By Rich Sanders
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal featured the unstoppable American tourist.
When I forwarded it to Whitney Lee, she exclaimed: “That’s me!”
What makes Whitney fit this description so perfectly? To celebrate her 40th birthday and escape the scorching heat of Scottsdale, Arizona this time of year, she decided to spend the summer in Europe!
As the owner of True Story Public Relations Agency, Whitney runs a dynamic team of PR professionals here on the Emerald Coast. After graduating from Florida State, she started her firm in Destin with the goal of offering outstanding service and quality work to businesses of all sizes and in all industries. As she gained more experience, she eventually determined that her niche was in the hospitality industry. As for the name, Whitney simply says: “People are starving for real!”
With the growth of her firm and development of a national client base, Whitney determined that it might be fun to try a new place to live. She relocated to Scottsdale and has lived there for a couple of years, still managing her team in Florida and clients all over the world. Whitney attributes part of the growth and success of her business to her strategic thinking on behalf of her clients: “I always say that PR is not an overnight thing. We’re not playing checkers. We’re playing chess… like it is our job to shape what people think and feel about your business until the end of time.”
Once she realized that she could run things from Arizona, it didn’t take long for Whitney to also conclude that she could do the same thing from a more exotic location: Europe! In 2026, Whitney spent the month of June in Milan, then July in Spain. After celebrating her 40th birthday on the exclusive island of Ibiza, she visited both countries again in August. Her social media posts this summer make these locations come alive!
Her faith has been a significant source of inspiration in starting and growing her business, especially her views on success and serving others as a Christian Capitalist. “Nowhere in the Bible does it say it’s wrong to make money and to be successful and to be aspirational. I think it’s always knowing that it is not ours, that it is a gift from God, and that when you are given success, whether that be business or financial, when you are given that success, I truly believe it comes with a responsibility to pay it forward, to take care of other people, and to bless other people with what you’ve been given.”
Whitney recently appeared on the Christian Capitalist podcast, and you can listen to the entire episode on SOWAL Life’s website! We are excited to share inspirational stories of hard work and generous giving to the poor and needy in the name of Jesus Christ, like Whitney Lee and True Story PR.
Rich Sanders is a pastor, small business owner, retired healthcare attorney and adjunct professor at Emory University, and former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, He and his wife, Rebekah, met at church in 1996, have been blessed with three children (James, William and Caroline) and live in Destin with their large golden retriever, Cowboy.
