Name: Joanna Galysh
Year: Senior
Hometown: North Olmsted, OH
Major: Strategic Communication
Minor: Marketing
Hobbies: Concerts, reading, hiking, playing tennis and cuddling with cute animals
Favorite place to eat in Oxford: Breakfast: Patterson’s, Late Night: Bagel & Deli
Fun Fact: Since reading it in high school I have been obsessed with The Great Gatsby (the book and the movie version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow).
HC: Will you first help explain what PR Visions is and when/why you decided to join?
JG: PR Visions is Miami’s only on-campus, student-run PR firm. We operate as a part of Miami’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and recruit students who are interested in getting hands-on, real life communications and marketing experience with real clients (typically local nonprofit organizations). Some of the organizations that we are working with this year include Oxford United Way, Oxford Chamber of Commerce, Oxford Family Resource Center and the Miami University Office of Annual Giving, just to name a few.
I joined PR Visions at the end of my sophomore year because it seemed like a great way to get involved with PRSSA and gain experience in my major by producing promotional materials for real clients. During my sophomore year, my TA for COM259 was the director of PR Visions, and her encouragement and enthusiasm for it made me excited to interview and join PR Visions.
HC: What made you want to become the director of PR Visions on campus? Are you involved with anything else on campus?
JG: I wanted to become the director of PR Visions to learn more about how to apply my strategic communication major in a real world setting. The prospect of working with real clients outside of the classroom was very important to me, and I wanted to take on a leadership role within PR Visions to learn more about how client relations functioned. Since I am in charge of overseeing communication between all of the clients and student teams, I am able to ensure that everything runs smoothly. I also like seeing how the teams interact with their clients and work hard to raise awareness about their clients and their programs around campus and in the Oxford community. I also serve as the Vice President of Lambda Pi Eta, a communication honors fraternity on campus.
Besides PR Visions and PRSSA, I am also the PR Official for the Honors Student Advisory Board (HSAB). HSAB is essentially the student government for the Honors Program that plans philanthropic/fun events and provides curricular and co-curricular support for all Miami honors students. I am in charge of creating all of our promotional materials for HSAB, so if you see any of our posters or table tents around, those are all made by yours truly!
HC: What advice do you have for students who are interested in obtaining a job in the public relations field after college?
JG: To any student interested in obtaining a job in the public relations field after graduation, my biggest suggestion would be to put yourself out there, find an internship in PR/communications/marketing and work your butt off. The summer after my sophomore year at Miami, I worked two unpaid communications internships and a part-time job. Although it was completely exhausting and a TON of work, all of the experience I gained earned me a paid internship the following summer, ultimately resulting in a job offer. My best advice is to set yourself apart as a hard worker and network like crazy. You never know what connections people have, so leave a positive impression with everyone and always go above and beyond your job description. All of your hard work will pay off eventually– believe me.
HC: What are some of the biggest challenges that you have had to face in your position as a leader?
JG: One of the biggest challenges I have faced as director of PR Visions is staying organized. I send and receive countless emails regarding PR Visions each week, so sometimes it is difficult to make sure messages don’t get lost in the shuffle. I have learned to write down everything important in my planner and to sort my PR Visions emails into many email folders.
HC: What are you most looking forward to the rest of this year, whether it is in an activity you are involved in or not?
JG: I am most looking forward to May when I will be taking a post-graduation tour all across Europe with other Miami graduates.
HC: What are your plans for after college? What are you future goals and how do you think your position as PR visions director will help you achieve those goals?
JG: After college I will be moving home to Cleveland to work as a Search and Media Associate at Rosetta, an interactive digital marketing agency. In the future, I would like to move to a new city to complete a graduate degree in marketing or communication (hopefully at Georgetown in D.C.)! My position as the director of PR Visions will help me achieve these goals by showing me how to communicate effectively between clients and coworkers while remaining organized and on top of my responsibilities.