In this post on the Comms Women platform, Peyton Williams, a student at the University of Alabama, College of Communication and Information Sciences, interviews Sophia Porter, a PR professional.
I interviewed Sophia Porter, a young woman working in the public relations industry. I reached out to her because I felt it is important as a college student aspiring to break into the public relations industry to hear from someone who has been in the same place not too long ago. Not only did Sophia succeed in breaking into public relations, but she has also excelled. She has worked with well-known brands like 818 Tequila and Bumble where she led a team of 40 across ten campuses. Sophia has also worked with the Lubbock Police Department leading a group of five fellow students in a public relations campaign for the department’s Community Engagement Unit. With all these impressive accomplishments, she had to start somewhere.
Photo: Courtesy of Sophia Williams
Sophia got the true start of her career in PR in high school. She did not always know she wanted to go into PR so, unsure of what her major should be after high school, her teacher/mentor, Mrs. Waterman suggested that she should major in PR and this suggestion set Sophia on her path to loving the public relations industry. She got her professional start by interning at Droese Public Relations, a luxury PR agency based out of Dallas, Texas, and this is where she fell in love with the industry.
A typical day in Sophia’s life never fully looks the same because the work is based on the individual clients she is working with. Her day-to-day responsibilities do include drafting pitches, meeting with clients and her supervisors, working on editorial calendars, lots of research, and organizing media coverage and press kits.
While Sophia loves working in public relations, no job is without its challenges. Every day being different in her job is what keeps it interesting and exciting, but it also leaves room for the fear of the unknown. She is always striving to be as prepared as possible but some things you just can’t prepare for. Sometimes working in public relations, a crisis can strike, and when it does many different factors are threatened, and quick but informed decisions need to be made which can be challenging.
Part of working in public relations is staying updated on industry trends and changes in the media landscape. Sophia stays up to date in multiple ways, one way being flipping through all different kinds of media channels frequently including news channels, websites, Muck Rack, social media, etc. Another way she stays ahead of the game is by staying connected with her local PRSA chapter which she highly recommends any aspiring PR professionals to join. In addition, Sophia frequents the PR net which she says is another amazing resource.
The last thing I asked Sophia Porter is what she sees for the future of public relations, and she stated that there have been many changes in the industry with the addition of AI. The growth of AI has changed many industries with public relations being no exception, but the human touch is what makes these industries successful and Sophia is confident that public relations will remain human at its foundation.
