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branding yourself

I've attended my fair share of professional and academic conferences and workshops, and I can tell you that the most common theme I've witnessed tends to be the art of branding yourself. 

Every college senior seeking an entry-level PR position knows the drill: present yourself as a professional, polished yet unique package of knowledge, experience and wonder. Make business cards, unify and censor your social media channels, design a flawless and well-rounded resume (preferably in InDesign, because it MUST stand out!), spend countless hours perfecting your online portfolio, fill your schedule with challenging yet rewarding extracurriculars but don't forget a part-time job and full load of classes, mention your love of people/organization/coffee/collaboration/lists/iPhone apps/did I say coffee, and please for the love of God get a manicure before shaking any hands in an interview. 

Recently, I had a wonderfully (brutally?) honest professor tell me that although I am smart and have huge potential (thank you, thank you), I'm lacking in "presence." Because I am secretly a sensitive flower who pretends to have a thick skin, these words cut me to the core and I over-analyzed them for days on end. "BUT I KNOW ABOUT PERSONAL BRANDING AND I HAVE PRESENCE, DAMMIT" - my general thoughts. However, when I really considered how my professor sees me for the two hours a week that we share class together, I realized that she would have no idea that I have much of a presence at all. 

For starters, on most days I come to class like the typical 20-something college student who has given up on life Monday through Thursday from 11:15 - 5:00 PM...black American Apparel leggings, Nike sneakers or if I'm feeling ambitious maybe a pair of scuffed combat boots, a flannel or an over-sized sweater, rumpled hair that hasn't seen a brush since the day before. And because I am nothing if not graceful, I typically have a coffee stain somewhere in eyesight. I'm tired and drained from the 50 other things on my plate that day, so I only speak up the minimal amount to scrape by and get those crucial participation points. Basically, I realized that I abandon any sense of a personal brand when I'm not in a professional setting, and therefore it's not really a personal brand at all. 

My New Year's Resolution (aside from finding a challenging and rewarding entry-level position or internship at a dream company, please hire me) is to truly take all of the knowledge and advice about the importance of a "personal brand" (still kind of cringing) to heart. I have the business cards, the censored yet still "me" social media, the beautiful and full to the brim resume, the online portfolio, the insane schedule, the love of people/organization/coffee/collaboration/lists/iPhone apps/and yes again coffee, and the occasional manicure when I have 35 bucks to spare. While I still appreciate my downtime on the evenings watching Netflix in three-sizes-too-large sweats, it's time that I start really living my personal brand rather than thinking about it. This means dressing like a fashionable and somewhat-polished professional, showing off what can be an outgoing and charming personality, working a room, and commanding respect from teachers and peers alike. 

I can't make any promises about the coffee stains.

october favorites

1. Rimmel Stay Matte Primer. To combat the dry and cold weather outside, my skin has been producing excess oil and I find that my makeup wears off after a few hours. I normally just wear a light moisturizer under my foundation in lieu of a primer, but I decided to shop around for an extra step. This lightweight, affordable primer has done the trick and my makeup doesn't budge. I definitely recommend it for anyone with combination skin.  

2. The Wet Brush. McKenna recently dropped a pink Wet Brush off at my parent's house for my mom to try, and I snatched it up for a trial run. My mom may not be seeing this brush for a while now (oops) because I love it. I don't know how this brush works so well, but the super thin bristles comb through my hair in seconds. My normal post-shower routine involves muscle cramps and arm spasms from spending what seems like forever detangling my naturally curly and wavy hair with a wide-tooth comb. My hair is a little deceiving because it is much thicker than it looks (I've been told this by tired, exasperated hair stylists for years). This brush majorly cuts down on the time I spend brushing and detangling my hair, and both my arms and scalp are grateful.

3. Benefit They're Real! Mascara. When it comes to mascara I'm a drugstore brand girl. In my opinion most drugstore brands are better than high-end (and for a fraction of the cost). However, I finally splurged on this mascara after loving a sample I got from Sephora months ago. I have small, deep-set eyes that I guess you could affectionately describe as cat shaped (basically, applying mascara is a bitch). With this product, the process is much easier and results in longer, thicker, darker lashes. I have to admit, it is a little better than my usual drugstore mascara purchases, but I still stand by my tried and true favorite L'Oreal Voluminous. 

4. Essie Limo-Scene. Normally I stick to dark colors and varying shades of red for fall and winter, but lately I've been attracted to super pale pinks and nudes. This polish is the perfect neutral for fall, and after a quick paint job at Alex's I'm convinced I never want to take it off. 

5. Shearling Luck Hooded Jacket - from Tobi. I purchased this jacket too late in the season to wear much last year, but I definitely took advantage of it this October. It's so (so, so, so) soft and warm without being too heavy or suffocating. It feels (and admittedly sort of looks) like walking around in a cozy robe. I even paired it with some leather leggings and furry white ears for Halloween and went as a lamb. 

6. Aquaphor. My skin and lips are protesting the dry, cold weather, but I'm fighting back with the countless tubes of this product I keep everywhere. I generally have one in my purse, my makeup bag, beside my bed and in my car. This product is amazing for dry lips, and I also use it on my fingers when the skin gets really dry around my nails. It's a must-have in my beauty arsenal. 

Happy November!

i want to thank the academy

Last night I found out I've been selected to be a part of the 2015 Bateman Case Study Competition. Don't worry if you have no idea what that is or why it's prestigious. I've tried explaining Bateman to my parents but it's completely pointless. Four years into my college career and they still aren't exactly sure what my major is let alone what the hell it is I want to do for a career, but they're proud nonetheless. 

I'm so relieved to know I've been picked for the IU Bateman team, all I want to do is guzzle a five dollar bottle of headache-inducing wine and binge-watch "30 Rock," probably with some enticing Chinese takeout boxes next to me. Well, there's that if anyone was wondering how I'll be spending my Friday. 

This competition is such an amazing and unique experience to help research, create and implement a full-scale public relations campaign from start to finish. Of course I can basically kiss my life as I know it goodbye, because from now until late spring semester it's going to be 90% this competition, 10% anything else. Still, I'm thrilled about the hands-on experience and I couldn't have asked for better teammates (hey Dan and Erin). 

Happy Friday everyone!

becoming a steminist

As I'm sure you've seen, 17 year old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai recently won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Kailash Satyarthi. These wonderful people and champions of global education are so deserving of this honor. 

Malala has vocalized her support for Code.org's Hour of Code program, encouraging women and girls to give computer science a try. I consider myself to be a writer and a creative person, a lover of words and beautiful sentences. Despite my journalism background and struggles with math, I am passionate about technology. I understand that tech is the way of the future and could not agree more with Malala that girls need to immerse themselves in computer science from a young age. Technology fields should no longer be a boy's club, and women need to be taking the steps to close the obvious and glaring gender gap. 

I'm making it a personal goal to become more proficient in tech and improve my STEM skills. I recently downloaded a "learn to code" program with hundreds and hundreds of hours of lessons and exercises. I was able to get this bundle for an amazing price through my job, but there are plenty of affordable and free opportunities online if you're interested in picking up some new skills. This name your own price bundle is an awesome opportunity we've been promoting through CEWiT. 

I'm determined to fit in some Ruby on Rails lessons and learn the basics before January. It's a lot to fit in with school, work and extracurriculars, but I'm doing bits at a time and will have more free time over winter break. It helps to set a personal deadline, and I know I want to be able to put these skills on my resume before my job search really picks up in the spring. 

I encourage you all to take Malala's advice and try your hand at Hour of Code. It's so important to be a well-rounded applicant in today's economy. 

wellp, i'm back

I decided to take a peek at this blog since it's been inactive for months on end. 

Mistake.

I am cringing so hard at the things I wrote, and actually laughing out loud at myself. HOWEVER I miss having an outlet to ramble about my thoughts and interests, so here I am again, embarrassing myself. 

Here are a few updates since I last wrote a blog post: 

1. Yes, I went to Italy for the public relations tourism course I blogged about months and months ago. We spent Spring Break in Rome and Florence, visited international PR agencies, toured a vineyard, saw the sights and ate the eats, and I celebrated my 21st birthday in Rome. It was the best week of my life and words simply can't do it justice. 

2. I spent the summer interning at Baltz & Co, a hospitality/food/lifestyle public relations agency with offices in Denver, Los Angeles and NYC. I was working in the Denver office and living with one of my best friends, so my summer was overall amazing. During the week I worked full-time at Baltz, and on the weekends I hung out with Hanna and took advantage of the Rocky Mountains being in my (her) backyard. Working at Baltz was definitely a crash-course in PR agency life. I was given responsibilities that I never expected to receive as an intern, but I am so grateful for that because I learned so much. I pitched to the media (and secured coverage in several national publications *pat on the back*), wrote and edited press releases, developed social media campaigns, attended key client meetings, helped plan national music/food festivals and much, much more. My boss, Sarah, was and continues to be a huge inspiration to me. I loved working under a powerful, successful woman who I admire so much. 

3. I am currently working for the IU Center of Excellence for Women in Technology (CEWiT) as the Public Relations Intern. CEWiT is an organization that aims to increase participation of women in tech-related fields through education, research, mentoring and community building. I am passionate about technology and digital marketing, so this job has been a great way for me to immerse myself in the tech world even more. I handle CEWiT's social media strategy, writing needs, research and content creation. 

4. I'm now a senior in college which is both exciting and terrifying. It's hard to believe that I'll graduate in May and be shoved out of the proverbial university nest into the big, scary real world. Despite the (many) uncertainties, I'm overall very excited to graduate and start my next adventure. I've lived in the same town for 21 years, not even branching out for college, and while I don't regret that at all I'm excited to live in a bigger city soon. Someone with this much wanderlust is not meant to live in one place her whole life. I'm jumping into the job search and looking for entry-level or rotational/apprenticeship positions in public relations and digital marketing. I'm looking everywhere from Ireland to California to Canada, but if I could handpick a city I'd probably choose Chicago. I wouldn't even need to change the blog name.