Q&A with recent CCPA graduate Rachel Morrow

Rachel Morrow recently graduated from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communication & Public Affairs and Public Relations & Strategic Communication. During her final semester, she interned at FleishmanHillard and later secured a full-time role as an Assistant Account Executive at the same agency. Rachel’s dedication, hard work, and ability to forge meaningful connections have earned her a reputation as a valuable asset in the field of corporate communications. Her extensive academic background and practical experience at esteemed organizations such as Southwest Airlines, State Farm, and FleishmanHillard have equipped her with a deep understanding of the intricate dynamics of this field.

Ava Iversen: Hi Rachel, I’m so glad that we are able to have you on our podcast!

Rachel Morrow: Thanks so much for having me!

Ava Iversen: I just wanted to start off by congratulating you on your new role as an assistant account executive at FleishmanHillard. I was hoping you could walk us through that transition…what it’s been like transitioning from your role as an intern there to now a full-time team member.

Rachel Morrow: Thank you. I’m really excited, and I wouldn’t be here without my SMU education. I think something students don’t realize is, most of us have interned while we’re at school, and once you’re in the work world, you’re simply just doing work. And so it’s honestly been an easier transition that I expected because rather than having to balance both my school work and my work work, I have really just been able to focus and hone in on that. But I’ve been doing a lot of client-facing work that I was not doing as an intern, so that has definitely changed. And obviously my lifestyle has changed a lot.

Ava Iversen: How do you feel like you’ve been dealing with that—post grad and being in the work force? I know that can be really jarring for some people.

Rachel Morrow: Right. I 100% agree and I won’t lie, that was really scary at first. I think the night before I started my first job, I realized this could be the rest of my life and that was not something that excited me. But it’s completely natural. Our class was the class of COVID, and we started college during that, but luckily we’re able to now have a normal transition into the workforce. Most companies are hybrid now, and at FleishmanHillard, we’re in the office twice a week and we’re starting to have company happy hours again and things like that. It’s been a lot easier for me to transition because I’ve been getting involved within the company and making friends.

Ava Iversen: Reflecting on your internship experience during your final semester at SMU, what would you say was one of the most valuable lessons you learned that helped you get the role you have now?

Rachel Morrow: I think one of the most valuable lessons I learned was how important it is to understand the industry that you are working in. Whether that means taking a little time during your work day to research the terminology, the different acronyms, or stay up to date with the news on that specific industry, I that set me apart from other candidates.

Ava Iversen: As you transitioned into your full-time position, what would you say are some of the biggest challenges you faced, especially since you’ve only been at FH full-time for about a month now?

Rachel Morrow: I would say something I’ve learned is how to be 100% organized. When you work in an agency, you get a lot of emails from a lot of different clients. And it was easy for things to get lost in my email and that really stressed me out. So making email folders, but also realizing how important it is for myself to really plan out my day early in the morning. Something different about working for an agency rather than working in-house is that you’re jumping between clients and between industries. And it’s important…it’s easy to just want to spend one day on one client, but often you have to switch around on different projects.

Ava Iversen: What would you say are some other big differences between working in-house and at an agency?

Rachel Morrow: When I interned in-house at State Farm, I realized how much we relied on our agencies. Even at such a big company with such a huge in-house team, we could get lost or kind of in our own bubble. I would say one of the biggest differences is the access to different tools and data agencies have. We have a team dedicated just to pulling data for every single account, people who do influencer work, and so people really find their niche. I think for me, starting in an agency is probably what I currently prefer because I’m learning so much jumping from industry to industry.

Ava Iversen: Building relationships is really crucial in public relations. How have you approached networking and relationship building in your new role?

Rachel Morrow: There’s a term they use a lot in the PR world, which is your media “friendlies.” These are you media contacts that you’ve made that you might consider a friend, someone who might be willing to take your pitch and run with it because of the relationship you’ve built with them. So that’s something I’ve been working on building. I’ve always been a huge advocate for coffee chats. I’ve talked with a lot of people at FH who started their careers there as interns and are now senior vice presidents. And it’s been huge to hear about those transitions and understanding their perspectives.

Ava Iversen: If you could go back to your 18 year old self, just starting at SMU, what advice would you give her?

Rachel Morrow: Gosh, the best advice I would give myself is to enjoy your classes. Not that I was a class skipper, as you know, Ava, but going to class and really making the most out of listening is so important. Make relationships with your professors, make friends in your classes. Engagement is so important and it’s even more important when you’re in the work world. It gets you so many places, and at work, you can make friends and have a good time and enjoy what you’re doing. I would tell myself to not hesitate to try something you might be interested in. If you want to try living in a new city, or take an internship in a new city, you should, because you’ll never have the opportunity to be somewhere for three months again.

Ava Iversen: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. I wish you well and I hope FleishmanHillard is going great.

Rachel Morrow: Thank you, Ava, and I hope to see some more mustangs at FH in the future!