Never say never, a lesson learned

I like to think that I am very self-aware, regarding major factors in my life such as my career, my role as a mother and as a woman; but nothing prepared me for this.

In University, we were exposed to diverse Public Relations and Marketing courses including opportunities that would help us shape the type of professional we sought out to be; some of us took this more seriously than others. I had a very broad understanding of my likes and dislikes in the industry. My passion was in PR, but oddly enough, I ended up working in Marketing, and loving it; so my mind was open to the possibility of it changing throughout my career.

I remember specifically despising a course, not so much for the content, rather the individual that taught the course was arrogant and, well… boring. My Public Relations in Politics class, and professor, was an eye-rolling good time to say the least.

My professor was knowledgeable, intelligent, and articulate; I normally have respect for these teachers, as I have had in some of my other classes. However, his approach to politics had little to do with how to do PR in Politics. I must also mention that I poured blood, sweat, and tears into two, eighteen page projects and received my lowest grade of the school year. The exams weren’t any better; he structured them to trick even the smartest of students in the class (This information coming directly from them, I can’t make this shit up)

All that said, it turned me away from PR in Politics in what I thought would be forever.

 

Months after graduation, I was approached by a gentleman in Politics, he was thinking of running for leadership but wanted to get all his people and supporters in order before making the announcement, or even considering candidacy. In the end, he opted out of running for leadership for reasons that I don’t fully understand, nor can I disclose, but I was enticed to join the party as Director of Communications (volunteer)

After a personal, long, deliberation I agreed to taking on this new challenge. This coming from someone who proclaimed - I WILL NEVER WORK IN POLITICS, EVER! But here I am, Director of Communications for a political party, and I am – wait for it – loving it!

This was not a hard lesson to learn, and I have had to learn politics along the way… I’m not done, the challenge continues but I am now more open-minded than ever about my career. The lesson I learn, time and time again, is – NEVER say never, EVER!

A lesson for students – don’t let a professor ruin, change your mind, or deter you from exploring everything that the PR profession has to offer; the PR gods know that this profession is limitless.