Q. Describe your background (where you grew up, college, etc.):
I lived in Oologah, OK until I was 17 and shifted to Owasso Public Schools my junior year. I attended the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) pursuing a Bachelor of Music – Music Theatre degree. As I was taking most of my electives in business, my accounting professor, Charlie Pursifull, tried to get me to be an accounting major but settled for me earning the equivalent of a business minor. After graduation, I taught and performed in the fine arts and decided to return to UCO for a Master of Business Administration degree. To my great fortune, the graduate assistantship for the marketing department was available. I applied and became the GA for nine marketing faculty. They gave me opportunities to research, teach, consult, and advise the UCO Collegiate AMA chapter. Jump ahead a few years and a couple of different jobs/industries, I found my way back at UCO as a full-time instructor of marketing and looking for my next step. Loving higher education, I applied to be the Director of Career Services at UCO. I served in that position for over six years. In that time, I continued to be an adjunct for the marketing department and started by PhD in Human Resource Development – Organizational Change at The University of Texas at Tyler. I graduated in the fall of 2019 after defending my qualitative dissertation exploring managerial coaching dyads’ beliefs, behaviors, and learning outcomes.
Q. What about marketing piqued your interest?
With my background in the performing arts, connecting with an audience naturally made sense to me. Consumer behavior fascinates me. When I had the fortune of becoming the graduate assistant for the marketing department at the University of Central Oklahoma, a whole new business realm welcomed me to ask questions and sate my curiosity about people and the choices they make.
Q. What is your current job and what do you enjoy most about it?
Currently, I help lead the mass communications department at Oklahoma City University. The department offers majors in strategic communications, multimedia journalism & broadcast production, and esports management. We also offer minors in social media and mass communications. I enjoy higher education because I get tolearn from all of my students and colleagues. My students help me stay motivated to keep gaining knowledge about marketing and communications. As a director/chair of a department, I also get to contribute to department and universitystrategy by staying connected to the professional community.
Q. How long have you been a member of AMA and why did you join?
I have been a member of AMA off and on for 20 years. I started as a collegiate AMA member at the University of Central Oklahoma. Later, I was the sponsor for that same chapter before ultimately becoming a professional member. AMAOKC meetings have been an oasis where marketers can feel comfortable networking while growing with the shared knowledge of the guest speakers and colleagues.
Q. Why do you feel it’s important to stay up to date with new practices and tactics in the marketing world and how does it relate to your job?
If I do not seek out the new innovations, theories, and trends, I will not be able to help my students make the connection from the classroom to the office through internships and their entry-level positions.
Q. What is the best piece of business advice that you’ve ever been given?
One of my professors always acknowledged students’ hardships and reasons for why progress was difficult (e.g. family, health, money, weather, etc.). Then, she would say, “Get on with it.” It seems so harsh; however, it allows me to accept real obstacles without feeling like they are just excuses. I wrap my mind around the present and still move forward. Partnering that with asking myself and others, “What will it take to make it happen?” has freed me to listen and be futuristic without ignoring or repressing my or my colleagues’ situations.
Q. Do you have a favorite marketing publication, podcast, conference, etc.that you would recommend?
I try to subscribe to emails, podcasts, and feeds of my friends and the community. I get tips from our local masters. With the digital world always shifting, I certainly read my morning Digital Marketing Depot and Marketing Land.
Q. What’s something most people don’t know about you?
Ha! I think by now several people know that I am a musician. However, I’m not so sure people know that I once was a loan originator. What a whirlwind that year was! 🙂