Her Story
About Michelle
Michelle Reynolds serves as a communications professional for IT & Digital Americas at Nestle. She has spent the majority of her six-year career with the company, beginning as a summer intern in Nestle Purina. During her internship, she proposed and helped organize a Spirit Week event to celebrate the company's anniversary, engaging thousands across multiple locations and leading to a two-month extension of her internship that launched her full-time role. Reynolds holds a bachelor's degree in media studies, often described as communications, along with a dual minor in marketing and business and an advertising certificate, all earned from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2019. She emphasizes building relationships as a core value, particularly given periods of remote work, and approaches her work by ensuring initiatives tie directly to strategy rather than serving as mere checkboxes. Reynolds attributes her success to the networks she has built and the supportive people she has encountered, as well as her own curiosity and habit of asking questions. She advises others to apply for opportunities when excited about them rather than waiting to feel fully ready. Outside of work, she volunteers with the Ankhclave nonprofit, Under the Umbrella bookstore, Flourish Mental Health nonprofit, and is preparing to volunteer at Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, where she is located.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Michelle
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would have to say one, the networks that I've built, the amazing people that I've come across. My boss took a chance on me. I've had all these amazing people along my career that I've learned from, but it's also just curiosity too. Not being afraid to ask a lot of questions. One of my favorite quotes is, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. There's no harm in asking.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Sometimes the question isn't if you're ready for a role. Do you feel excited about it? Do you think you could do it? Well, then apply! It might not necessarily be are you ready for it, it's are you compassionate enough to want to do it. Or you only become ready once you do it.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be curious, and just go for it. Never tell yourself no. Apply for it, and then have them tell you no if that's the case. Be curious too. I like to call myself a jack of all trades. I am easily can be tapped for any project. That's how I grow, is by doing something completely new, not doing the same project over and over again. You gotta step out of your comfort zone.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
For communications, the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity is probably AI. It's very scary because they say it's going to replace you, but communications is broader than that. We can lean into being strategic. It's also an opportunity because I get to work for IT and Digital Americas within Nestle and have access to all this new AI and tech.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In terms of my work, it's really important for me to build relationships, especially since parts of my career I have been remote. Any job I go into, whether I am in the office or on the computer, it's really important to me to build relationships with people. Not even just the people I work closest with, but just people in the office that you might off-chance come across too.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.