Welcome to Brazen Careerist!

About Me

I want to have a little fun with this one.

In my 24 years of existence, I'd like to say that I've grown to be a pretty well-rounded young individual. Growing up as a priviledged coon ass in New Orleans surrounded by the best food in the South with several sets of brothers and sisters in the WHO DAT nation, a city with such soul, culture and pride (and an alcohol problem), I can say my New Orleans heritage is a big part of who I am. (Don't judge me for writing run-on sentences or ending those sentences with a preposition, I will do it often in this breakdown of "Me")

My mother has always preached to me that your 20's are all about self-discovery and figuring out who you are as a person. She couldn't have been more dead on. Each year I age, since I've hit the big 2-0, I have grown, learned, matured and thrived in ways I never thought I would. Almost mid-way through my second decade, I've decided to write a blog about those experiences and the independent, selfish and career-driven Generation Y that I am so thankful to be a part of.

It fascinates me how young people these days are thriving in their work, dating for longer periods of time and taking their time with relationships, spending money on themselves, saving money to buy a house/condo ...in general, the "selfish" generation, right? It's all about "me". Where our parents, on the contrary, got married so young and sort of made life harder for themselves.

My purpose of joining networks like Brazen Careerist is to connect with other Gen Y individuals who are on the same self-discovery path and discuss the trending topics of the thriving young professionals out there.

With a Bachelor's degree in Communications (Public Relations and Marketing) from the University of Alabama, (let's not forget my upbringing in booze capitol of the country) I can vouch that I earned a professional partying degree with some serious rednecks and real Southern folks. Boy, was that an whirlwind. A true SEC football experience, I must say: Roll Tide!

I probably started learning the most about myself when I volunteered for an unpaid internship (no school credit, either) in New York at a PR firm, while waiting tables at the most prestigious, stuck up and snotty French Brasserie in town, eek! Living in New York all alone, with no friends or family, underage (I was 20 at the time) working 6 days a week will teach you something. That was when I really grew up! If you can make it there, you truly can make it anywhere.

After college, I moved to Austin, TX. I didn't know a soul and I've been here ever since (2.5 yrs now). I love this place! Austin is one of the best town's for young people, there is so much vibe and culture here. It truly is a melting pot. Most of my friends here are not from Austin. I have friends who have moved here from Wisconsin, Colorado, California, Indianapolis and Illinois.

Working as a software sales consultant for Meltwater News (an online media monitoring software company) I learned all the basics of sales, prospecting, negotiating, and the fundamentals of business in general. It was great professional experience, very thankful to have worked in such a fast-paced, thriving, overly-ambitious company. It being as challenging and difficult as it was, that one job taught me more about myself in one year than in my whole life. Literally. It challenged me mentally, emotionally, physically.

Moving on to Rare Magazine, where I worked as an Account Executive selling print ads. I was quickly promoted to Sales Manager where I recruited, trained and managed several AE's for our sales team. I sold over $20,000 in Austin Restaurant Week participation sales while managing restaurant clients and overseeing event details. Rare was a lot of fun and allowed me to network with many young individuals in Austin, but left me broke!

Presently, I am the Sales Coordinator at a full-service social media agency in Austin called Powered, Inc. I am learning more by the minute about social media and the digital world and couldn't be happier here.

Saints football is a way of life for me and I love to eat good food and drink delicious wine. A goal of mine is to study the art of wine and viticulture. I love to run the trail along Town Lake outside and travel whenever possible.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for young people like me who have chosen to take life by the horns, move away from home to a new city and try something new. I can't wait for my next adventure - San Francisco, Denver, New York, who knows? I know I'm up for it! Oh yeah, Who Dat!

Work History

• Powered, Inc
• Sales Coordinator
• May 2010 to Present

• As Sales Coordinator for the Business Development team at Powered, Inc, my goals and responsibilities are to aid the sales effort, perform relevant research on brand marketing where needed and to synchronize the agency's sales and marketing endeavors for effective use. Working at an elite full-service social media agency has allowed me to further my knowledge in the marketing world through the social and digital space. It has also provided me with several interesting opportunities. As a representative of Powered Inc, I attended the New Marketing Experience in Chicago, IL and the Inbound Marketing Summit is Boston, MA in 2010. To date, I am credited with generating potential new business opportunities with Autotrader, Alaska Airlines, Hyundai, Chipotle, Dillards and Cisco Systems.

• Rare Magazine
• Sales and Marketing Manager
• August 2009 to May 2010

• • Created and implemented sales strategies, organization and quotas; ultimately establishing infrastructure in small, new business environment
  • Recruited, developed and managed 6 members of sales team
  • Contributed to magazine story ideas and marketing promotional events
  • Adapted and implemented social media trends for marketing and publicity efforts
  • Sold over $20,000 in Austin Restaurant Week participation sales while managing clients and overseeing event details
  • Acquired new local advertising business while working closely with Director of Sales and Marketing and leading the Account Executives in their sales effort
  • Involved in networking groups such as the Texas Restaurant Association and Austin Ad Federation

• Meltwater News
• Sales Consultant
• July 2008 to July 2009

• • Generated and cold called prospects
  • Customized demo accounts with empty web portals for individual cases
  • Lead negotiations for new client contracts
  • Consistently achieved weekly and monthly sales goals
  • Fostered ongoing relationships with clients by providing direct customer service
  • Presented online demonstrations of software service to high level executive decision makers
  • Contributed to team goals of gaining new business

Education

• University of Alabama
• Bachelor of Science: Communication and Information Sciences, Public Relations, Marketing
• 2004 - 2008