Transcript:

c21tv episode two – The c21 Swiftie – Carter Brown

The Environment

Carter: My favorite thing about working at c21 is definitely our really collaborative environment we have. We have a pretty open office space so it’s very easy to bounce ideas back and forth off each other to make sure that we’re all on the same page, that we’re all pushing ourselves and challenging ourselves to come up with new ideas. And also if you have any questions or anything, everyone’s always really happy to help.

Being the only guy in the office is actually really cool. I feel really special, obviously, because there’s no one like me here. But yeah, it’s awesome. I honestly don’t feel like the only guy in the office. The team’s done a really good job of making it a really inclusive and encouraging environment. Like I said, I’m kind of the only account manager right now so in terms of being on the “totem pole” I’m kind of the new guy still even now, a year and a half into this job so it’s been really cool and I can say that I am the only guy. It’s kind of a cool marketing tool and a good way to make myself stand out to the company.

The Experience

So my experience with c21 has been a little crazy. I started in 2017 as the volunteer coordinator for the Atlanta Jazz Festival and that was just a month-long gig, kind of got my feet wet in PR and marketing and then I went back to school and I guess I did an OK job at that so I came back as an intern that summer and that’s really when I got to dive into everything that c21 does with PR and marketing. It was a huge summer of experience for me. A huge summer of growth. And then I went back to school. I had one more semester. I graduated and a job at c21 just happened to come available so I joined c21 as an account manager in March of 2019 and I’ve been here ever since and it’s been really great. The experience has been awesome. I’ve learned something new every month and obviously doing PR and marketing during a pandemic has brought its challenges but it’s also been really cool. You get to growth with the industry and kind of hop on all the new trends that have come up in this year.

The Search

So I had absolutely zero idea that I wanted to work in PR and marketing. All throughout my high school and middle school experience I had different things I wanted to do. I wanted to be a CNN broadcaster and obviously with my fast speech that did not work out. So I ended up kind of switching around to different art degrees and I actually started college as a graphic design major which lasted a whopping one semester as I learned very quickly that while you can admire someone’s work, that does not mean that you can do it. So after that I kind of did some searching and talked with some friends that I had made with an on-campus organization and found PR. It was an instant hit. I loved it and I’ve been with it ever since.

The Music

So my favorite song is a little hard to pin down. I absolutely love music and – like I said earlier with my career choice – while you can appreciate something, it doesn’t mean you can do it. It’s really important to me though. I love music. My kind of favorite song and genre changes with the seasons but my all-time favorite song is definitely Every Teardrop is a Waterfall by Coldplay even though Taylor Swift, her whole discography, doesn’t count. I’m a self proclaimed Taylor Swift groupie, so if I’m not listening to her on the internet or her new album is not out currently, then definitely Coldplay’s song.

The Advice

My advice for future PR marketing professionals would definitely be to make yourself stand out by using your resources. So it’s not enough to just have a perfect cover letter and resume. But really using resources that you have whether that be social networking sites, kind of get a look and a feel about what a company is posting, also to reach out to past alumni that may have gone to your school or university – to reach out if they work for a company you’re interested in to see if you’re interested in that company, getting a more personalized feel, have a conversation with that person to see if they’d be willing to give you any tips with the application process or with the interview process. That can really help and go a long way.