Influential Woman · Marketing
Rylee Peterson
Senior Social Media Account Representative, Sublime Media Group
Bowling Green, KY 42101
Her Story
About Rylee
I started my career journey at Western Kentucky University, where I initially majored in journalism because I've always loved to write. However, I found journalism tapered my creativity a bit - professors told me I was getting too wordy with news writing because I liked expressing myself with big adjectives and descriptions. During my spring semester, I took a software studio class with Professor Kelley Coppinger, who became one of my favorite professors. She taught us the basics of Adobe programs like Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop, and I became interested in creating graphics and learning best practices for advertising. At the same time, I was working at Beverly Hills Bargain Boutique, a local consignment shop, where I started doing social media for the store - putting together outfits, taking photos, and posting items for sale. As I began immersing myself in this field, I felt that this was where I could freely use my creative skills. One day after class, I went up to Kelley and told her that I was enjoying the advertising field more than journalism. She asked me to follow her to her office and helped me switch my major that same day. After graduating in spring 2021, I started at The Buntin Group in Nashville, where I worked on larger accounts like the Tennessee Lottery, Cabinets to Go, and CITGO Light Oils. I enjoyed my work, but the commute from Southern Kentucky grew tiresome. I moved on to A2 (now Alliance Marketing Group), which allowed me to work remotely while occasionally driving to the Hendersonville, TN office. Here, I did digital marketing work like social media, emails, and website updates for mom-and-pop grocery stores across the country. However, after a little over a year there, I started having the desire to work somewhere in the Bowling Green area and be more involved in the community. The role at Sublime Media Group opened up, and it turned out to be a really great fit. I'm encouraged to grow and develop my skills, network in the community, and maintain a work/life balance. Culture is huge for me, and a lot of my current success wouldn't be possible without the people I'm surrounded by and the work I get to do with them.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rylee
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've always been an ambitious person. Ever since I was in school, I've just wanted to do the best that I can do and reach for the opportunities that are the best fit for me. But I also have to trust that I will be led to the right spaces with the right people. I know a lot of my current success wouldn't be possible without the people that I'm surrounded by and the work that I get to do with them. Your team is so important - it's never just one person.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of bosses once told me that it's vital to know your worth in your career. You have to really understand the value that you bring to the table and the value of the work that you execute, and not settle for less than that.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My biggest advice is to set boundaries, both for yourself and for your career, because it's so important to be able to balance your work and life. Know where those lines are, and know whenever you're doing too much that you need to scale back. Never do more than you can handle and handle WELL. Make sure you're taking on work that you can execute and be proud of, rather than splitting yourself between several things and executing mediocre work. Always advocate yourself, and ensure that you're being compensated fairly for your work, as well.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think AI is both a challenge and an opportunity. It is an opportunity whenever it can be used as a tool for ideating. For example, I'll go to ChatGPT for whenever I'm trying to brainstorm some content ideas for a brand. But it's also a challenge in that we are seeing a lot of work out there that is AI-produced, and it has that feel to it - it doesn't feel like a genuine piece of art. Now more than ever, and this is a trend that I've been reading about for 2026, people want to see human-made content. They want things to feel authentic and non-polished. Perfect social media feeds are not what people want to see anymore. They want it to feel human, and human is a little messy. So you want to make sure you are keeping that creativity flowing and not rely on AI. Use it as a tool whenever it can be helpful, but don't have it do your job for you.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is really important to me. I really value honesty and just doing good, honest work. Dependability is big for me as well, especially when you work within a collaborative environment like I do at a marketing agency. There are a lot of projects that depend on a lot of different people, and I want to know that I can count on someone to do their part and do it well.
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