Possibly one of the most talked about event events of 2015 was the farewell to Bruce Jenner and the introduction to Caitlyn Jenner. Jenner has been in the spotlight for decades and is a household name to all generation because of Olympic achievements and reality television stardom. In April of 2015, the much-anticipated interview with Dianne Sawyer aired and in June of 2015, Caitlyn made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair.

As a PR pro, I thought that the entire transition process went incredibly smoothly. To be honest, I hadn’t given much thought to it other than, “job well done” or “what an amazing story.” It wasn’t until The New York Times published “Caitlyn Jenner’s Secret-Sharer,” detailing the process, that I realized that the public transition was thoughtfully managed and well-executed.

Before the Kardashians dominated the world of social media and reality T.V., Bruce Jenner was a well-known Olympian, working with Alan Nierob from Rogers & Cowen to handle his public appearances, endorsements and image. According to The New York Times article, after marrying Kris Jenner, he stopped working with Nierob because Kris began handling his career. But in 2014, Nierob received a call. It was Bruce Jenner. He had recently divorced Kris and needed help from his old publicist. At this point, tabloids ran wild with the possibility of a gender transition and Jenner was doing his best to stay out of the spotlight. But with a transition in the near future, Jenner needed PR help.

From the beginning, Nierob knew that it was time they take control of the narrative and the first part of the process would be to let the public hear the story straight from Jenner. The Kardashians had a strong relationship with E!, owned by NBCUniversal. In order to prevent the perception that the interview was for financial gain, Nierob and Jenner chose to move forward with ABC. Next, they needed a reporter that would handle this matter sensitively, while still asking the right questions, the ones that people would want to know the answers to. Diane Sawyer seemed like a natural fit, and Nierob had experience working with her on behalf of other clients in trying situations and had seen successful outcomes. It also didn’t hurt that Jenner respected Sawyer.

Next, the introduction of Caitlyn. Knowing this would be a highly anticipated event after the interview with Sawyer aired, it was critical that her debut was handled thoughtfully. The publication needed to be well-respected and have connections with renowned photographers and journalists that would capture the essence of Caitlyn—this was the first time the public would get to meet her. Vanity Fair seemed to have everything Nierob was looking for, especially a connection with Annie Leibovitz, who would go on to produce an iconic cover.

One aspect The New York Times article neglects to recognize is that Nierob and his team also planned the launch of a Twitter account for Caitlyn to promote the Vanity Fair cover. Really, this was Caitlyn’s main introduction to the public. No one knew her name yet, when, where or how she would be introduced. But social media allowed for the cover to spread like wildfire. Within four hours, Jenner gained one million followers, breaking a record and beating out Barack Obama for the fastest accumulation of followers.

When Nierob began working with Jenner again, he did not have an easy task ahead of him. The tabloids were spouting rumor after rumor and most of them negative. As a result, the public had preconceived notions about Jenner’s transition that were fueled by tabloid gossip. There were family ties to broadcasting companies that had the potential to skew the public’s perception of Jenner’s motivation to do the interviews.  And most importantly, this was one of the first highly public cases of a transgender person making her transition, and the public needed to be educated in the process. By approaching this in a couple of different stages, from Bruce’s perspective and introduction to Caitlyn, and conducting the process through multiple channels, broadcast, print and social, Nierob helped introduce the public to Caitlyn in a thoughtful manner. Not only that, but he has positioned Jenner remarkably well for the next stage of her career, an advocate and ambassador for the transgender community.