Beginning With Books
Growing up as the child of a professor, education has always been my thing.
I loved school. And I loved learning.
From the moment I moved into my residence hall as a freshman, I was hooked on the campus, the community, the culture.
Majoring in journalism, I graduated in three years and was ready to transform the journalism world.
TV Transformation
After graduation, I packed my bags and moved across the country. I was a television producer in a top 50 market by 21.
My work involved producing the 5 a.m. newscast.
After about a year a producer, I was tasked with leading a web-first newscast, the first east of the Mississippi River.
It was in doing this that I found my love for digital work.
Websites. Video. I was hooked on content creation.
Heading Home
My mom taught me to always be open. And one day my phone rang. My mentor was offering me a graduate assistantship to study multi-media journalism at Arkansas Tech University.
Someone was paying me to go to school. And study what I was interested in.
Talk about a dream.
Simply put, it was time to go home.
In graduate school, I perfected my storytelling skills, learned how to digitally edit. And I heard about this thing called Facebook.
Becoming A Marketer
After graduation, I joined Arkansas Tech in a social media role. My task – figure out how the university should use social media.
I was getting paid to play on social media. And, I helped ATU be featured on the Today Show.
Along the way, ATU reorganized and overnight the office was in charge of marketing efforts for the entire university.
I was not prepared. Enrollment funnel, bleeds, CRM, attribution, — I knew nothing. So, I did what I knew best. I studied. And studied. And studied.
I called on my network. Made Mistakes. But also found my calling — higher education marketing.
A Big Leap of Faith
Knowing this was where I wanted to spend my career — I had to soak it all up.
I took a leadership program at the university. After all, no one teaches you how to be a good leader. You have to figure it out.
And I got a marketing certification from the American Marketing Association to help me understand the industry.
But I needed more.
And I returned to education. I began pursuing a doctorate in higher education from Texas Tech University.
That journey led me to conduct research on the enrollment cliff and how marketing can help institutions overcome this significant challenge.
It’s a topic that keeps me curious. And I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned to help an industry I love survive.
And Carrie On 