Tag: life

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Alumni Update- From TGC to Copernio

The Tehama Group Communications staff this semester consists of about 90 percent seniors. So at this time in the semester all of us are scrambling, sweating and seriously panicking about the fact that we will be graduating in less than five weeks.

Where will we live? Who is going to hire us? Was this is right choice?! All of these questions will keep us awake at night, but when we start to have these thoughts, we need to remember the success stories that come out of TGC year after year.

We have seen these successes from guest speakers who come talk us every semester and on our LinkedIn alumni groups.If you still don’t believe me, an alumna who was in our shoes exactly a year ago has a great story of how she has been able to find great success in the professional world of PR post-graduation.

Allison Hahn was in TGC the entire school year of 2015-16 and held the position of Account Executive, being responsible for multiple clients. After graduation Allie was quickly hired by a Copernio, an agency that specializes in Consumer Tech PR, and has been there for almost a year. Below is a Q and A conducted with Allie regarding her life after graduation and some good tips and knowledge for us graduating seniors.

Allie Hahn at the airport on her way to the trade show, “ Get Geeked,” in San Francisco.

  • Question: What did you find most rewarding and most challenging about being in TGC?  Is there anything you learned that helped you with the job search process?  

Answer: I think the most rewarding and challenging thing was one in the same – working with clients and trying to communicate their PR needs with them. When it worked, it was so satisfying, even though it can be difficult to get to that point. It’s something that I experience now in my job everyday.  TGC showed me what my strengths and weaknesses are and what kind of work environment I should seek.

  • Question: When you were hired at Copernio, what was your starting title and what is your current title?

Answer: I started as an intern and am now an Account Coordinator, but since my agency is so small, I have a lot of opportunities to do tasks related to Account Management.

  • Question: Can you give a brief summary of Copernio?

Answer: Copernio is an agency in Orange County that specializes in Consumer Tech PR. It’s a boutique firm with only seven employees. Before I started working there, I always assumed a boutique agency was a young agency that was growing. That’s not the case here. We’re just a small but tight-knit team, but our business model is developed. Copernio is actually the oldest PR agency in Orange County. Within the umbrella of tech PR, we have a rather diverse client base. The clients range in needs and how integrated we are in their company.

  • Question: After being employed for almost a year now, how would you describe your work/life balance as an entry level employee?

Answer: I’m really lucky to be where I’m at because they really promote a good balance. I feel like I’ve been able to establish a life for myself post-grad outside of work. There’s some nights where I’ll have to work late or when I travel, I’ll lose a weekend, but overall my employer is flexible and I am able to take time for myself. I’ve also learned to avoid checking my work email on the weekends and after 7 p.m. so I have some time to actually unwind.

  • Question: What have you found to be the most rewarding and most challenging?

Answer:  The most rewarding is that I feel like my ideas are valued. They aren’t all good, but everyone in the office will listen to me will always listen and help me improve them so I can present them to the client and see them through to completion.

As for most challenging, my agency has a big policy of self-management. No one is going to be breathing down your neck reminding you what needs to get done or checking in on your progress for a project. Overall it’s been a good thing, but it’s an adjustment from college and TGC where there’s a lot of check-ins while you’re working towards a deadline. At my agency, you have to take the initiative yourself to make sure something gets done.

  • Question: Did TGC prepare you well for your entry level job?

Answer: TGC prepared me very well for my job! Some skills you can’t be prepared for and you will have to learn depending on the job you’re doing regardless, but TGC did a great job giving me an understanding of what a PR agency does and how to be adaptable to the needs of clients.

  • Question: What do you wish TGC or the J&PR department would have prepared you for more?

Answer: In college, we talk a lot about planning and preparation, which are very important in PR. However, clients will often throw you curveballs and it can be hard to stay on task with your original plan, so sometimes knowing how to adapt is more important than knowing how to prepare.

  • Can you give some brief descriptions of your biggest accomplishments thus far in your career?

Answer: I’ve had my clients get some really good National Media coverage which is always exciting, including pieces in Good Housekeeping, Refinery 29, USA Today and The Huffington Post. One of the coolest things that’s happened was I got interviewed on camera on behalf of a client at CES and it ended up on Wired. Wired is one of the biggest tech publications out there and sparked my interest in working in technology a few years ago. It was a very cool, full circle moment.   

  • Question: I know you have attended two huge trade shows for your company, in San Francisco and Chicago, can you explain how those experiences were and the major things that you got out of it?

Answer: I’ve been to three press/trade shows so far – Get Geeked in San Francisco, CES in Vegas, and The International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago. All three have been different and have been really good learning experiences.

The best thing about these shows is that you get to work with your client face-to-face, an opportunity that doesn’t happen often, and you get to meet members of the press that you’re constantly pitching. The shows are very crazy though and you lose a lot of sleep. CES was the most intense. It’s right after the holidays and the biggest tech trade show in North America. One of my days started at a TV station at 6 a.m. and ended at a press event around midnight. I was on my feet and talking the entire time. It was very fun, but one of the most exhausting days my life.

  • Question: Do you have any advice to give to J&PR seniors that are graduating this May? 

Answer: My biggest advice for seniors would be to relax and enjoy your last weeks of college! You will find a job and you will make the transition from the college life to adult life successfully. I loved Chico with my whole heart and moving back to So Cal was scary. I was dreading graduation and the unknowns that followed it. I wish I would’ve spent that time being happy and enjoying myself. You’ll never get that time back, so don’t spend it worrying about the future.

As scared as we are and will continue to be until walk down that field, I hope we can take a step back and breath. This internship and program has instilled in us the necessary skills and abilities to get out there and find a way to be successful and #Employeed! Good luck seniors.

 Written By: Kasey Perez

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Alumni Spotlight: Sara Pimentel

 

Photo’s by Sara Pimentel.

With May approaching, many of our graduating staffers have begun job hunting and looking to alumni and recent graduates for guidance and direction on what is wanted in a public relations agency. We hear in classes or from internships the importance in making connections. Creating connections is valuable in any field of work but especially in public relations.

Networking is Key

Networking is a valuable skill because it opens opportunities with future clients, PR pros, news outlets and journalists. In TGC we create personal relations with our clients, but it can be easy to forget that the most important relationships we make are with our fellow interns. A great way to network is through the connections that we make with alumni in our agency. Our alumni provided our agency with guidance and growth and it is valuable to stay connected with their lives.

Sara Pimentel, alumna of TGC, graduated from California State University, Chico in Spring 2016. She served TGC for two semesters as an Account Executive and Editorial Director for eight different clients. Since graduation she moved to San Francisco and worked for two different PR companies. She interned for SHIFT Communications and was recently employed as an Assistant Account Executive at Finn Partners. She faced some difficulty transitioning from the small town of Chico to the Bay Area because she had to start from scratch, but was is also exciting for that same reason. She got to recreate herself and build new relations with those surrounding her.

Enjoy what you do

Sara emphasized that when choosing a job, it is important to keep in mind that you need to enjoy going to work every day. On her job search the core culture values she looked for was a company that was understanding, fun, supportive, spontaneous and open. These core values are what led to the beginning of her career at SHIFT Communications.

Sara was thankful for her experience interning with TGC and working on multiple accounts because it prepared her for an unusual experience interning with SHIFT. She worked on 7 to 9 different client accounts simultaneously.

“My team knew it was a lot,” Pimentel said. “But they trusted me, and I was able to do it.”

A company’s culture is everything

 

Moving away can be tough you are given a clean slate, starting a new job can be challenging. Sara said the most important lesson she learned from working at SHIFT is the value of being honest.

“If you have too much on your plate, tell someone,” she said. Pimentel chose SHIFT because of their supportive culture. Finding a supportive agency was valuable to her, she emphasizes how important it is to not be afraid to tell someone you are feeling overwhelmed, you are a team and they are there to help.

Change is good

She has just begun working for Finn Partners, and so far she loves it because it allows her to be more creative. Finn works with consumer technology clients, so she is familiar with the space and the products, but it’s still a new world.

San Francisco has become her home and she does not see herself moving away for a long time. She hopes to become even more confident in her abilities and eventually have people looking to her for advice.

Work with what you have

Her advice to graduating students is: “Know what you want, but be flexible. You have to go with the flow. Some things will happen just like you dreamed they would, but a lot won’t, and you have to make that work.”

Written by, Hope Lumbley.

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Five Ways to Conserve Water During a Drought

honeyrun
California’s drought deficiency has had me in a steady state of anxiety for well over a year now, and things aren’t looking any better. Growing up in Northern California I have always been able to see our water sources first-hand. I’d see water flowing downriver driving up to South Lake Tahoe and when I’m enjoying boating on Folsom Lake. Now, all I see on trips to the lake is stagnant water with ever decreasing levels. Some people think the situation is helpless, but there are always ways to conserve water.

Turn off the water when you brush your teeth

It seems obvious, but I see so many people run the water while they aren’t even using it! It drives me crazy. When brushing your teeth, rinse the toothbrush, turn off the water, dab the paste and start brushing. Only turn the water back on when it’s time to rinse again. Simple right? Apparently not enough people think to do it, so check out this short tutorial by Thames Water for more insight. The same goes for doing dishes, turn off the faucet in between scrubbing plates and it can save gallons of water.

If it’s brown flush it down, if it’s yellow let it mellow

I’m sure most people know exactly what I’m referring to, but I’ll go ahead and elaborate. Try not to flush the toilet if you don’t have to. Did you know that every time you flush a toilet it uses anywhere from 1.6 to 7 gallons of water depending on the model of the toilet? So unless you need to drop the kids off at the pool, try to avoid flushing.

Leave the ‘Wash Me!’ sign on your car

I love my car and it kills me to see it covered in dust, leaves and bird poop. But it hurts even more to use water to wash something that doesn’t really need it. There are conservative ways to wash a car, for example, fill a bucket up with soapy water, hose it down, scrub and rinse. But this is only necessary when your car is looking desperate for a wash.

Create a song queue for your showers

After a long day, a nice relaxing shower can be just the thing you need. But keep it to a minimum. Dilly dallying in the shower is a huge waste of water – get in, wash up, get out. I like to pick out two songs that run for a maximum of 10 minutes. That way when those songs are over, I know it’s time to turn the shower off and hop out.

It might seem like a lot of inconvenient sacrifices, but when everyone does their part it truly makes a difference. The WREC saves over 19,000 gallons of water a month by stopping the distribution of towels. Desperate times call for desperate measures and right now California is definitely in a time of desperation.

By Julianna “Jane” Eveland, Assistant Account Executive

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Budgeting Through Life

One of the key things I have struggled with while attending college is budgeting. At the start of the month I feel like I have enough money to last, but then two weeks later I am wondering where my money has gone and how I am going to make it to the end. I bet everyone has been in this struggle at one point or another. And the areas in like that take our money vary from person to person like clothes, groceries, or eating out too much.

Below are a list of tips that have helped me with managing my budget and helping me save some cash here and there:

Tip 1:Realistic About Your Budget

Start by focusing on how much money you are going to have for the month. Then figure out how much you are willing to budget per each spending category like rent, groceries, bills, restaurants, clothes, etc. This helps to give you an overall idea of the budget you will be working with for the month or year even.

Tip 2: Guess High for Expenses

Doing this will give you wiggle room later on during the month. For instance, you thought you were going to have to pay $60 per week for groceries but two of the weeks you only spent $40. So that extra crash can be used for another category or put into your savings.

Tip 3: Always Keep Your Goal in Mind

Whether that goal is to save for a place after college or just to save for a trip coming up, it is always good to keep a goal in mind. This allows you to always be aware of your spending and keep you on track so you don’t accidently go roaming through a clothing websites and buy 5 different scarves just cause you can.

Tip 4: Cant Keep Track of Paper, Use an App!

The need to save every paper receipt and to store them somewhere sounds impossible and just annoying. Plus nowadays nobody goes anywhere without their phone so why not use an app. An app that I use to budget my expenses and love is Mint. This connects with your bank account and breaks up your expenses into categories. You can set the amount you are willing to spend in each category and Mint will alert you when you are getting close to passing that limit. It also allows you to get savings goals for yourself. Overall it is really easy use to use and designed beautifully.

For more info on the app:

https://www.mint.com/how-mint-works?cid=ppc_gg_nb_stan_403-5279512-4830524&KID=e5efc1ff-e76a-43ee-9299-99a9b4376fce&gclid=CjwKEAjwucmoBRDmysGsgbDr5j0SJAAxL9abK6W35CxHcD5A-LFayqcyY-bsvkAwE0gLicGoul5__xoCFM_w_wcB

Tip 5: Minimize Your Plastic

The amount of credit cards you can open nowadays baffle me. Whether it is through your bank or at one of your favorites stores the possibilities seem endless and all to tempting. The best thing you can do is minimize the number of cards you open because managing all those various accounts can be confusing and lead to forgetfulness.

Tip 6: Stuff Happens!

Above all never forget that life is unexpected and that if your bust your budget on something that you really wanted to do that week it okay, just make it up next week!

I know once I get out of college the need to budget will be that much more important because bills and expenses that I haven’t even thought about now will become apart of my life. So think ahead and master the art of budgeting because money makes the world go round!Screen Shot 2015-04-01 at 12.54.30 PM

by Rachel Frazer, graphic designer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Unoccupied and Unplugged

Imagine you are sitting in a room. It is a plain room; there is not much to look at. Your phone is dead, your computer is in the other room and you cannot seem to figure out what to do with your time. You could leave, but you really don’t feel like getting up and walking around the room.

Pacing is ill-advised.

But you get fidgety, you can’t seem to keep your leg still. Your knee bounces under your palm, and your pesky laundry list of to-do items starts to lean heavily against the back of your eyes.

Photo credit: Micky Aldridge, Creative Commons, Original Photo
Photo credit: Micky Aldridge, Creative Commons, Original Photo

 

The list only grows: grocery shopping, homework, cleaning the kitchen, doing the laundry, going to the gym, etc. The list runs further down your throat until it nearly suffocates you.

The anxiety kicks in and you can’t help but wonder how many minutes have gone by. Three minutes. You groan in boredom before kicking to your feet and leaving the room.

No one is safe from the desire to avoid boredom. We are raised to believe that boredom is high up on the list when it comes to failure. Even learning how to lucid dream has become so popular, we are no longer allowed to merely sleep. We have to be doing things at all times.

Flappy Bird, Candy Crush and, well, any Facebook game, seem to only fuel our restlessness. Today, we can no longer sit in a room and merely be bored, wasting time.

Even simple tasks are being sung as wasteful. As if time itself is this finite resource that we must suck dry like all other pleasures this planet gives us.

We are wasting time walking from one college building to the next, we must be on our smartphones- Tweeting, texting or Vining.

We have been conditioned with the gut reaction to occupy ourselves. We cannot even watch television anymore without computers on our laps or iPhones with Instagram and Snapchat.

But what if we reject that idea? In the age of computers and flat screen televisions, I urge you to join me in an experiment.

Imagine and consider taking a single chunk of 10 minutes out of your day and simply be bored. Be brave with me, defiantly shut your computer and turn your phone on silent in the next room.

Face the intimidating silence of your mind.

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How Training to Fight Trains You for Life

I have always been active in sports. I started playing tee-ball at a very young age and continued playing baseball until high school. When it wasn’t baseball season, I was involved in football, soccer and basketball.

Although I loved my time playing all of these sports, it wasn’t until I started training in different athletic endeavors that I started learning about life.

I started watching mixed martial arts in high school as the UFC started to become popular. I was friends with a couple of wrestlers who introduced me to the promotion, and instantly I was hooked and always talked about training.

It wasn’t until I was 27 that I started training. I took a Judo class at my college and soon signed up for Muay Thai and Brazilian jujitsu at a gym.

When I signed up I was prepared to start a physical transformation. What I wasn’t ready for was a mental transformation. The following are three ways that training to fight has trained me for life.

Fighting
Photo credit: Anthony Peters

1. Always keep your balance.

This lesson comes from Muay Thai. Keeping your balance is essential for everything.

If you throw yourself off balance while punching, not only does it make it harder for you to continue your attack, it makes it hard for you to defend.

I apply this to my personal life every day.

By keeping my school life in balance with my home life, I am able to keep everything in perspective and not over extend myself in one area. This allows me to focus on one thing at a time.

2. Mat time, mat time, mat time.

This jujitsu saying is probably the lesson that I needed to learn most.It is said to students who try to find a shortcut for learning techniques.

In jujitsu, as in life, there are no shortcuts. The only way to truly become a master at something is to put in the time on the mats, or just continue working on it.

3. Fall down seven times, get up eight.

I learned this Japanese maxim from my Judo classes. In Judo, you are constantly being thrown to the mat.

Either in practice or in sparring, getting thrown to the mats can be very demoralizing. What separates those that don’t make it and those that do is who can pick themselves up and get back to it.

Life can throw you to the mat easier than the best judoka. What separates those who are successful and those that aren’t is who can rebound from hardship.