Alumni spotlight: Katelyn Fish (ABJ '12)

Katelyn Fish

Katelyn Fish, a native of Johns Creek, graduated in May 2012 with bachelor's degrees in advertising and psychology.

 What are you doing now and how did you get there? I have been working as an Assistant Account Executive at Lovell Communications in Nashville, Tennessee for two months. I graduated from UGA in May of last year, and continued my job search in Atlanta and Nashville. I knew I wanted to stay in the south, but wasn’t dead set on Atlanta. I had visited a friend in Nashville earlier in the year and loved it’s vibrant, fun, young atmosphere. It’s the best combination of Atlanta and Athens, still a fairly big city, with a small town feel. A few weeks into summer, I landed an internship in the marketing department of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP in Atlanta. I actually found the internship through the AdPR group on LinkedIn. In October, I reached out to previous contacts I had made in Atlanta and Nashville, and I found myself with an amazing opportunity at Lovell Communications, a national public relations, marketing and crisis management firm in Nashville. I moved up here the day after Thanksgiving and couldn’t be happier.

What is your day-to-day like at your job? (Any interesting projects that you can share with us?)The thing I love most about my job, and really working in public relations in general, is that every day is different. One day I could be creating a media list and updating social media accounts, and the next I could be at a client’s office training them on how to interact with the media. Primarily, I do a lot of media relations, whether that’s creating media lists, pitching stories to reporters, or sending out press releases about our clients events. I also blog frequently for our firm, as well as update our social media accounts. The amount of knowledge and experience you will gain in just the first few months of your job is incredible.

What activities were you involved while in Grady/UGA? When I was a freshman I wanted to get involved in everything that I could. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in communications before I even set foot on UGA’s campus. I immediately joined PRSSA my freshman year and looked for ways to get involved. I was a part of Creative Consultants for two years, one year as an assistant account executive. Additionally, I co-directed the first ADPR Connection in the fall of 2012, and was on executive board my senior year. In addition to PRSSA, I was active in UGA HEROs, serving on the corporate relations committee and as a team leader for a group of freshmen. I was a member of the Panhellenic sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, and held a position as the philanthropy coordinator. Being a “puppy walker” for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, raising a black lab puppy named Hope, was probably one of my favorite UGA experiences. For fun, I was very active in UGA intramurals and worked a part-time job for part of my junior and senior years.

What part of your Grady experience (classes, professors, etc.) has been helpful in your career today? Every part of my Grady experience benefited me in some way in my career. Joining PRSSA was probably the most important first step. By joining PRSSA, I formed so many relationships with classmates and professors. Dr. Betty Jones, the PRSSA adviser, has been one of the most influential people in my life as I do not know where I would be without her. She is an amazing mentor and has had a tremendous impact on my career development. Additionally, being a member of PRSSA gave me the opportunity to co-direct ADPR Connection where I was able to build and develop skills that are so important for being successful in your career. I managed four different committees, created an entire event from concept to execution, formed an overwhelming amount of connections with industry professionals in Atlanta, and honed my writing skills along the way. The networking alone from ADPR Connection is one of the primary reasons for my success today.

What is your favorite Grady memory? One of my absolute favorite memories from my Grady experience was traveling to Washington, D.C. with PRSSA to tour a variety of public relations agencies and network with Grady alumni. Grady has so many wonderful opportunities that you can take advantage of to help direct you down whatever career path you want to take.

What advice do you have for current AdPR students? Network, network, network! I can’t say it enough. Your classes will provide you with the foundation you need, but absolutely nothing beats real world experience. The only way you’re going to get that experience is making connections with people in your field of study that can help you secure that extremely important internship. You can never have too many contacts, and you can learn something from every person that you meet. That being said, feel free to email me for any advice or questions that you have, especially if you’re interested in moving to Nashville. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn as well.