Tell us about your academic background
A broad liberal arts program at the University of Texas called Plan II—so broad that there was a running joke on campus—“I haven’t chosen a major, but I Plan II.” My concentration was history and for my senior thesis, I used census data to track immigration patterns in 19th century Texas. This prepared me for getting excited and writing about arcane topics that might make some peoples’ eyes glaze over.
How does your background in financial journalism come in handy when working in financial PR?
Having walked in their shoes, I like to think I have a pretty good sense of what makes editors and reporters tick—what will get their attention and, conversely, what will make them roll their eyes. The latter can make for some awkward conversations with clients since everybody thinks their product launch or market prediction should be front page news … and sometimes it should be. But at the end of the day, it’s valuable for everyone to set realistic goals for a given outreach campaign and then stretch to surpass them.
What gets you most excited about your work at Lowe Group?
It’s probably the thrill of the chase, just like when I was a journalist. It’s not easy to get a reporter, TV producer, or a submission editor’s attention. So, it’s really satisfying to work hard and smart to position our clients and then achieve a great outcome that can have a direct impact on their business.
Why is now an exciting time to work in financial PR?
Just as there’s been a democratization of access to financial services products, there’s been a democratization of financial information sources and that keeps our job super interesting. Not long ago, a homerun was landing a juicy quote in the [Wall Street] Journal, a feature in Barron’s or a one-on-one sit-down on CNBC. Obviously, those are still huge, but your next homerun can just as easily be an interview with a podcaster who’s quietly built a massive audience in your client’s niche or a shoutout from an influencer on financial Twitter who has more than a quarter million followers.
You’ve lived in a lot of different places- what are your “go-to” restaurants in each city?
There are some hot places in Austin with long lines and justifiably stellar reputations, but just south of Austin there’s a short stretch of State Highway 183 between Lockhart and Luling—Kreuz, Black’s, City market—that’s still the real deal for Texas BBQ.
In New York? Brooklyn’s Al Di La for amazing Northern Italian—fuhgeddaboutit!
And in Milwaukee … Ca’Lucchenzo. It’s a lot like Al Di La—soulful, authentic–but if you ordered an Old Fashioned there—no idea why you’d do that at an Italian place—they’d probably make it with brandy because that’s how they do it in Wisco.