I’ve always loved writing, storytelling, and anything that allowed me to be creative. So the College of Communication seemed like a natural fit when I was thinking through the career options that would allow me to leverage these skills. While there were a number of professional paths within the field of communications (e.g. advertising, radio-television-film), I developed an interest in public relations after taking an introductory class during my freshman year. I was fascinated by the amount of work that goes into managing the public perception of a brand, as well as the impact that a smart communications strategy can have on the success of a company.

Whether it’s promoting a new product, creating a campaign that engages consumers around a cause or issue, or navigating a brand through a crisis, knowing how to communicate with the public is incredibly important. I pursued a number of practical opportunities to develop my creative and analytical skills. In addition to what I learned in my classes, I pursued three internships with public relations agencies throughout college.

Your first job is memorable in many ways, mainly because so much of what you learn during those early professional experiences will shape the rest of your career. It’s tough to distill everything I learned during the first two years of my career at GolinHarris because it was such a rewarding experience from beginning to end. I would say the indelible lessons were:  

• Find a mentor. In the early days of your career, look for a mentor who can help you learn and improve the skills that are important to your day-to-day job. These mentors will continue to guide you throughout your career. And don’t forget to pay it forward! As you grow, look for opportunities to mentor new entry-level colleagues.     
• Never assume you’re “not senior enough,” to do or say something. It’s easy to get intimidated when you’re just entering the workforce, but you should never be afraid to voice your opinion or an idea.
• Your attitude is just as important as your aptitude. When work gets difficult (which it will), having a positive attitude goes a long way.

After my first two years at GolinHarris, I began to notice a shift in the field of communications. Specifically, more clients were asking us to create content for them and essentially build their online newsroom. In addition to sharing news about the company or organization with reporters, my clients were also looking to use their own website as a storytelling channel. This trend, coupled with my personal interest in media and writing, inspired my desire to pursue a Master’s degree in Journalism. This experience taught me so much about the media, namely what it takes to tell a compelling story.  

I spent over nine years working in client services before moving to my first in-house position at Blue Apron. For anyone interested in communications, I definitely recommend working at an agency first. Because agencies support hundreds of companies and organizations, it’s a great opportunity to explore different industries. After a few years of being a generalist (i.e., supporting clients from a diverse set of industries), I began to specialize in communications for mission-based companies and nonprofit organizations. This specialty was guided by a passion that I developed over the course of my career for brands with purpose. This is what led me to pursue the opportunity to lead communications at Blue Apron.

I always knew that an in-house position was what I wanted to do long-term, but I had to make sure it was the right opportunity. When your job is to manage the public image of a company, it would be an incredible disservice to a brand if you were not interested in and passionate for the company or organization that you represent. The more I learned about Blue Apron—specifically the company’s bold vision to change the food system—the more I wanted to communicate everything the company was doing.

It’s so hard to describe a typical day because it’s always so different! The lack of monotony is probably what I like most about my job. That said, I’m responsible for shaping and sharing Blue Apron’s story with the outside world. The role is highly cross-functional. Our communications team spends a significant amount of time speaking with different business functions to learn about all of the great work being done across the organization. From there, we craft stories to share with different segments of media, ultimately to help build visibility for the many facets of Blue Apron. I would say the most rewarding part of my job is the time spent learning from my colleagues across the company. Blue Apron has the smartest people with whom I’ve ever worked, and it’s an honor to learn from and work with them every day.

Products come and go, but brands stand for something bigger and can impact the world around them. I believe a successful brand should convey uniqueness and a higher purpose. Successful brands inspire passion and followership. Similarly, to build a successful personal brand, professionals should build unique and deep expertise that will differentiate them. They should pursue opportunities that drive their best work and also positively impact the community around them. Furthermore, they can build true followership by being supportive managers and mentors.

This is the first time that I’ve had to be so intentional about striking a balance between my personal and professional life. I’m admittedly still learning as I go, but so far, I’ve been able to find a healthy work-life balance by: 

• Having a schedule and planning as much as I can for the day ahead. My life revolves around lists that help me outline everything—and I mean everything—I need to do. This includes small things like “return mom’s call” or personal interests like like “go for a run.” The lists help me plan a schedule to accomplish everything I need to get done.
• Being open and honest with my managers and colleagues. The leadership at Blue Apron is incredibly supportive and understanding. It’s important that I have a couple of hours with my son before he goes to sleep, so I’ve adjusted my work day so I can get home early. And I’ve let everyone know that I’ll catch up on anything I missed later in the evening or in the morning before my son wakes up.
• Staying positive! There are days when I feel incredibly overwhelmed, and I have to put things in perspective. It’s not the end of the world if everything is not crossed off the list. There is always tomorrow or the next day. I know that as long as I’m doing my best, things will fall into place.

First, I try to clearly articulate a set of core values and goals that will serve as a North Star for the team. Second, I have recurring meetings with my team to ensure that I, as well as my team, are updated on all ongoing projects. This ensures that there is a forum to identify and mitigate potential conflicts before they arise. I have found that to resolve conflicts driven by miscommunication, the easiest solution is to get the parties together to have a transparent and empathetic conversation without assigning blame.

I was on maternity leave for three months. It was not too difficult to prepare coworkers for my leave namely because with pregnancy, you have many months to get organized! I did, however, spend time building our internal team. We were going to add new team members eventually, though my pregnancy gave us a reason to accelerate our search! I’m thankful that we found two amazing new hires who joined our team a few weeks before I went on leave. Having a fully resourced team is crucial. Before coming back to work, I spent a lot of time talking to friends who had recently made the same transition. This was incredibly helpful to understand what I should expect and to learn some “life hacks” that would help me manage my new lifestyle.

I knew that I wanted to go back to work. I really love my job. No matter what happens during the day, I leave the office every evening and reflect on how much I learned. I believe this environment—which constantly helps you learn and grow as a professional—helps me be a better mom to our son, Akshay.

On both sides–personally and professionally–I think I’ve become much more efficient at work and at home. There is a lot to get done in one day (and you have to give yourself a little down time, too!) so I’ve really focused on managing my time wisely and getting the most out of every day.   

I’m a new working mom (I went back to work in mid-March) so my perspective likely differs from someone who has been doing this for a while! The advice I would give potential working mothers is to let go of the guilt and be kind to yourself. It seems simple, but I remind myself to do this almost every day. When you’re being pulled in a million different directions, it’s easy to start feeling as though you’re letting everyone down.

You can feel horrible for leaving your child for nine hours a day or remember that you’re doing what is best for your family. You can feel as though you’re not working hard enough if you leave at 5:00pm or know that you will not let anything slip just because your office schedule is a little different. It’s difficult—especially in the beginning when you’re getting used to a new lifestyle—but you have to be confident in your choices and take things day by day. There will be days when you feel like an amazing mother and days when you feel like a rockstar at work. Some days, you’ll feel completely drained and exhausted. Parenting and building a career are both long journeys and you cannot let every challenging moment make you doubt your abilities as a parent or professional.  

With a new baby and an exciting job, there is so much to look forward to! Personally, I am so in love with Akshay and in constant awe of how much he learns and develops each day. I have to remind myself to enjoy these little moments because I can already tell that time is flying by so quickly. Professionally, I am beyond excited to see what is next for Blue Apron. We are a young company with so much opportunity in our future. I am eager to work with my colleagues to build awareness for the great work that lies ahead.