About VLPR
VLPR is a Toronto-based boutique PR agency with over 30 years experience, enhancing brand awareness through strategic communications, media and consumer relations, and event management.
VLPR’s specialized care and passion for its projects has been tapped by range of clients from Dolly Parton, Jim Belushi and the late Gordon Lightfoot to corporations such as Hilton Hotels, Sony Music Entertainment Canada and Unique Lives & Experiences to not-for-profits like The Corporation of Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall and the Canadian Live Music Association.
About Victoria Lord
Victoria got her start in PR as an intern for at Random House after which hired her as the assistant on Pope John Paul II’s memoir. The book publishing giant then referred her to Edelman Houston Group to work on the duMaurier Jazz Festival, her first music client, and Matinee Fashion Foundation, doing press for Canadian designers.
Her experience with the jazz festival, coupled with her amateur singing background, deep passion for music and sensitivity for the arts, led to a PR position at the prestigious jazz label Verve, which would cement her career in the music business. From Verve, she went on to work in-house at Polygram, then Universal, before venturing out on her own in 2002.
A creative, well-connected and effective media strategist, PR executive Victoria Lord has landed and retained top corporate and independent clients based on her ability to build brands, identify unique angles and land stories. From Dolly Parton to Searching for Sugarman’s Rodriguez to Jim Belushi, her down-to-earth demeanour and get-it-done work ethic enables her to become part of the team.
She handled publicity for the late Gordon Lightfoot for over 20 years, maintaining a trusted and personal relationship with the music icon. She has been 16 years with Sony Music Entertainment Canada, taking care of the label’s classical, jazz and primarily catalogue releases, and about 15 years with lecture series Unique Lives & Experiences, publicizing Hillary Clinton’s keynotes and setting up interviews with John Cleese, William Shatner and Alec Baldwin.
With Victoria Lord Public Relations (VLPR), Victoria was able to build her client base and her family (she has two kids). Among the top corporations, associations and not-for-profits that trusted her hands-on specialized boutique PR firm were Toronto venues The Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall for a decade, Markham Theatre and Harbourfront Centre; concert promoter AEG Live; union Canadian Federation of Musicians; the Songwriters Association of Canada for which she worked on several Bluebird North tours; and Coalition for Music Education’s signature initiative Music Monday.
Along the way, she branched into hospitality, acquiring contracts with Hilton Hotels Toronto, Vintage Hotels, as well as racetrack Woodbine Entertainment, which included PR for the since shuttered TURF, chef Tom Brodi’s unique upscale restaurant with simulcast horseracing.
Other key verticals at VLPR are film, television, comedy, theatre, dance, fashion and experiential clients.
During a tactical pivot during the covid years, in which she partnered on an agency under a different name, Victoria brought in music clients, such as industry advocates Canadian Live Music Association.
Victoria has been invited to address journalism students at Humber College, Seneca College and York University, as well as MBA students at the Schulich School of Business.
Outside of career and family, Victoria has been involved with numerous causes and charities. She currently serves on the board of the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) and is a member of the FACTOR Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Victoria is an active member of CARAS and Women In Music Canada. She is a judge on CBC’s annual talent contest, Toyota Searchlight and has been nominated for the 2024 CLMA’s Industry Impact Award for her indelible contributions to the music industry.
Victoria has been invited to address journalism students at Humber College, Seneca College and York University; MBA students at the Schulich School of Business; and is frequently interviewed by media as an expert in the field of public relations.
Alec Baldwin
John Cleese
The Art of Banksy
Photo by George Pimentel
With Peter Mansbridge
and Gordon Lightfoot
The Dr. Seuss Experience
@victoria_lord_pr
