Degree(s): BJ '10

Whereabouts: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

What do you do?
After graduating from Mizzou, I was offered a full-time internship with 4ORCE, a digital agency in St. Louis, where I worked in the User Experience (UX) lab, and supported the account service team with Scottrade and Purina. After working for four months, I received a full-time account executive position at GROUP360 in St. Louis, working on the Anheuser Busch/InBev team. In January 2012, I started my current position at Schupp Company on the MillerCoors team.

How did you get your job?
Networking! I hate to admit it, but it is so important to have your network of friends, peers and past co-workers that you can call on if/when needed. An important part of networking is to always offer to help others find that first job, or even internship, because you never know who may be looking!

What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
You’re going to have to work for it! As most college freshman, I expected college to be as difficult as high school was. After my first semester, I knew that was not true! Once I was settled in, I realized that I wanted a journalism degree, and that’s when the hard work kicked in. The Journalism School has a great reputation for many reasons. The faculty is incredible. The coursework is relevant. The students work hard. Without any of those three components, the Missouri School of Journalism would not be as highly regarded as it is.

What advice do you have for current students?
Work hard for whatever you want in life, because no one can get it for you. Yes, it helps to know people, but that may only get you an interview…if you’re lucky! Whether it’s an A in a class or that internship, you have to work for it. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be an accomplishment.

What is your favorite J-School memory?
Seeing the things I learned in classes come to life in my job. It’s a great feeling going into a situation confident in your abilities and knowledge because you’re prepared for it.