Profile: Meg Bernier Keniston ’07, M’09
Associate Director of Marketing at St. Lawrence University
Major: English
Minor: Educational Studies
Master’s: Educational Leadership
Photo Credits: Tara Freeman, St. Lawrence University Photographer
This week we had the pleasure of getting to know Meg Bernier Keniston (‘07, M’09) as she shared her St. Lawrence story with us. Here she discusses her career path in the Communications and Marketing fields and her opinion on the ins-and-outs of sustaining a good social media presence. She also offers some sage advice for those who aspire to pursue a similar direction after graduation!
1. What was your SLU experience like and what were you involved in as an undergraduate student here?
Coming to St. Lawrence felt like coming home for me. I grew up just outside of Syracuse, but my family moved to Atlanta when I was in middle school. I applied to St. Lawrence because my mom graduated from here in 1980, however I never intended on coming. When I got the acceptance letter, my gut told me to come here. I did – and I’ve never really left.
Here at St. Lawrence, I was a co-captain of the swim team, a member of Delta Delta Delta, a member of the Senior Class Council, and I also worked in the University Communications office. One thing I didn’t do that I regret is studying abroad! Swimming made that tough for me; either I would miss all the training we did by going abroad in the fall, or I’d miss the reason we train (championships!) in the spring. If you have the opportunity to study in another country while in college- take it!
2. What is your position/role on St. Lawrence University’s campus?
I am the Associate Director of Marketing, which includes a lot of different responsibilities. In a nutshell, I am responsible for the editorial content that high school students see and (hopefully!) read in our Admissions publications and emails. I periodically write for our Alumni Magazine and the University’s website. I also manage St. Lawrence’s social media presence and was the one to get St. Lawrence on Instagram in 2012 (@stlawrenceu and @herewegosaints) and on Snapchat in 2016 (@stlawrenceu) through our student-run Social Media Team. I’ve had the pleasure of wearing a lot of different hats here which has helped me find my niche!
3. As an alumna of the University, how did you decide to stay involved and create a career at your alma mater? What have been the highlights of doing so?
I worked in University Communications for two and a half years as an undergraduate, which started out with small writing assignments but turned into much more than that. As Commencement neared, I knew I loved writing and promotional work so I started looking into jobs where I could continue doing that. It just so happened that our Athletics Department was looking for a Sports Information graduate assistant and I was encouraged to apply. Having the chance to get great real-world work experience, earn a free master’s degree, and stay at St. Lawrence for two more years was too good to pass up! So when I was offered the job, I decided to stay.
The job was really hard for me – I was responsible for managing 10 of our teams’ websites and statistics. I had to learn a lot, and I had to learn it quickly (between us, I was really bad at the statistics part!). I LOVED many parts of that job; I got to keep up with the progress of many of our athletic teams and I wrote stories about some great student-athletes accomplishing incredible things. I had the chance to learn programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign – both have been incredibly useful in every job that I’ve had since then. It was in this job that I learned how much I loved marketing those programs and that department overall.
After completing my master’s degree, I wanted to stay in the North Country and was lucky enough to have Clarkson University offer me a position in their Admissions Office.
I loved admissions, but I knew that at some point I was going to want to get back into marketing work. After several months at Clarkson, I took on a position in SUNY Canton’s Public Relations Office for two years. Then, a writing job in St. Lawrence’s Communications Office opened in January 2012. The rest is history!
One of the biggest highlights of working at SLU has been building the Student Social Media Team and, thanks to that group, creating some incredible projects that have really mattered to the University. We’ve developed content that made a difference in an admitted student’s digital experience with the school, as well as projects that have helped alumni reconnect with their alma mater.
4. What would you say is the best part of working in the Communications field?
The best part of working in Communications is that it is constantly changing. In the very short time I’ve been working in this field, there are new tools, platforms, and strategies to navigate and learn. Working at my alma mater and doing what’s best for St. Lawrence is a great motivator for me to continue learning so that I make sure I’m doing the absolute best job I can for a place that I love. The moment that you are in a job and you no longer have the desire to continue learning in order to get better at what you do is an indicator that it’s time to look for another path that will keep you excited and eager every day. I’m lucky that I’ve never had that moment in any of the jobs I’ve had since graduation.
5. Do you have any advice for those looking into careers in either Communications or Marketing?
A liberal arts degree will benefit you more than you will ever know if this is a field you want to go into! You’ll need to have strong writing skills, you’ll need to be a great listener and communicator, and you’ll need to be an incredible critical thinker as well. I took many English courses, but I have also found that the Sociology, Psychology, Gender Studies, PCA, and Global Studies courses have all helped tremendously in my career, as they have allowed me to better understand people. Knowing what I know now about the field, I would have taken more Sociology courses. I also would have spent some time taking a Statistics class or two. Analytics are very important for proving the value of my time and efforts, and I think I’d be better at telling people about the reasons my work is valuable to St. Lawrence if I were better with numbers!
I also would pass along the advice that was given to me by my undergraduate mentor, Lisa Cania M’82 (who is now a Vice President at St. Lawrence!). When I realized I wanted to pursue a career in Communications, I wasn’t sure my undergraduate education had been enough, so I immediately began looking into graduate programs. She told me to go out and get some experience, find out what I was good at, and if I felt I needed additional education in that part of the field, go and get it after I figured out that first part. This changed my entire career trajectory in the best way possible, as I was able to find my own way into the field – a very empowering feeling!
Communications and Marketing are broad career terms; there are so many roles that one can take on within those fields. Take every internship opportunity offered to you, take on leadership PR roles in the clubs and organizations you are in, and start figuring out what you love doing when in those roles. It might be social media or writing, or it might be website development or digital design. You may also discover that you don’t really like any of it, and that’s just as valuable.
6. In your own opinion, what would you say is the best way for young women to maintain a positive social media presence today?
My first thought on this subject can be found in one of my favorite phrases, which is from Fieldhouse Media (a company that helps educate, equip, and empower student-athletes so that they use social media with a purpose):
“Every time you post something, every time you hit send, every time you retweet or repost something, you are making a decision to tell the world something about you. Are you building up your reputation or tearing it down?”
My second thought is to be authentic. Today there is a very real pressure to post your best moments (or best-looking moments) and biggest accomplishments on social media. I’m not saying don’t share those things – you absolutely should! Just don’t get caught up in posting those things for the wrong reasons; share experiences that matter to you. Don’t use social media as measuring sticks for self-worth or for building up your confidence. If you find yourself doing that, put down your phone and get back to doing things in real life that you enjoy doing, and do them with the people who mean the most to you.