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Barry Bronson MA '73

What do you do?
Valvoline is a marketer of automotive products and services. It's best known for its motor oils and its involvement in auto racing. I direct communications and public relations related to the marketing of the Valvoline, Eagle One and Zerex brands. I also direct our public relations efforts in motorsports, including NASCAR.

How did you get your job?
I went to undergraduate school in Lexington and returned to Kentucky 15 years ago after leaving a public relations agency job in Detroit.

What was the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
Good stories are not written; they are re-written.

What would be your best advice to current students?
Learn writing and editing as a craft, not just as a course for your resume. There is always a place for someone who can express himself in print.

What do you consider to be your greatest professional achievement?
As deputy press secretary to Kentucky's first woman governor, I wrote the speech calling for a special legislative session to enact historic education reform.

What makes you good at your job?
I've worked in both corporate and agency settings so I can present and execute programs that are cost-effective and get results. Also, I can think like an editor since I was one at various stages in my career.

What are you working on currently?
I'm working on communications initiatives to partner with our largest customers to help them sell Valvoline products more effectively.

What else would you like to accomplish?
I'd like to sell a screenplay I've written. It's called "Jazz Farm" and is based on a true story set in Lexington.

What is the secret to success?
There is no secret. You can have all the education and skills in the world, and they won't do you any good unless you can communicate well and get along with others.