Her Story
About Bridget
Bridget McCrory Kouch is a strategic communications leader with approximately 20 years of experience spanning internal communications, external communications, public relations, and employee engagement. She currently serves as Head of Strategic Communications for the Workplace Solutions division at Vanguard where she leads a team supporting the firm’s retirement business. In this role, she oversees integrated communications efforts including client and crisis communications, regulatory, the division’s LinkedIn presence, and other divisional programs.
Her career began in 2007, following early internship experiences that sparked her interest in communications. She started in public relations at a small agency before joining Comcast's PR department for five years before transitioning to Comcast's internal corporate communications team. At Comcast, she managed large-scale initiatives such as the annual employee engagement survey, intranet redesign, and employee broadcasts. She later worked at Urban Outfitters in a hybrid communications role before returning to Comcast to support internal and external communications for the company’s first sustainability communications function, focused on ESG storytelling, employee education, and public disclosures.
Across every role, Bridget’s work has centered on multifaceted strategic communications. Her experience has consistently been impactful within highly complex organizations. She is known for her ability to translate business priorities into clear, compelling narratives that engage employees, clients, and critical stakeholders.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Bridget
01What do you attribute your success to?
I really feel strongly about internships. When I was in college, I had three different internships and intentionally tried to seek out roles that exposed me to different comms jobs. One was for a public affairs talk show, one with the local radio station, and the last was an ongoing writer role with the student newspaper. Education is very important, but in my experience, nothing is better than having the actual real life experience.
These internships helped me get clear on what elements I really enjoyed and then I was able to hone in on those skills and the related work to narrow down the types of roles I would want to pursue for full time work.
As I 've grown throughout my career, I attribute my success to having been fortunate to have several mentors. These relationships have led to job opportunities, they've been my cheerleaders and also my toughest critics, but all of it made me better and stronger. It's so important for women to seek out other women to mentor and mentee to continue to provide opportunities, support, exposure, and career growth.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Stay curious - it will help you learn in any role you're in and will help your work product be even stronger. I also think it's critical to lead with a relationship-first approach throughout your career. It's invaluable to have meaningful relationships that help you grow and learn. Creating and maintaining genuine relationships and friendships has been the highlight of my career so far.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I definitely encourage getting real world experience whether it's through internships, co-ops, or volunteer work - get as much experience early on to help you hone your career interests.
For communications professionals, I stress the importance of investing time in learning to write well because being a strong writer is critical to any communications role, and you also have to enjoy it to make a career of it. If you work hard but also identify people to help you along the way, the hard work will pay off.
Finding mentors is also critical - finding those who you click with, who you can learn from, and who you can also give to in the process, rather than it being a one-way relationship.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say it's the tension of AI and how it's going to be helpful and a learning curve for communicators. There's certainly concern around what AI will mean for comms roles in the future, but ultimately it should help reduce manual tasks to allow for more strategic and creative thinking. So far, I have found if you embrace the technology and have a test and learn mentality, AI can be a powerful tool for communications.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being candid is really important to me. I also value humor a lot, and being straightforward and direct, because the adage "clear is kind" is spot on. I also think it's important to help give people opportunity where you can - what meeting can you bring someone to, or who can you connect someone with? Identifying opportunities for people on your team and for your mentees to get more exposure to senior leaders and others in roles they may want to pursue in the future is so needed. I'm always thinking about how I can open doors for others.
In my personal life, family and friends come first. I try to spend as much time with them as possible. I also love to travel and explore new places. Lastly, I love dogs (I've had one almost at every stage of my life) and I also enjoy trying different restaurants.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.