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What have you faced in your career path so far?
After graduation, I moved to Chicago to work as an intern for Edelman Worldwide's "boutique" PR firm, PR21 (now called Zeno Group). I was promoted to Assistant Account Executive in September 2001, to Account Executive in May 2002 and to Sr. Account Executive in May 2003. I worked on a range of national and international brands, mostly in the food/beverage and home appliance sectors. In May 2004, I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to be closer to my now husband, Nick Waterson. I was hired as a project director at Brandstorm in Cincinnati, a brand strategy and new product development consulting group. I stayed at Brandstorm until this last December, making a wide range of contacts from my Fortune 500 clients, and was recently hired as a senior strategy consultant on the P&G and Lowe's accounts at Interbrand, the world's largest brand consulting group.

What is the most difficult part of your job?
The most difficult part of my job is having enough brain power to make it throughout the day. Working in a brand consulting environment, I touch anywhere from one to twelve different brands on any given day. Having the brain capacity to jump from project-to-project, from brand-to-brand and from meeting-to-meeting is very challenging. It takes a lot of time prioritization and organization to get through it all successfully. The most important skills I've learned thus far are related to being able to organize things, including my time, my thought process and complex information.

Why did you choose an international company?
Because of the possibility of my husband's job taking us internationally, Interbrand has 30 offices in countries all around the world, so that was my primary reason for taking the job. We plan to move to Washington, D.C., in October where my husband will work in intelligence; I plan to work remotely for Interbrand from D.C.

What was the best class you took at J-School and why?
My broadcast journalism classes have taught me so much. I'm not in the journalism industry anymore, but the professionalism and presentation skills I learned have taken me very far in my career. I am consistently asked to present to audiences of high-level executives, and owe those skills to my early journalism career.

What is one of your favorite J-School memories?
The second semester of my junior year I spent in London with the Missouri School of Journalism's exchange program. I had an internship with a radio station and worked there four days a week. Every morning I would come in and the news director would hand me a press release and a tape recorder and say "Here, go do this." And that is all he would say, so I would have to look at the press release and figure it out by myself. I would get my little book out and my map and get on the train and go to these events all over London. One day I got the chance to interview Prince Charles! I would come home and my friends would say, "Who did you meet today?" They couldn't even imagine. That's that kind of stuff the Mizzou program can do for you. You learn that you have this big world in front of you. So if you get experience to study abroad, do!

How do you feel about having a career outside of journalism?
Fantastic. I use the skills I learned, but have found that brand strategy consulting is the right career path for me.

What woman in the media do you admire most and why?
Christiane Amanpour; I always have. She's not only a genius and the top war correspondent for the Middle East, but because she's fluent in Middle Eastern languages, is based out of London, and manages to have a wonderful husband and new baby. I can't imagine how she does it!

What is something about you that may surprise people?
That my husband and I plan to move internationally and raise our children in international schools.

What person has had the most impact on your life, and why?
That's an easy question - my mother. She's my inspiration for all things. As I've gotten older, she's become my inspiration between focusing on keeping a work/life balance, while still being able to be and feel successful in your career. I've learned so much from her over the years, both professional and personal skills that I know have made me who I am today.

What makes you laugh?
That's also easy! My husband is my primary "laugh stimulator," one of the many reasons why I married him. He's totally goofy and fun, and knows exactly what to say and do when I need a little cheering up. His most humorous side is definitely a side most people don't see of him very often, so I get his funny side all to myself. (No one would understand our inside humor, anyway!)

What is your favorite day of the week, and why?
My favorite day of the week is Friday. On Fridays, I tend to take things easy. I'll come to the office, but I'll leave the serious thinking to the beginning days of the week. Fridays are casual, organization, wrap-up days for me and I cherish that time to get everything aligned so that I can truly disassociate with the office and my clients on the weekend; that doesn't always happen, but I always have good intentions!