best brands, what they got right, what destroys a reputation, how to build one intentionally, and what happens when things go wrong. Jen Prosek, welcome to Sourcery.

Jennifer Prosek (1:59)

Thanks for having me.

Molly O'Shea (2:01)

Well, I'm so excited to have you here. We're at the New York Stock Exchange in their IPO Rocho Library.

Jennifer Prosek (2:06)

Nice.

Molly O'Shea (2:06)

This is very emulative of your career and all of the huge financial firms that you work with building out the largest brands. So I want to ask you, what makes a good financial brand?

Jennifer Prosek (2:21)

Well, it's kind of what makes any brand great. But I think first, it has a distinctive narrative. We always tell clients, before you get out there and say anything, you need to nail the narrative. You have to figure out what is it that is distinctive and interesting and exciting so that when you say it and all your people say it, there is some positive effect.

Brands typically are somewhat emotional, they are aspirational, so all the things are built into nailing the narrative. But I think great brands are, the word authentic is always used, but it is true. They are authentic, they have some sort of purpose, they have some sort of reason for being, some right to win. And I think brands are aspirational and emotional. You want to feel as the customer of a brand that you are part of it and that it represents you.

Molly O'Shea (3:14)

So I don't know if you say this, but I'll say it because Prosek pops up in my inbox all the time.

Jennifer Prosek (3:20)

We like that.

Molly O'Shea (3:21)

You have a clear monopoly on all of the branding and marketing PR comms and strategy behind some of the largest institutions and also companies as well. So I think I wrote it down, you have $70 trillion in clients AUM.

Jennifer Prosek (3:37)

It's a lot of money.

Molly O'Shea (3:38)

It's a lot of money. As we walk out this conversation, I'd love to talk through some core examples.

Jennifer Prosek (3:46)

Sure.

Molly O'Shea (3:47)

And I know alongside that there's like a handful of stats behind you, but you were top three in M&A Communications, ranked number one globally in deal volume in 2026

You were ranked number one alongside FGS Global. You hit nine figures in revenue. Am I allowed to say that?

Jennifer Prosek (4:05)

Yeah.

Molly O'Shea (4:06)

That's crazy.

Oh my gosh. And you have a long list of clients. But I guess to start, we'll talk through some client cases and some, you know, just other brands, but this might be a big question as well. But who do you think has built some of the best brands in finance?