One of the reasons my Challenge Detroit experience has been interesting so far is the fact that I’ve started my professional journey in a new field. I spent my undergraduate career studying Public Relations at Howard University. Throughout undergrad, I assumed my first gig out of college would be at a PR firm. Well, I graduated in May, and now I’m working for Doner Advertising as a junior digital strategist.

I remember watching a short feature on advertising as a freshman. I remember watching all the cool, modern-looking young people working on creative, vibrant-looking projects. They said things like, “You can wear whatever you want,” and “It never feels like I’m working.” I thought, Man, it’s time to stop all this writing and work there. How can I switch my major? Eventually, I found reasons to like PR too, but I always remembered that video and how cool everything and everyone looked.

Funny enough, I also happened to start watching Mad Men right before being hired by Doner. Now, here I am working at an ad agency. Is it anything like what it looked like on YouTube back in 2011, or in the plush, fictional offices of Sterling Cooper Advertising (Mad Men reference)?
I’ve learned that there’s a lot more involved than casual clothes and creative projects. The cool thing about working at Doner is that I have been allowed to take part in and learn from many different sides of agency life. I’ve learned that there’s a lot of work that goes behind the ads we see online and on TV.

I’ve also been given an opportunity to plan events and creative projects for the agency. For example, I’ve gotten to plan and coordinate photo shoots for an agency-wide tattoo gallery. Isn’t that cool? I didn’t expect I’d get to do something like that straight out of college. I’m excited to find out what else Doner has in store ☺