Me and my shadow

Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you stand still.
Pretty good advice, right?  The young professional who shadowed me this weekend mentioned it when we were first getting acquainted.
Emily is considering a career in public relations.  One of her instructors at Scottsdale Community College reached out to me and asked if she could shadow me.  Of course, but she was going to have to reach out to me herself.  That’s the first step, in my view, of getting connected to professionals in the field.
So after a series of emails and a couple phone calls, it was decided that Emily would spend the day with me on Saturday.  I had two client events and thought that would give her a much better idea of a “typical day” than sitting in our offices watching us on the phone or in meetings.
So at promptly 7 a.m. Emily arrived at my office to begin our very busy.  We spent about 30 minutes chatting (that’s when she shared that nugget of wisdom) before we headed out to the first event.
Every year, our client Esperança sends shipment containers full of medical supplies and equipment to its trusted partner in Nicaragua where they will be used by surgical volunteers and distributed to hospitals in need in the region. On Saturday, 17 volunteers from across the Valley joined with Esperança staff to pack and load up the containers.  We secured a live segment on one of the local television stations and were on-hand to ensure everything went off without a hitch (it did).
Next stop was a grand opening for a new master-planned community.  We played a support role in the planning of this event and were an extra set of hands to help out wherever needed.  The mayor was right on time, the ribbon was cut and the attendees participated in activities, listened to music and enjoyed tasty treats from local food trucks.
We got stuck in traffic on the way back to the office (also a typical occurrence) so had some time to reflect on the day.  Some of her observations:

• Most of Emily’s work experience was in food service. I told her all experience is applicable. After spending some time interacting with attendees at the grand opening, she has a better understanding of how her food service experience can apply to public relations.
• Always look professional…and its ok to wear comfortable shoes.
• Flexibility is key to success.
• Any business can benefit from a strategic public relations program.

I hope Emily has a better idea now about public relations and whether it is a career “track” she’d like to pursue.  I think she’ll be good at it.