“PR is an industry that thrives on creative ambition. Professionals from all backgrounds are in PR, and are changing the way we do things and think about things every day. I have the pleasure of both mentoring and learning from each of them.”
Memorable professional moments:
- Supporting an educational video series that countered disinformation about voting in the 2020 Presidential Election.
- Interviewing library and museum directors about the ways they connected their communities to critical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Hearing Glenn Close deliver an award presentation speech that I wrote, which honored a tremendous documentary about a public figure with behavioral health needs.
People often find it interesting that …
Even though I went to a journalism school that had a PR track, I really sort of stumbled into the industry. I was a Magazines major at UGA who enjoyed creative writing, loved my advertising classes, and happened to have a good eye for typos. One communications job in DC led to another, and I arrived at Vanguard in 2005, not completely sure how I could contribute to a PR firm. And while I had trained in developing longer, feature articles, today my head always goes to the short, pithy copy inherent in advertising!
What does people-first mean to me?
People-first to me is a feeling you get at the end of your work day, and is all about personal integrity. I ask myself, “Did I make decisions today that affected my clients and co-workers in a positive way? Did I make their needs my priorities? Did I make good choices and represent them honorably?” When you see people doing that around you, it is completely motivating, which compels you to pursue that “I did a good job today” feeling every day.
CREDENTIALS
- A.B.J., University of Georgia – Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication; concentration: magazines
Affiliations
- Member, Washington Women in PR, Pro Bono Committee
- Gonzaga College High School Mothers Club, 2020-present
- Committee Co-Chair, 2021
- Rugby Boosters, 2022
- Mentor, Comunicadores for the Future Program, 2019, 2021
- Communications Chair, Holy Trinity School Home and School Association Board of Directors, 2014-2016