“What are you going to do with a Literature degree?”
It’s a question I faced repeatedly after I stopped stalling and declared my major in my second semester at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. Just about everyone (except my high school English teacher) figured I’d be better off spending my time (and money) on a business degree.
I, however, was so committed to immersing myself in the power of the written word that I went on to complete my studies at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago.
I eventually discovered that my Lits degree would allow me to…
- Write a staggering number of press releases, speeches, articles, and blog posts to help various local and regional clients tell their stories in the ways they wanted them told.
- Liaise successfully with key media personnel, which all but guaranteed that those stories would land in front of their customers.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with satisfied clients, which allowed me to grow into progressive roles over more than a decade of professional development.
- Write clear, concise, accurate and prompt news reports that allowed radio announcers to shine on-air.
- Create engaging digital content for a variety of local and regional brands, including (but not limited to) C&W Business, Flow Business, Liberty Networks, Courts, Carib, Caribbean Airlines, GraceKennedy, National Baking Company, and Digicel.
- Teach (of course).
- Manage a couple of regional eCommerce websites, hitting and exceeding a few sales targets along the way.
- Manage a government Corporate Communications Unit, overseeing the launch of a new website and a new media centre while creating a new communications strategy, all in just six months.
- Manage production for a digital marketing agency, overhauling the entire production pipeline to double production performance in just five months.
Along the way, I discovered that HTML, CSS and Javascript are just more languages requiring an aptitude for the kind of logistical thinking that had paired quite well with that Lits degree thus far. So now I’m learning to make cool things with code in my spare time.
The question I get most often these days is, “What’s a brand storyteller?”
Well, if I had to nail it down, I’d say a brand storyteller is a person skilled at conveying a particular message or idea through compelling copy tailored specifically for various platforms, from traditional to digital media.
How’d I do?
Thanks for reading!
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