Alicia Baines

Alicia Baines started Nara Communications, a PR and strategic communications agency, at 24. With no industry experience, she was the only founding employee alongside her co-founders: her older brother, Nick, and their close friend, Drew-Skinner Shah. In three years, they had grown the team to 20 people across London and New York to meet demand, with a mission to raise the profiles of meaningful, technology-driven organisations across health, climate, deeptech, fintech, and VC. Nara has never taken on external investment.

As Head of Client Services, leadership team member, and co-owner, Alicia is invited to speak across Europe on PR and storytelling; she is embedded in femtech accelerators as their communications expert; and she offers pro bono strategic advice for women’s health organisations.

In February 2024, Alicia faced a nightmare few business leaders will ever encounter: the sudden death of co-founder Drew, aged 33, after a traffic accident. The day after, she submitted a business pitch and won it. The day after that, she devised a strategy to support her team and inform her clients. Two years on, Nara has hired eight new employees, hit its most profitable month ever, and the story was recently told in The Times.