Her Story
About Marlo
I spent a considerable amount of time working in municipal and strategic planning for public sectors, with a natural flow of being a consultant or being on staff as a strategist for those in the political structure for local and state government. As an advisor to decision makers in the public sector, I found that I had a niche for taking really technical information and making it simple so that consumers, residents, and voters could understand it. I spent most of my time in the first responder industry: emergency management and law enforcement. However, there was a change in the tenor of the nation with regards to that field, and it was getting more and more difficult to tell a good story without it being a politicized story, which was not what I had really set out to do. When I had the opportunity to move into community well-being, I was grateful to have something that everyone could get behind, that didn't divide conversations or communities but brought them together. I've been doing that for the past 4 years, and I'm really pleased that it's just one circle beyond where I've spent so much of my time. I come across a lot of the same players, components, and coalitions that I had always worked with, it's just a new topic that I get to share with them. I'm really good at guiding executives and public officials in their messaging to be as effective as possible.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Marlo
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Surround yourself with people that know more than you. If that means getting out and having experiences that you otherwise wouldn't do, do it. Through that experience, you will find that you will make connections, and they could last a lifetime. You may not always see the connection that you have now with either a professor or a mentor as something that gives you a return on that investment, but eventually it will, either through having a sounding board, guidance, or someone who says your name in a room when you're not there. You don't necessarily have to go a straight route to success, and you can have it all differently, and you can define it on your own terms.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge I'm facing in this field of public relations and strategic communications is the challenge we're seeing with AI and artificial intelligence. It has streamlined a lot of things, and I certainly believe that it's a resource. I just am seeing a lot of people treat it as a way to cut a corner that is removing some of the humanity in our messaging and in the things that we can do to really relate to one another, as opposed to just talk at one another. That is going to be a challenge to try to keep the human in the humanity, but I feel as though that having an understanding and capacity to do both is going to be the way that the balance will find itself. The opportunity that I also think is available is there are more and more people that are becoming a public persona. I really see that our business community has an opportunity to step into being stewards of the community. It should not just be elected officials, and so I really think there's an opportunity for having strategic communications and public relations benefit business community leaders as well.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity. I think that we have spent a long time worrying about what people think, as opposed to making sure that people understand. It takes an authentic character to be okay with standing in their truth and recognizing that might not make everyone comfortable. Authenticity comes from a place of good intention. And therefore, I think if you have good intentions, then you can have a conversation where somebody might not understand, but if you're willing to try to find a common ground, it's the best place to start.
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