Stories

Since graduating from Santa Clara in 2011, I've pursued a career in public relations (PR). For the past seven years, I've worked on the agency side, supporting a wide variety of clients -- ranging from hospitality companies, non-profits, sports teams, tech giants and more. I live in San Francisco and work as an Account Director at Access Brand Communications, but will be relocating to work out of the Chicago office this summer. In the past few years, I've been focusing mainly on communications for larger technology companies including Intuit (maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks) and Capital One. In my job, I do everything from ghost writing executive bylines to crafting messaging for new products, pitching elite media on stories, researching conferences, large scale event planning/management and providing competitive insights.

My history degree from SCU has served me extremely well in this regard, as it taught me how to write, analyze, research, and most importantly -- think critically. To be successful in my job, I need to always think about context. For example, I ask myself questions like, how does this new product help customers? What differentiates us from our competitors? Why would a particular reporter be interested in learning about my client? How do we fit into larger industry trends? Just like a historian, understanding the context of a news announcement is critical in PR and crafting a compelling story.