DNAInfo Editor Resigns To Launch New PR Firm

CHICAGO, IL — Justin Breen, a veteran journalist, has resigned as a senior editor at DNAinfo.com Chicago to launch his own communications and public relations firm, Robert Feder reports. BrEpic Communications, LLC already has clients in place and plans to expand by targeting other businesses in the city of Chicago and the northern suburbs.

“I’m looking forward to seeing where this new adventure takes me,” said Breen, who was at DNAinfo for five years and previously spent 13 years as an editor at news publications in Northwest Indiana.

Now, he wants “to help people grow their businesses” while expanding his own brand through BrEpic.

Breen grew up in north suburban Northbrook and graduated from Glenbrook North High School before earning a degree in communications from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.

“My clients have seen immediate gains in business and social media followings,” Breen said of BrEpic. “Chicago is an incredible market – several of my clients are currently Chicago based – and I’m looking for more forward-thinking businesses in the city that I can help.”

The firm says on its newly launched Facebook page that it will “run your social media sites, write clicky stories that highlight you or your business, and find the right pitch for multiple media outlets.”

Breen expressed his gratitude toward DNAinfo on Monday for the opportunity the online news outlet covering Chicago’s neighborhoods provided him over the past five years in fulfilling “a lifelong dream of working in Chicago.”

“I was the third person hired at DNAinfo Chicago – before we had a staff or office – and to see it grow from essentially nothing to what it is now has been beyond rewarding,” he said. “The best part about DNAinfo is the employees, who have worked nonstop to make the venture an award-winning enterprise. It quickly gained a loyal following in Chicago and it’s become an essential news source.”

Photos courtesy of Colin Boyle/Colin B Photography