Click here for Part I & Part II

The only communications agency in Philadelphia providing integrated PR and social media

Cassandra Bailey is the president and CEO of Slice Communications, a communications agency based in Philadelphia. Slice’s business philosophy is grounded in three principles: 1. PR and social media should work together, 2. Different is better than better, and 3. People like to work with the people they like. These beliefs are at the core of Slice’s service strategy, which integrates PR and social media to help brands cultivate two-way conversations with their audiences. The company has worked with clients such as Axalta Coating Systems, Bookbinder Specialties, Juno Search Partners, and BLT Architects. In addition to her role at Slice, Cassandra is also Chair of Tree House Books, a North Central Philadelphia nonprofit dedicated to building a community of readers and writers.

Cassandra Bailey spoke with citybizlist publisher Edwin Warfield and Jeff Mack of NGKF for this interview.

EDWIN WARFIELD: Why do you choose to work out of Philadelphia?

CASSANDRA BAILEY: It is so important for for Slice to be in this city of Philadelphia, for a number of reasons. One: I believe in cities. I believe in hubs of people. I believe in that instance that happens when you just run into somebody on the street, and that collision. We talk about that collision of ideas and I think that happens more in the city than it does in the suburbs.

I also know that the people that work with us live in the city, a lot of them, and they want to walk to work. They want the beauty of being able to run home in the middle of the day to walk the dog, if that’s what they need to do. They want access to places and groups that are meeting, where they can go to happy hours and run into other young professionals. They want the ability to sit outside and to work in a city park, and to have the chance to do that. That’s why it’s important for us to be in the city.

Quite a few of our clients have also made that same commitment. We really appreciate people who say, “Cities matter. We need to invest in them and we need to make them places where people want to live and work.”

Q. Tell us about your new office space.

A. Thanks to our friends at Newmark, we are about to move into a brand new office space, also in Old City Philadelphia. This space is going to give us the room that we need to grow. It also has seven conference rooms, which gives us the room that we need to be able to meet. I’m excited that we will be able to open the windows and get some fresh air. And I’m also very, very excited that our new office will be dog-friendly.

Q. Where do you see the company in five years?

A. Five years from now, I envision that Slice will be running pretty much on its own—that we have built the systems and processes that this company is fully sustainable, and can deliver to clients, and can keep pushing our clients forward. So, in five years it’s something that I hope not to be in, on a day-to-day basis—and everybody who starts with us knows that—but that I continue to work on developing our system, developing our approach, and pushing the company forward.

Connect with Cassandra on LinkedIn

ABOUT NEWMARK GRUBB KNIGHT FRANK

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) is one of the world's leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 12,800 professionals operate from more than 370 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.

With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.

NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets. BGC’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: BGCP). BGC also has an outstanding bond issuance of Senior Notes due June 15, 2042, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (NYSE: BGCA). BGC Partners is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please visit www.bgcpartners.com.

Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contact edwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

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