In the event you need inspiration

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”
― Maya Angelou

 

One night, when I was in college in the year 2005, I called my friend Danya from bed. I was under the blankets in tears, feeling completely hopeless, tired and broke. College life wasn't as easy as it was the first two years. I had another year to go, I was living on a generous stipend but it wasn't enough.   

 

I wanted to be out of college but I was afraid of never finding a job.A mountain of doubt loomed before me. 

In that moment, I needed a friend to uplift me. Danya gave me the world's best pep talk. I don't recall everything she said - but it worked. I needed her in that moment. A few days after our talk, she sent me a card with a nice note inside. I found it recently and I called her to tell her about it and to thank her for being my friend. 

The truth is, I never doubted for a second that I wanted to be a PR person. But the road wasn't easy. I studied hard, I worked for free for two and a half years, my first job had me crying in the bathroom every day for three months before I quit and resigned myself to graduate school before landing what I truly consider my first job out of college. 

If I can give advice, I'd second Maya Angelou's quote - do what you love. When you come from a place of abundance and love, success can't help but follow you. If money is what you want, it will come. As long as you do your work and you do your best. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew because we want to prove something, or we're just learning our thresholds. That's okay.

I was sitting in a meeting today and saw my Creative Directors notebook. It said "Some people dream of success while other wake up every day and work hard at it."

Thank about that. ;) And don't ever give up.

Occupy America: How the Media can be part of the Solution

American unrest is at an all-time high. The Occupy Movement has turned the heads of government, corporate America and the rest of the nation. People are somewhere between getting on with their day-to-day lives and holding up signs, occupying their local cities and parks because they have something to say about the state of the country. Some are rolling their eyes or browsing their Facebook and Twitter feeds to find out what exactly is happening right now. In short, the Occupy Movement is one that everyone across the country (and world) is watching. 

While a collective voice is beginning to arise, the message isn’t crystal clear. And for good reason.  Americans are confused and realizing (or trying to communicate) that there isn’t just one issue to address – there are several. The complaints range from big business bailouts, an ominous unemployment rate, the government’s ineptitude in controlling corporate America and financiers, our national debt, the Federal Reserve, our devaluated currency. The list goes on. Americans are waking up and they want a solution.

It’s interesting to me, as a professional public relations practitioner and a professor, to see the media’s response to all of this. I’ve seen anywhere between serious accounts of different Occupy movements in Manhattan’s financial district to snarky blogs about seemingly unorganized groups in smaller cities, across the states. I’m shocked to see the media almost tsk’ing their way through their news stories. In the late 1800’s during the Industrial Revolution, the media was on our side. But today, I get the sense the media want to see an organized agenda in order to take any of these people seriously. It just isn’t enough that people know something is wrong and want it fixed.

All of this reminds me of a history lesson I learned years ago and one that I teach to my students today. And it got me thinking about how we’ll look back one day at how the media behaved and responded to everything that’s happening right now. Let’s go back to the Populist era. The media played a pivotal role in helping to expose big business – proudly accepting their label as “muckrakers”. They shook up industrialism as they knew it and the robber barons lost their control. With the aid of the mass media – the government started paying closer attention to corporations and the public taught these industry leaders a huge lesson about the power of the people.  

Americans are losing their trust in the mass media. As someone who has worked closely with some of the best journalists in the industry, it’s saddening to see the mainstream media get a bad rap. I strongly believe, that while many of the media consumed by Americans today are owned by a small number of big companies known as “The Big Six”, there are true journalists at the helm who would rather rot than compromise the truth in order to please a suit in an ivory tower somewhere.

Today, we look to the media to provide the public with the same in-depth journalism rooted in the same ethical code and commitment to truth that the profession was founded on. This also goes for public relations professionals who work closely with the media. We have a grave responsibility to give the public what they want – the truth. While I deeply value citizen journalism and the blog sites out there (there are 115 million and counting) – I still believe that the news media we have relied on for many years can be an answer to the problem by, first, not sweeping these issues under the rug, or blowing off what is going on in the country right now. There are some so-called “media” out there who would like to write off the protestors as hippy malcontents, but I think we’re on to something. And the media can help us change things. We don’t need a leader or a hero. We need our voices to be heard.

 Yes, Americans are restless and they’re making a lot of noise that doesn’t make sense right now, but they aren’t asking for anarchy – they’re asking for a solution. They want to work. They want a government that functions. They want Corporate America to be held accountable. They want to feed themselves and raise their families and just live their lives. Pretty basic stuff when it comes to being an American. Speaking of American, the media is as American as Apple pie – maybe more so. The call to action here is for the media to be on our side – no matter who signs your paycheck at the end of the week.