Why I chose PR as a career

When I was a kid, I was always bouncing off the ceiling. My dad made my mother take me to the doctor at the age of five because he thought I had a problem. Perhaps ADD, perhaps some other sort of hyper problem, and I probably needed to be medicated. Well, thankfully my doctor knew better!

The doctor said I was a fine, happy, well adjusted, yet very energetic child and needed a lot of stimulation.  One of my mother’s favorite examples was my 6:00am daily waking of my saying, “what are we going to do today, mommy?” Well, I can honestly tell you I am now up at all hours as my work in PR has me speaking to people all over the country — if not the world — and it is with excitement, just not quite that exuberant perhaps! Truth be told, I can actually remember saying that to my mom, and she really did her best to show me the world and keep me going.

I tell you this because it takes a certain type of person to really enjoy this work. I bounced around from wanting to be an astronaut, to doctor, to singer, to actor, (was in love with Barbra Streisand, you should have seen me trying to imitate her—thank goodness there were no Flip cameras back then).

When I went to college, my persistence in wanting to help others, to make a difference was paramount. One of my professors pushed me toward public relations, telling me I had the personality for it and I could do all the things I desired in that profession, and be good at it. I took her direction. You have to love public relations in all its facets to be good at it and want to be really involved. So, if you are considering it, do a lot of informational interviews first. It is hard work and worth every second.