An Open Letter to Those I Used to Know

As I begin my journey into entrepreneurship, I’m thinking a lot about the people I used to know. In the event you’re reading this letter, that’s likely you.

I'm remembering my first role in the industry as an unpaid intern at an Anchorage-based ad agency, asking hungry Subway sandwich customers questions about their affinity toward the sandwich brand and lurking in the airport to survey customers of a small regional airline to gather intel for a pitch. I'm remembering the fun times at my first full-time paid PR job — the more memorable times were spent showing off Alaska’s greatness to media. Press trips were spent wining and dining, snowmobiling, dog sledding and "hunting" for the aurora borealis. But it wasn’t the job tasks that made those memories, it was the people. I’ve met some fantastic people.

While I wish I could keep in close contact with many of the old colleagues and media contacts I’ve made along the years, two young sons under the age of five make it nearly impossible. And, if I'm being honest, I'm bad about keeping in touch. Here are a few of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from the wonderful people I've met in my career.

Be your own hype man

Unless you have your own publicist, you can’t rely on anyone else to build you up. Sometimes it’s more common to hear about your shortcomings than the things you’re doing right. And it can be hard to keep the faith. Do it anyway. If you don’t know how amazing you are, you can’t expect anyone else to know it either.

My moving to Milwaukee party with my co-workers at Thompson & Co. PR.

Pay it forward

We all start out at the bottom. But some of us who start out at the bottom will rise to the top. Making sure we treat interns with the same respect we treat senior leadership is just the right thing to do and makes sense because, who knows, in a few years that intern may be your boss. Take an intern to coffee, take the time to mentor and lend a listening ear.

Kindness wins — always

I’ve met incredibly magnanimous people in my career and I’ve encountered people who will slander your name because they don't like how you look, how you talk or where you're from. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of both and will always, always choose kindness.

On a press trip snowmobiling at Spencer Glacier in Alaska.

Attention to detail is paramount

I’ll never forget one day early in my career that I was flying through email pitches and forgot to change the name of the media contact at the top of the email. In my haste, I accidentally addressed the pitch to a competitive news outlet. What made it worse was the recipient was friends with my boss and called my boss to tell her what I'd done. I was humiliated. I tell that story a lot to young PR professionals, a cautionary tale that reinforces the importance of attention to detail. But also — don’t be like the TV reporter that called my boss. We all have off days.

So, if we used to work together, used to grab drinks together or shared at least one memory together. Know that you've taught me a lot, you're thought of, and I will always wish you well.

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