Major(s):American Studies, Government, Latin American Studies
What is your current role? What was your journey in arriving there?
Since September 2025, I have been Account Executive at Bully Pulpit International (BPI), after starting in June 2025 as a Fellow.
During one of the multiple informational interviews I set up, someone told me about BPI. That led me to set up an informational interview with a partner at BPI. After that I was excited to apply to the 12-week fellowship, which (at least last summer) was full time, paid, and in DC. The application process consisted of several rounds, including multiple interviews and a written assessment. I expressed my gratitude for the opportunity to meet people and learn from them, and eventually I got the offer.
During the fellowship, I learned a lot and did a variety of real client work. I expressed my interest in continuing in a permanent position. I received a return offer to stay on full-time as an Account Executive and gratefully accepted.
In addition to my work at BPI, I am a professional freelance drummer for musical theater and bands. Wesleyan was absolutely instrumental in my ability to combine being a professional musician with a full time job.
What do you enjoy about your work? What challenges does your industry currently face?
As an Account Executive at Bully Pulpit International, I work with a variety of clients in diverse sectors, including climate advocacy, scam prevention, public health, health insurance, real estate development, finance, big tech, pro sports unions. During the Congressional midterms, I expect to advise political campaigns. I enjoy the variety of tasks and the awesome, smart people I get to meet in many different fields. I feel very lucky to have a position where I find the majority of my work affirmatively interesting. Especially in the DC office, we attend and host events with impactful people in various sectors on a frequent basis.
AI helps accelerate and enhance our work, but there is a concern in the industry that if we can use these tools, so can the clients. While we compete against other ad agencies, we’re also increasingly competing against the clients’ own capabilities, as enhanced by AI.
Additionally, fragmentation and polarization make it even harder to reach and persuade people through advertising.
How did your time at Wesleyan influence your career choice/journey?
Wes prepared me to do a bunch of different things every day, while applying the lessons and skills I’ve learned across all of them. I came into this job with a great foundation in political advertising analysis, writing, fact checking, and critical thinking. Wes also fostered my personality and creativity. Don’t forget to develop that last part! Having various cultural experiences, being versed in media and memes, communicating and listening in different settings, that’s all as important as any “hard” skill.
Do you have any advice for students thinking about entering your industry?
It seems that you have to have a referral from an employee at a company for your application to be considered there. Informational interviews can be intimidating at first, but are really just an opportunity to learn about someone’s journey and their work. It’s a really tough job market, so unfortunately we may have to do a lot of interviews and applications.
Two of the most important skill sets you can have in my industry (and probably most industries) are: 1) being good to work with/be around 2) being able to use AI tools effectively. There are plenty of skilled people, but who will the team want to be in the office all day with, rely on, trust, etc.? At least at BPI, people with personality and zest for life seem to do really well, so don’t hide them. Not being able to use AI for work is like not being able to use a computer. BPI’s approach is that you are responsible for your work, AI-assisted or not. If it makes you better, wonderful. If your AI-assisted work is bad, it’s your fault, not AI’s. Research, writing, formatting, notes, etc. are great use-cases where AI can make you more efficient. Unfortunately, it’s no longer acceptable to work at the pace of the before times.
On the music side, “networking,” which really means building relationships, is also paramount. Go to people’s shows and talk to them. Regardless of which industry someone is in, appreciating their experience, skills, and perspective goes a lot farther than merely appreciating the job they have.
