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How it all
started.
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Take a walk with me.
In 1738, a 6-year-old boy moved with his family to the quiet edge of a farming community called Stafford. 263 years later, another 6-year-old would unknowingly follow his footsteps to the very same place.
His name was George Washington.
Mine is Elly.
Separated by just a few miles (and a couple hundred years), Stafford County, Virginia has proven to foster legacies long before they're even named.
In a district focused on CTE and the fine arts, it was my ninth-grade theater teacher that initially recruited me to the school’s Video Production program.
This wasn’t a casual “vlogging” class; an entire wing had been converted to accommodate two fully functional, professional broadcast studios. It was a wonderland of sound booths, editing bays, switchboards and control rooms, rolling cameras, and green screens, all connected by miles of thick, multicolored cable. One studio was used for training and prerecording. The other studio was for live programming, serving external audiences within the broader community.
Most students were cut from the program (or called it quits) after Video Productions I. The director’s expectations were often described as “too high” for an educational setting, but I loved all of it. Story gathering, broadcast scripting, cutting footage, running teleprompters, anchoring, content packaging, and even camera, mic, and lighting operations; no role was too niche or high-pressure for me to enjoy.
Over the next three years, I completed levels II through IV. I broadcast live on local networks, ran the school’s digital display ad system, and launched an entirely new form of media the district hadn’t seen before: a podcast. I left high school with an advanced studies diploma, and NOCTI certifications in A/V tech, studio operations, and broadcast communications.
The Western Expansion
Arriving in Idaho for my undergraduate studies, I felt confident about my decision to pursue journalism. That confidence lasted right up until the start of my junior year.
Something shifted at the end of 2012. It wasn’t the world ending; it was the newswire losing its pull. My AP Style Guide became a doorstop, and I started drifting beyond the boundaries of my course map. I fell into vector graphics, ad strategy, media law, web design, and analytics. I subscribed to Adweek. I dissected Super Bowl commercials. And every time a piece of creative landed, I felt like Peggy Olsen handing over a basket of kisses.
I didn’t renew my press badge that fall. Instead, I declared a new major: Communication.
Life outside academia involved a lot of time in the backwoods, and back home on the east coast.
By spring of 2013, one of my friends in University Relations was preparing to graduate. We’d worked together before, and as he shared his plans, he urged me to apply for the role he was leaving behind. He thought I had the instincts for it, and the grit.
Five hours later, I’d pulled together every piece of creative I had, written my first-ever cover letter, and submitted the application. By morning, I was called in. A week later, I was back again: this time fielding questions about Adobe CS, website management, stakeholder communication, and whether I could stay cool under pressure.
It was a crash course in professional pace and expectation, and I was ready.
To the observer, I was as serene as a spring morning. On the inside, I was toggling furiously between feelings of genuine subject matter excitement, overpowering hunger for the role, and white knuckle terror. I had not done this rodeo before; it was my very first one.
I got the job.
For the next year, I kept chiseling away at my degree. I was always in motion: writing creative, building workflows, collaborating with departments. I ran workshops, I went to class, did my homework, and I loved being surrounded by sharp minds.
When 2014 rolled around and I had just a few credits left, I didn’t want it to end. Call it a gap year, or call it Peter Pan Syndrome, but that's how I ended up surprising everyone (including myself) by deciding to serve an 18-month proselytizing mission.
Freshly 21, I flew to Mexico for six weeks of full-immersion language training. I spent the next year and a half building relationships, performing community service, and collaborating with other philanthropies to help meet basic needs within underserved Spanish-speaking communities of Washington State. On the proselytizing side of things, I maintained a CRM, tracked leads, and helped define district KPIs. After 9 months of consistent conversions, I achieved native fluency and was promoted to the role of trainer for other new missionaries.
These days, I’m out of practice with evangelism, and my spiritual conviction has returned to baseline. Still, that chapter shaped me. Some might flinch at comparing missionary work to a sales funnel, but that’s where I learned to engage, to build trust, and to ask for the close. I wouldn’t be the marketer I am today without it.
When I returned to school in 2016, it was with a new last name.
I was enthusiastically welcomed back to my position in University Relations after my mission. It was amazing to see that the programs and workflows I'd built were still running in pristine condition. The last person I'd onboarded was also now the team lead. It was an honor to have her as my onboard guide, and to learn what she had evolved in the time I was away.
As I wrapped up my degree, some of my capstone projects spanned multiple school terms. One national research study I conducted involved surveying professors at universities across the United States. The findings of that study resulted in an invitation to present at the regional TEDx chapter. I also participated in AAF, developing a rebranded ad strategy for Tae Pei Food which was later presented at a regional conference in Portland, OR. My teammates and I started winning 1st place recognition in advertising competitions, with candidate pools in the hundreds, in categories that spanned Google ad strategy, brand creative, and even campaign finance planning.
I left school in 2017 having proudly earned my Bachelor of Science in Communication, specializing in advertising and organizational dynamics.
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