Name: Sydney Owen
Age: 26
Job Title and Description: Main Peanut in the Packet at 3Ring Media. Which basically rolls up my entire skydiving career with all of my marketing career and puts a pretty bow on it, allowing me to help small businesses be as awesome online as they are offline.
College/Major: University of South Florida – Mass Communications/PR with a focus on digital/emerging media
Website: www.sydneyowen.com
Twitter Handle: @sydneyowen
Her Campus: What does your current job entail?
Sydney Owen: I wake up, go for a run, shower, then I get my skydiving gear together. No jump is the same. When I’m not jumping out of planes, I’m busy marketing the drop zone and creating awesome events for our jumpers here, as well as researching new clients, writing a column for Blue Skies Magazine, or trying to keep the blog updated.
HC: What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?
SO: I got an internship at Weber Shandwick in Chicago before I graduated college. I moved to Chicago from Tampa the day after my last final and, eight weeks into the 16-week program, I was hired full-time. I was offered the internship and full-time position from a contact I made at SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas.
HC: What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now?
SO: I don’t think I’d change anything because my time in the agency world taught me a lot about what the industry is about and what I want from my career and my life in the working world. I couldn’t do what I do now if I didn’t have that foundation, but ultimately, being my own boss is pretty much the cat’s pajamas.
HC: Who is one person who changed your professional life for the better?
SO: Aaron Strout. I met him at SXSW Interactive in 2009 and he has proven to be an amazing mentor ever since. He’s helped me each step along my career path, even now, as my career path is totally different from the one he’s taken. I’m so fortunate to have someone like him so close to my career and personal life.
HC: What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
SO: Face your fear. Live your dream. Make it happen. That’s my mantra.
HC: What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
SO: For one of the client events I was doing when I was still working with the agency, one of the people on my team forgot to order promotional items that were a huge part of the event plan. The items were completed, but they were in a warehouse in Chicago and we were in Dallas—on a Friday night. We FedEx’ed the items overnight for Saturday delivery. Sounds simple, but there were a good couple hours of sheer panic, as I was overseeing all of the supplies for the event. After that, I realized that there is indeed a solution to everything that comes up that might be stressful.
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HC: What is the best part of your job?
SO: The fact that I now get to combine two things that fuel my fire – skydiving and marketing.
HC: How important is it that college students engage in philanthropic work?
SO: As a college student, it’s hard to understand just how many awesome opportunities you have to network your face off. I found out about the power of networking as a junior, but just imagine what you could do if you discovered it early, and tested out the different avenues. Philanthropic work is definitely a great place to get started with the networking, especially if it’s for a cause that means a lot to you.
HC: What do you look for when hiring someone?
SO: I’m not hiring yet but I’d look for someone who was like me when I was looking for a job – motivated, connected, and most importantly, a good fit, culture-wise, to what my mission is in the business that I do.
HC: What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
SO: If you can dream it, you can do it. I’ve been extremely lucky–but my definition of luck is something I saw on my hair stylist’s mirror: “Luck is simply where preparation and opportunity meet.” If you work hard, it will pay off. Trust me.
Co-Founded by Natalie MacNeil and Scott Gerber, Y.E.C. Women is an initiative of the Young Entrepreneur Council (Y.E.C.), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs. The Y.E.C promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.