Marilyn Cowley films a commercial for farmersonly.com. Photo contributed

Editor’s note: For our annual Women in Business issue Feb 14, The Business Journal highlighted three women with interesting side hustles in addition to their day jobs, to see what motivates them and their entrepreneurial spirit. Here is one of those stories.

Marilyn Cowley could have worked at Facebook or Google, hanging out and playing Ping-Pong in employee lounges.

But she didn’t.

“That’s not going to be fulfilling for me,” said the 28-year-old owner of Fresno-based PREM PR & Social and Bay Area native.

Instead, living in Clovis has given Cowley a chance to make a name for herself in the Valley and abroad, running a public relations firm, a TV show and multiple acting gigs.

“You always have to have a side hustle,” Cowley tells her 10 employees, who do videography, social media management and more.

“It gives you an outlet to do something different because our brains get so filled with craziness when you’re in the workplace,” she added.

PREM PR stands for “personal, results, effective and memorable public relations.” For Cowley, the “boutique”-style approach of a manageable-size client base and employee count has garnered her clients in Fresno and Clovis, the Bay Area and as far as Chicago, shooting video, managing social media and event planning.

When she first started PREM, she thought she wanted to focus on health and wellness companies — one of her college degrees and a personal passion of hers. But she decided that starting out in the world on her own, that approach would limit her opportunities. Now she works with national brands and local companies from burial insurance to sandwich shops to barbershops.

When she started PREM, she had just left a small ad agency where she felt she had reached the top. Having taught herself the skills to run her own business, she started her company in March 2017.

Within the first week of opening, two clients approached her about contracting for her services. Signing someone within a week isn’t something that happens in the industry, she said.

“Doors just began opening when I left,” Cowley said.

As a business owner, she likes being able to manage her own schedule.

She doesn’t like the 9-to-5 structure, and she tells her team that they don’t need to be at work 9-to-5 either. “You can be in Hawaii for all I care. As long as you get the work done, I’m happy,” Cowley said.

For Cowley, work never stops. Before leaving the ad agency, she was approached by KMPH about doing a TV show. Her broadcast journalism degree from Fresno State lent itself to the work. And her boss at the time encouraged her to take it up. Even in the transition of starting her own job, she kept it because she enjoyed juggling the different demands.

Today, her show “Lifestyle Matters” airs Fridays 11 a.m. The 30-minute broadcast features interviews with local businesses around the Valley.

She fits in the four or five interviews in between managing her 20 clients and meeting with employees.

“It gives me my lunch break. I can go out, be gone for like an hour and go back to my work,” she said.

Interviewing business owners has taught her to be a better listener, she said. Making the features feel more conversational requires more than just reading off prepared questions.

Her other passion is acting and commercial work. Unlike at PREM PR, she gets to work for someone else and for a few moments, be someone else.

“I think it’s just getting to become someone else and getting into a character and being able to portray someone else is the fun part of it,” said Cowley.

She’s done spots for Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, Farmersonly.com and more. She’s done acting classes and worked with former Fresno mayor, Alan Autry.

“I love being busy. I hate to say it, but I’m happiest when I’m working,” Cowley said.