Her Story
About Laura
I started my career as a graphic designer after studying at James Madison University, and design remains the foundation of everything I do. I love anything creative, especially combining creativity and psychology. About 6 years ago, while working at Jill's House doing photography, I was thrown into social media management and discovered I really loved it. I've sharpened my skills over time through a lot of self-teaching, learning about analytics, understanding what works for each brand individually, and pivoting when necessary. I focus on increasing impressions and awareness - since I started at Pack Expo and PMMI, I've been able to increase follower count, engagement, and present high-quality work, which has shown through the analytics. My favorite work right now is creating video content in an interview style. I recently started a behind-the-scenes series with staff that highlights the different personalities and shows the humanity behind the brand. My main expertise today is social media management, which includes editing, photography, videography, and graphics.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Laura
01What do you attribute your success to?
Having support from my team has contributed to a lot of my success. In the beginning, I had a lot of imposter syndrome, and just having people believe in me and look to me to make decisions and lead kind of pushed me to level up. Without that support, I honestly wouldn't be in the same place that I am today, so I'm really grateful for the support of the team and for them fostering that leadership in me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say always be open to learning and pivoting when you need to, because this industry, especially social media management, changes every day. At times, that can feel daunting, but just keep going and keep trying new things, and eventually something's gonna work, and that's really rewarding in itself.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The algorithms are really kind of playing against organic content. It's becoming a pay-to-play environment, and capitalism kind of seeps in everywhere eventually. That can be hard for smaller brands if they don't have the resources to push forward boosting or do paid campaigns. But I do feel like there are so many ways around it if you have a good strategy - just knowing your audience. There's definitely a high focus on video content right now, and video takes a while to produce and edit, so having the time to create video content can be a struggle. But I'd say it's worth it, and less is more in this current state. Quality is over quantity.
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