Defygravity2009′s Blog

My Journey

My diverse communications and public relations career began in the not-for-profit world working with The Arthritis Foundation managing successful public relations, donor relations, and sponsor development programs. 

My creative success attracted the attention of a company developing and marketing fundraising programs to not-for-profit health organizations. I joined in the creative fun as an Account Executive managing sales and development of the products along the entire East Coast.

After six-years of traveling both north and South, I ended up moving to Atlanta with the company and working remotely just the South Area with far less travel.

My next diverse adventure took me to the corporate world of accounting at PriceWaterhouseCoopers  where I worked with Marketing, Graphics and Production on RFPs and proposals. 

My life and career then changed in a way that can only be called blessed.  I had developed contacts while educating young people about the philosophy of nonviolent conflict resolution conducted at The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta.  I was asked to develop and manage the organization’s public and media relations.  This would evolve into managing everything from international media inquiries and press conferences, to protecting and promoting the brand of Martin Luther King, and special events and promotions.

Managing thousands of media requests for the organization and family of Martin Luther King, Jr., along with his life-partner and wife, Coretta Scott King, would prove the opportunity and blessing of a lifetime.

This work afforded me the opportunity to work with fascinating professionals and causes — from Fortune 500 companies, heads of state, international celebrities, and journalists of every stripe.

I would continue my public relations and communications work at Verizon Wireless managing employee communications for 10,000+ employees in the South Region.  I was part of a team responsible for public relations, coordinating employee communications, and managing our crisis response to Hurricane Katrina assisting families connect to relatives.

After moving to Phoenix, AZ, I joined American Express working as part of a team managing employee communications for the Global Finance organization.  My work as part of a global team, consisted of organizing global town hall meetings for leadership, employee and engagement, and creation of a wildly-successful effort to encourage U.S. employees to discontinue receiving paper pay-stubs.

Most recently I worked as a Manager in Customer Experience.  My team was working on a project to improve communications with cardmembers by re-writing correspondence. The effort sought to improve clarity and direction of letters and to eliminate duplications. The total effort to decrease in-bound calls would save an estimated $1-million for the call center operations. 

Yes, a diverse journey indeed.  And one that has prepared me well, as I continue to “defy gravity”.