Born and raised in a small town in Ohio, I knew by the age of 10 I was meant to live the fast life in New York City. The energy, atmosphere and world of opportunity NYC offers captured my dreams and ambitions and I would stop at nothing to make it to the Big Apple.
When I was a junior in college I realized that if I really wanted to make NYC a reality after college I had to buckle down and get to work (literally). I got involved with the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), I wrote for the school newspaper, I started interning and working part-time and I even moved in with my parents to save some extra money. For the next two years my life revolved around school, work and getting to NYC. But, there was one major component missing from my NYC equation: social media. It was my senior year of college when I discovered the wonderful world of social media. I attended the ‘08 PRSSA National Conference in Detroit and every panel or discussion I went to the words “social media” were mentioned. I knew I had to get in on the action. The day I got back from the conference I joined Twitter, which I later discovered was a life changing decision.
When I first started out on Twitter, I had no clue what the point was or how I was going to utilize it. Then one day, it just clicked. Twitter was a perfect way for me to successfully reach my goal of moving to New York City and work in public relations. I started using Twitter, and other social media sites, like LinkedIN and Delicious, as a way to network and personally brand myself in the public relations/social media world. Through Twitter I landed some major job leads and I met amazing people from around the world. Unfortunately, I was graduating college into one of the worst job markets in two decades and after a year of rejection letters, I knew I wasn’t going to find a job in NYC while living in Ohio. So, I decided to take the leap and move to the city without a job or a permanent place to live. What did I have to lose, right?
My second week in New York is when I met my future work colleague, Alexa Scordato. I was attending a book launch event with a friend and we randomly started talking to this fun, spunky social media aficionado, who just so happened to be Alexa. After talking for a while I mentioned to her that I was looking for a job in social media or public relations. To my surprise Alexa said that her agency Porter Novelli was hiring a social media account coordinator. When she told me that, it was like music to my ears. The following week I interviewed with Porter Novelli and its social media department and the rest is history. I started working as the new social media account coordinator at Porter Novelli a week later with Alexa as my direct supervisor. Note: I also moved into a new permanent apartment the same week!
Without trying to sound too corny or cheesy, I am firm believer in that if you really want something bad enough you will make it happen. It might take a little while and hard work to get there, but it will be worth it in the end. Without taking the risk of moving to NYC without a job I would have never met Alexa. I am so lucky to have met her and have her as a colleague. I am extremely excited to be a part of the Porter Novelli team and I look forward to working on a team that consists of talented thinkers and do-ers that include Stephanie Agresta, John Havens, Karen Hartline and Alexa.
