Only seven years out of college, Deanne Karen is an inspiring role model and proof that passion and hard work can lead even the youngest individuals to accomplish their dreams. Starting her public relations career as an intern at Dubuque Symphony Orchestra her freshman year at Loras College, and now working her dream job as the managing supervisor at the Nunez PR Group, Karen dedicates her success to her hard work at each internship and starting job.
Many college students today are discouraged by the world around them and fear failure to the point that they settle for a major in college, an internship or a job that isn’t what they are passionate about.
“This allows me to get constructive criticism which helps me to continuously improve,” Karen says about her willingness to take initiative and express her ideas. Students who do not express their goals and ideas because they are afraid of rejection do not see that criticism can be constructive and can help lead them to achieving their dreams.
Like many students, Karen entered college thinking she was interested in majoring in something different than what she ended up doing. Karen began her freshman year at Loras College as a marketing major, but her advisor recommended she look into the public relations major and explained the field to her. This immediately interested Karen, and she decided to take her advisor’s advice and major in public relations. She quickly found she was passionate about public relations, and she would take advantage of any opportunity to learn and advance in the field.
It is very common for college students to discover they are passionate about something other than their original plans, but many students fear change and failure and don’t even try to pursue their passions.
“Everything about my job is fun. I bleed PR,” says Jessica Nunez, President and founder of the Nunez PR Group, when asked about her favorite part of her job. Like Karen, Nunez has accomplished her dreams at a young age, and if she had settled for a job outside of what she is passionate about, the Nunez PR Group, a top PR firm, would not exist today.
In order to be successful, a worker in any job field has to find things that inspire them to create new ideas or plans. “Since my job is something that truly interests me, it’s easy to find inspiration in nearly everything I do,” says Karen. Because Karen was not afraid to chase her dreams, her job has been made easier for her and she has been able to be successful at a young age because she is inspired by everything she does. For someone who is not passionate about what they do it seems it would be difficult for them to find inspiration that they can incorporate into their jobs, and therefore would be harder for them to be successful.
Her freshman year in college, Karen took initiative to find an internship in the public relations world so that she could learn more about the field. Karen got an internship at Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, a place she knew she did not see herself ending up at in the future, but accepted the position any way and gave her full effort each day. “It provided me with a ton of PR writing experience,” says Karen about her first internship at the orchestra and, “that led me to my second internship at Edelman in Chicago, which hands down helped me get my first job when I graduated the following summer.”
Although Karen knew her first internship wasn’t her dream job she worked her hardest and it paid off. “Be persistent with internship experience,” Karen advises college students looking to find a career in any job field.
