Maria Alborz: Diversifying Public Relations—a Q and A

Maria Alborz has been a valuable enabler to IMDiversity and the Hispanic-American Village in identifying successful professionals to be profiled on our career pages and villages. We were impressed by her zeal and intrigued by her job description. Maria was kind enough to contribute to the following email Q and A.
 

Maria’s employer, VanguardComm, is a multicultural marketer, helping businesses and other organizations along their way to integrated marketing for a diverse population.
HAV: How did find your job at VanguardComm? Recruiter? Word of mouth? Job Bank?

MA: I found this job through a recruiter. I had a baby, and decided to stay home for a while, but one day I decided it was time to join the workforce again. So the next step was to network, approach different recruiters, and also look in some job banks.

HAV: Were you specifically looking for a position in diversity? If so, why?

MA: No, I was not looking for a position in diversity specifically. But when the recruiter approached me with the idea, I loved it. I thought it would be an amazing experience.

HAV: What are your responsibilities at VanguardComm?

MA: I do a little of everything. From creating media lists, to pitching the media, follow-up calls, e-mails, development of new press releases, assisting account executives with different tasks, media placements, etc.

HAV: What do you enjoy most about your work?

MA: The challenge; every day is a different day in the public relations field. It is a very fast paced industry. I love to learn, and this industry is new to me. It will be one year this coming March working here, but it feels like I have been doing PR for years.

The knowledge that I am taking from this experience is priceless. I see VanguardComm as a school.

I also love the fact that I am getting to know smart, wise, experienced people, such as my colleagues, and the editors from the different outlets. I have developed a nice professional relationship with some of them.

MA: I have learned a lot. I have learned that there is still so much to learn about marketing to diversity population. There are so many seminars, books, white papers on how to advertise, but I believe there is a lot more to know.HAV: What have you learned about the vast potential of marketing brands to the diverse population of the US?

There are a lot of pre-conceived ideas, when it comes to the multicultural market, a lot of assumptions, which may not always be accurate. To be fair though, this market is not an easy market to study. But it has a lot of growth potential, and that is why smart companies are making efforts to study, understand and then propose ideas that cater to the multicultural market.

HAV: Do you feel that your background is a decided plus in your work? How so?

MA: Well, not completely. Yes, it helps me understand part of this market, but what is more important for any job is the knowledge and experience that you acquire with time.

HAV: What are your long-term career goals?

MA: I believe in the saying: “the sky is the limit” and I use that as my motto. Now that I found my niche, I am working towards my goals. My short-term goal is to become a publicist. My long-term goal is to have my own PR agency.