Hidden Gems: Meet Gery Deer of GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gery Deer.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was raised on a small cattle farm in rural southwestern Ohio, where my parents also ran an agricultural trucking business and farm stand. We never had much, and mother, father, and older brother worked hard to keep our family going, and to help me to grow and achieve as well. I’d come into the world with a rare birth defect called bladder exstrophy, and my future was questionable. But thanks to an amazing surgeon, dozens of surgical procedures over 15 years or so, and the support of my family, I was fortunate enough to grow up mostly unhindered.

School was focused on the sciences, but I always loved writing. In college, I worked at the school newspaper, starting as a staff writer but advancing to senior editor before graduation. I’ve been an independent journalist and copywriter ever since.

My professional path didn’t begin in a newsroom. I studied mechanical engineering and computer science in college, training that still shapes how I approach problem-solving, systems, and strategy. Over the past three decades, that technical foundation has evolved into a career in journalism and communications. I’ve worked as a freelance journalist, op-ed columnist, copywriter, editor, voiceover artist, musician, speaker, and creative director, authoring hundreds of feature stories and articles along the way. I’ve also written three long-running syndicated newspaper columns, including Deer In Headlines, a weekly op-ed series that ran from 2008 to 2018, was later revived by reader demand in January 2023, and now appears in the AIM Media Midwest newspaper group and The Jamestown Comet online. My work has been recognized with honors, including the 2025 Appalachian Writers Conference Journalism Award.

In 1998, I founded GLD Communications, a critical communications and public relations agency that began as an IT support company and grew alongside my media career. Today, GLD Communications is one of the largest advertising and PR firms in the Dayton, Ohio market, offering full-spectrum marketing services ranging from audio and video production to digital strategy and social media management. I’ve also spent decades working in the entertainment industry, which has prepared me for film and TV, audio production, and live stage work, enhancing my behind-the-scenes expertise.

In addition to agency work, I collaborate with authors and publishers as a developmental editor and publishing and marketing consultant. Throughout it all, I continue to maintain my byline as a feature writer and columnist for publications across the Midwest and beyond.

Most of my free time is spent with my family, writing, playing piano with my family music group, or helping out with various charitable organizations, such as the local county food pantry, where I serve on the board of directors. I’m also part of the Association for the Bladder Exstrophy Community’s Adult Patient Advisory Council that supports adults who experienced the same birth defect as I did.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not even close. It’s been rewarding, but it hasn’t been smooth.

I’ve made my own way, following in the spirit of my family, so my career has been a series of pivots—sometimes intentional, sometimes forced. Moving from a technical background into independent journalism, marketing, and media production meant constantly proving I belonged in rooms where I didn’t fit the traditional mold. I never depended on the entertainment side of my career as a full-time income stream, and writing is a very similar industry. Like that work, as a professional freelance writer, talent alone doesn’t pay the bills; consistency, resilience, and an almost stubborn persistence more often carry the day. There were long stretches of uncertainty, lean years, and plenty of moments when the safer option would have been to walk away from the work altogether.

Building GLD Communications came with its own challenges. What started as an IT support company grew into a full-service communications and public relations media agency, and that evolution required creativity – not just on what I produced, but in the business office. Cash flow, staffing, client expectations, and scale all became daily realities. There were mistakes—trying to offer too much, trusting the wrong partners, underpricing work early on—and each one came with consequences I had to own and fix.

Balancing journalism with entrepreneurship has also been a constant tension. Maintaining credibility and independence as a writer while running a communications firm requires clear boundaries and discipline. It’s meant turning down work, protecting my byline, and being deliberate about how and where my voice shows up.

Looking back, the struggles weren’t detours—they were the education. Every setback sharpened my judgment, strengthened the business, and clarified why I do the work in the first place. The road hasn’t been smooth, but it’s been honest, and it’s shaped a career that’s sustainable, adaptable, and still evolving.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd. (GLD Communications) is an award-winning, full-service communications, public relations, and media production firm built at the intersection of strategy, storytelling, and technology.

The company was founded in 1998, originally as an IT support business. That technical foundation shaped how GLD evolved—solving problems first, understanding systems, and building solutions that actually work. As the media landscape changed, so did the firm. GLD Communications grew into an agency that helps organizations communicate clearly, credibly, and effectively across platforms, combining technical fluency with journalistic discipline.

Today, GLD provides end-to-end marketing and communications services, including public relations, journalism and content development, brand strategy, audio and video production, digital and social media management, and integrated campaign execution. The firm works with businesses, nonprofits, authors, publishers, and institutions that need more than surface-level promotion—they need messaging that earns attention and trust.

What GLD Communications is best known for is credibility. The agency brings a newsroom mindset to client work, emphasizing accuracy, narrative clarity, and audience relevance. Campaigns are built with the same rigor as editorial content, which helps clients stand out in crowded markets without sacrificing authenticity. Gery Deer’s background in journalism and long-form storytelling also allows the firm to handle complex or sensitive subject matter with nuance and confidence. His media director, Julie Barth, extends her skills into editing, production, and client management for video and audio work, as well as social media assets.

What truly sets GLD apart is its hybrid DNA. Few agencies operate comfortably across IT, media production, journalism, and public relations—but GLD was designed that way from the start. Clients benefit from a partner that understands both the technical infrastructure behind modern communication and the human stories that make messages resonate. That combination has made GLD Communications one of the leading advertising and PR firms in the Dayton, Ohio market and a trusted partner for organizations across the U.S. and beyond.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’ve been fortunate to have editors over the years who took a chance on me before I had the kind of résumé that made it an easy “yes.” They gave me space to find my voice, challenged me when something wasn’t strong enough, and trusted me with bigger stories as I earned them. That early confidence—and just as importantly, that honest pushback—shaped how I approach the work to this day.

Clients also played a major role, especially in the early years of GLD Communications. Some believed in the vision long before the agency looked like what it is now. They stayed through multiple evolutions of the business, from IT support to media production and public relations, and that loyalty gave me room to grow, take risks, and occasionally get things wrong without everything falling apart. Those relationships didn’t just sustain the business; they helped define its values.

I’ve also had the benefit of working with exceptionally strong collaborators—writers, producers, editors, designers, engineers, and strategists—who made the work better than I could have made it alone. They brought their own standards and perspectives, questioned my assumptions, and raised the bar when it mattered. GLD’s success is very much a reflection of that collective effort.

Equally important has been the support of my family, who’ve been my most consistent and clear-eyed champions. My parents instilled both the work ethic and the expectation that results matter. My wife, Barbara, has been a steady anchor—patient, supportive, and honest in ways that only someone close to you can be. My partner and longtime friend, Julie Barth, has been a sounding board and collaborator who knows when to encourage and when to challenge.

And above all, my brother, Gary Deer Jr., has been my greatest supporter and reality check. His belief in me has never been empty praise—it’s always come with a heavy dose of truth. He’s been the person willing to say “this works” or “this doesn’t,” without ego, without sugarcoating, and always with my best interests in mind. That kind of grounded support is rare, and I don’t take it lightly.

Finally, there are the readers, listeners, and audiences who showed up over the years—who read the columns, shared the work, argued with it, agreed with it, and kept the conversation going. That engagement is what makes the work feel real and worthwhile.

If there’s a common thread across all of it, it’s trust—earned over time, reinforced through honesty, and strengthened by people who cared enough to be supportive and real. I may have done the work, but a lot of people made it possible for that work to matter.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gldcommunications.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gldcomm
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GLDEnterprisesCommunications
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerydeer/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gldenterprisescommunicatio9278
• Other: https://jamestowncometnews.com/