JOB POSITIONS
Upon graduation, I found and started a job within weeks of graduation (literally my first day of the “real world” was a directly a month from graduation).  My first job was as a Media Planner at MediaEdge:CIA in NYC. I was there for 6 months when I received a phone call from my former TracyLocke internship supervisor who wanted to see if I would join the company again and help build their new NYC office.  (They only had offices in CT and TX).  I accepted and in January 2009 it was my 3 year anniversary. 

CURRENT POSITION
Please note TracyLocke is an advertising agency with offices now around the country.  I work on the Pepsi International Account.  We do packaging designs as well as develop the core look of the brand for the upcoming year.  In January 2009 I was just promoted to Senior Account Executive.  I have climbed up the ladder the past 3 years and held the following titles; Project Manager, Assistant Account Executive and Account Executive. TracyLocke HR department defines my current role as this:  The Senior Account Executive’s primary role is to provide world-class execution and client leadership. The Senior AE has mastered the core disciplines of project execution as well as gained client confidence and respect.  The Senior AE will maintain primary roles and responsibilities of an Account Executive further developing client leadership and strategic thinking. The Senior Account Executive is expected to have outstanding oral/written skills, have a thorough working knowledge the client's business and associated Agency financials.

TYPICAL WORK DAY
No work day is ever the same, it depends on the time of year and how many projects we have going on at once.   We can have as little as 1 project going on or as many as 10 on each of the brands.   Every morning I check emails from clients/team members.  Days can be filled with any of the following: internal meetings to review creative work, client presentations of our work, following up with vendors, cleaning up financials.  When in doubt there’s always keeping up with industry news and trends.  My office opens around 9am and no one leaves before 6pm.

POSITIVES
I like there’s no “status quo”.  There’s always challenge to be met set forth by internal team members or our clients. My job is all about problem solving.  I don’t like set schedules so this is the perfect set up for me.

NEGATIVES
The hours are unpredictable. There’s no 9-5. If something needs to be presented to the client the next morning, if you have to work all night to get it done, so be it.  Client feedback isn’t always insightful.  By clients telling us “they don’t like the work” instead of “why” they don’t like the work that is always a challenge to read what is in their heads.  Sometimes we produce work we’re not proud of because of what is dictated from the clients.  We’ll always present strategic work and have to make changes based off of what they say.  Clients often go back on their word and vision at times.

LIFESTYLE
I’m always on the go, doing a million things at once and now my work life is just the same.  The more things that are going on, the easier I find to manage my time.  I moved into NYC to be closer to my office because I was commuting 3 hours a day.  With my new position I will also be traveling a little more.   This isn’t the type of career you can have as a mother with 3 kids put it that way.

COLLEGE PREPARATION
My internship my senior year really prepared me for where I am today.  Besides nailing a job with a great company early it gave me a really good taste of the industry and what I was in for so to speak.  I wish I had found internships that pertained to my interests earlier in college. I would have done so I believe if I would have used Career Services earlier.

CAREER ADVICE
Get in the door early with people you know. If you have an advantage of knowing people to help get your foot in the door somewhere, THEN SELL YOURSELF.  Be the hardest worker there, always offer to help by staying late, coming in early.   Keep the contact with past internships.  Don’t just take an internship because it’s something to put on your resume, make it worth your while.  If a company doesn’t offer internships see if they will let you shadow someone for a few hours.  Always stay on top of industry trends and what competitors are doing.  Digital is the way to go they say the next few years, so if you can begin there in your career early, do it. Take public speaking courses!  There are lots of people in this industry who aren’t the greatest speakers and that hurts when it comes to needing to sell in big ideas  and work to others.  Start early, be a pro.

SHU EXPERIENCE
I got recruited to bigger name colleges…[Johns Hopkins, University of Virginia]…and looking back I would not change my decision for the world! SHU had a large part in making me into the person I am today.  For starters, you hang out with the people you want to hang out with verses getting stuck in your high school bubbles.  You do a lot of growing up into an adult in college, living away from home and making your own decisions.  Being a division 1 lacrosse scholarship athlete my life was very hectic in college.  Between classes and practice I needed to manage my time well in order to succeed in both of those aspects as well as have a social life.  I met the greatest friends in the world at SHU.  I’ve learned that we live in a very small world where everyone knows everyone somehow. Respect everyone in college, you’ll never know when you need a contact to network with.   I’ve done some business with past SHU alumni and will continue to do so in the future.