Home | News/Blog | Member Stories

Tag: Member Stories

Member Spotlight: Meet Kandis Wallace, one of WWPR’s newest members!

She’s a PR strategist and writer with nearly five years’ experience in the industry.
Plus, she recently earned her Master’s in public relations
from Georgetown University. Kandis Wallace advice quote

Her Experience
Kandis’ current position is with Adventist HealthCare, where she executes communications strategies for their medical centers and offices in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. The variety of her role is what thrills her the most: one day she could be writing blog posts to help people understand medical conditions, and the next she could be organizing an event to raise breast cancer awareness. The variety has helped her learn more about her strengths and how to manage deadlines.

In addition to recently finishing her advanced degree, she’s also started to engage in some PR consulting for socially responsible organizations. Speaking of socially responsible, her first position was working in media relations at The Humane Society of the United States—just think of all the pets!

Her Involvement in WWPR
WWPR is the first professional organization Kandis has joined since starting her career (woo!). She first learned about WWPR in graduate school, which inspired her to join after hearing it was a positive experience for many of her peers. Through WWPR, she hopes to connect with other passionate women and honing her consulting skills by networking with other entrepreneurs.

She’s considering joining the Content and Pro Bono committees, which most align with her career interests, and looks forward to attending the mixers.

Article written by Melinda Tolliver,
WWPR Member,
Manager, Digital Media, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Her Out-of-Office Hours
Outside the office, Kandis’ favorite activities allow her to be creative, eat great food and unwind. She especially enjoys paint bars and food and drink festivals with her friends and fiancé, as well as nature hikes and reading. She also owns a two-year-old spaniel mix!

Member Spotlight: Sherry Perez

We’re proud to introduce Sherry Perez, one of our newest members! She’s a senior account executive at Strauss Media Strategies, a national PR firm specializing in radio and television and long-time WWPR Platinum sponsor.

I had the chance to get to know Sherry earlier this month, starting with her journey as a sports reporter-turned-PR pro and her excitement in joining WWPR with Strauss Media Strategies’ support.

Her Experience

At Strauss Media Strategies, Sherry works with a variety of clients and, like many of us, loves that no two weeks are the same. One minute, she’ll be working with an environmental client and the next promoting an author’s new book, then gaining media exposure for a political candidate or startup that next week.

Melinda Tolliver, WWPR Member
Article written by  Melinda Tolliver,
WWPR Member,
Manager, Digital Media, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

She enjoys working a project from start to finish—from writing, pitching, scheduling interviews, handling tours, tracking placements, and preparing media reports. In her experience, there’s nothing better than having an client ecstatic about the work she’s doing, especially when she feels the project is helping to make a difference.

Before entering the varied world of PR, Sherry started her career in California as a sports reporter. After working for a variety of newspapers in the state, Sherry took on a new challenge when she joined a major sports PR firm in LA. There, she led the motorsports division, managed several accounts, and even had the opportunity to work several Super Bowls!

Her Involvement in WWPR

Though new to membership, Sherry has been familiar with WWPR over her 12 years in the area. She’s worked with WWPR in the past as a member of PRSA-NCC, where she used to chair the chapter’s professional networking committee and help organize joint events between our two organizations.

Now with Strauss Media Strategies, her firm is more than supportive of the networking and professional development opportunities WWPR has to offer. She plans on continuing to be involved with WWPR’s events through the sponsorship and exploring involvement in WWPR’s committees.  

Her Out-of-Office Hours

On the weekends, Sherry spends her time in Loudon County (all those wineries!), where she lives with her husband, chihuahua, and rescue kitty. As a huge animal lover, she often pet-sits or participates in animal rescue charity walk/runs. She also enjoys going to Nats and Caps games, especially when the Giants and Sharks are in town.

In addition, she is a long-time member of the Association for Women in Sports Media and continued member of PRSA-NCC.

Her Advice for New Members

She encourages aspiring members to join WWPR as soon as possible! She wishes she pursued it sooner and thinks it’s a great opportunity to meet others in your field and, potentially, make lasting friendships.

Member Spotlight: Bethanee Reynolds

Get to know Bethanee Reynolds, one of WWPR’s newest members! She’s been working in higher education for a few years and can’t wait to get even more involved with PR through WWPR.

Her Experience

Bethanee is the public relations & corporate communications program assistant at Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies. In her role, she helps students understand the work that the program administration engages in and vice versa. Her favorite aspects of her job are building connections and brining in a unique perspective as a former student of the program and prior higher education professional.

Melinda Tolliver, WWPR Member
Article written by  Melinda Tolliver,
WWPR Member,
Manager, Digital Media, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Most of her background has been in the higher education space where she has gravitated towards internal communications, in particular focusing on increasing productivity, morale, and engagement—something we can all relate to—through effective communications at all levels of the organizational structure.

Her Involvement in WWPR

Bethanee is still new to the area and to our industry, so she joined WWPR because it is, in her words, a great resource for women in PR and the industry as a whole. She would love to get more involved in the event planning and new member aspects of WWPR, specifically helping with the professional development or event committees.

She hopes WWPR will help her continue to grow and develop as a professional—and eventually help her give back.

Her Out-of-Office Hours

When she’s not in the office, Bethanee loves spending time with her close-knit family and attending music events, such as when her cousin, DJ Eskimo, and the Vintage Crew DC DJs spins. She also dabbles in event planning and catering on the side, having done some events for family members in the past.

In addition to joining WWPR, Bethanee is involved with the District 9 City Council election campaign for Prince George’s County in Maryland and hopes to join more professional societies in the future.

Her Advice for New Members

Bethanee advises new members to not only get involved, but to be active! Don’t just join—make an effort, attend events, and make connections.

Connect with Bethanee on LinkedIn.

 

WWPR Member Spotlight: Crystal Zhao

Crystal Zhao, one of WWPR’s newest members, is the director of special projects at Washington Media Group. She brings a unique mix of new media and political media experience to her clients—get to know her in this month’s Member Spotlight!

Her Background

Crystal considers her main specialities to be social media and podcast production, but she advises her firm’s clients on an array of communications tactics in a variety of fields and industries. She also hosts Washington Media Group’s podcast, Flack Pack, billed as the official public relations podcast of Washington, D.C.!

Prior to the Washington Media Group, Crystal worked for the Cato Institute where she designed and implemented the think tank’s first communications strategy for a $2 million multimedia start-up project. Her first job in D.C. was working for Congressman Bill Flores (R-TX).

Melinda Tolliver, WWPR Member
Article written by  Melinda Tolliver,
WWPR Member,
Manager, Digital Media, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Her Passion for PR

She loves communicating an effective message to the public—especially since amazing goals, initiatives, and ideas can get lost without a clear message. And she loves talking to people! As an extrovert, she loves communicating with the world—be it in-person or via social media.

Crystal especially likes her work at the small boutique firm because of the fast pace and lack of bureaucracy (which I’m sure she experience a lot of when she was working on the Hill), and she also appreciates the closeness between her and her co-workers.

Her Out-of-Office Time

Crystal is very into the fitness scene in D.C. and is even a former [solidcore] coach! She still attends many fitness classes at the boutique studios throughout the city and many of her closest friends are involved in the fitness industry. She also finds herself traveling often—she even owns three passports!

Her Mornings

In the morning, Crystal generally tries to get a workout in before heading to work. To make this happen, she wakes up about 30-45 minutes before the class, has her morning coffee, heads to class, then comes home to shower. True to form, she puts on several daily podcasts at 2x speed–though she warns it took her awhile to work up to that speed!–while she’s getting ready for work. It’s her way of staying tuned into the world.

Member Spotlight: Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd Joins WWPR as Membership Committee Co-Chair

For our June Member Spotlight, we’re pleased to introduce Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd, our new Membership Committee Co-Chair. In a Q&A session earlier this month, Stacy shared a few of her passions for PR, how she spends her weekends, and what she’s got planned for her WWPR committee.  

Psst… she’s also looking for a Co-Chair to help her with some innovative new membership efforts! Interested? Submit your application here.

Her Career and Passion for PR

Stacy has over 25 years of experience among communications, marketing and public relations in a variety of industries, including grocery retail, transportation (customer relations at Amtrak, no less!), production agriculture and building products. In her current position as the director of marketing and communications with the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, she’s thrilled to be communicating for an industry that helps benefit the planet and global sustainability.

Her favorite aspect of PR is being able to educate and inform new audiences about innovations and evolutions. She’s particularly interested in telling her industry’s story and turning non-users into advocates. That’s how she knows when she’s made a difference.

Her Role as WWPR Membership Committee Co-Chair

As the newest member of WWPR’s Board of Directors, Stacy’s goal is to increase WWPR’s membership by the end of her first year. She’ll bring her skills as an avid networker who is comfortable speaking to anyone and everyone – from entry level to C-suite – and use storytelling to attract new members.

Her Out-of-Office Time

Stacy is a self-proclaimed oenophile, so one of her favorite activities over the weekends is to explore the many nearby Northern Virginia wineries. She also loves jazz and food – especially combining the two with local music events like Capital Jazz Fest and the BBQ Battle – as well as reading, writing, and traveling. One of her favorite places to visit is Kentucky’s horse country, Lexington.   

She has also recently signed up to be a political party volunteer and is the mother of two pre-teen boys, which keeps her pretty busy..

Her Mornings

As I’m sure is the case with many of us, Stacy considers herself to be slightly addicted to politics and social media. The start of her morning is devoted to reading the news, then sharing a few thoughts via Facebook or Twitter. And, as we all know, there’s a lot to react to in this political climate.

Her Advice for WWPR Members

Take advantage of the events! As she puts it, being around a wide range of professionals through WWPR exposes her to a number of diverse perspectives in a range of industries. Additionally, Stacy believes WWPR is a great way to reinvigorate your career and learn how to successfully shake things up to deliver the best possible messages to your audience.

She never assumes that because she’s been in PR for decades that she can’t learn more. As she puts it, that’s worth the cost of membership.   

Interested in joining Stacy as the Co-Chair of the Membership Committee and on the WWPR Board of Directors? Let us know!

Join the Mailing List

Stay connected with WWPR by signing up for our mailing list! You’ll receive the latest updates on professional development events, exclusive networking opportunities, leadership initiatives, and more!