Last week, I was at an Entrepreneurs Circle event hosted by Nigel Botterill, where the one and only Steven Bartlett took to the stage.
Now, Steven’s not short of soundbites – but this one stopped me mid-scribble:
“Most of the barriers we face in business are paper walls. They look solid, but they’re not.”
It’s a powerful metaphor.
He wasn’t just talking about innovation or tech. He was talking about mindset. About how we absorb limits from the world around us and start treating them as gospel.
He gave the example of product timelines: “If it takes three months to build, why? Why not two? Why not one?”
Not as a productivity hack. But as a challenge to the assumptions we rarely question.
And that really hit home – because in marketing and PR, paper walls are practically part of the furniture.
PR’s Favourite Paper Walls
We see them all the time:
- “You have to be famous already to get in the press.”
- “We’ll pitch when the rebrand’s done.”
- “It’s not newsworthy until we hit six figures.”
- “We’re not press-ready yet.”
These aren’t walls. They’re comfort blankets dressed as red tape.
In truth, most PR and marketing timelines are padded with hesitation. They’re not strategic. They’re habitual.
The Real Risk of Playing Safe
The longer we delay, the more chances we miss. The story that might have landed in the press this week? Buried under five rounds of edits. The social post that could’ve kicked off a campaign? Still in a Google Doc.
If there’s one thing Steven reminded me of, it’s this: You don’t need permission to push.
In fact, most of the success stories we admire – whether it’s Bartlett, Musk, or that scrappy startup you follow on LinkedIn – are built on ignoring what’s “supposed” to happen.
They go faster. Louder. Earlier. And guess what? Most of the time… it works.
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Final Thought: Break the Wall Before It Breaks You
So next time you catch yourself saying, “We can’t do that yet because…” Stop.
Ask yourself: Is this a real wall, or just a paper one?
Because paper walls don’t need knocking down. They need one good push.
And I know a guy with a press list and a sledgehammer…