Member Spotlight: Sandy Saintilus
Name and Title: Sandy Saintilus, Project Coordinator, Salter Mitchell
What inspired you to pursue a career in public relations?
I decided I wanted to pursue a career in PR after a professional development trip with FPRA Student Chapter at FSU. We visited Give Kids the World (an nonprofit resort in Central Florida that provides cost-free vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families) and their communications director informed us that they’d recently lost a yearly million dollar contribution from Walmart because Give Kids the World wasn’t as well known by Walmart customers as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I was saddened to learn that an organization that helped sick children was suffering a significant budget cut because of a lack of awareness and wanted to be part of an industry that works to combat that.
Describe a project you were proud to be a part of.
Media relations for No Kid Hungry that helped tell stories about the importance of breakfast in our schools.
What is one piece of advice you would give others entering the field?
Try a little bit of everything. There are so many facets to PR and experiencing as many as you can first-hand really helps you narrow down what part of the field you’re passionate about.
What do you think is the biggest challenge creative-based professionals will face going forward?
Adapting content to ever-changing digital platforms. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are constantly upgrading their algorithms and audience targeting methods and it’s our job as PR professionals to stay up to date and and adjust content in a way that maximizes its impact.
What would your colleagues be surprised to know about you?
As part of an internship in college I sold educational books door-to-door in Mississippi and Tennessee for a whole summer.
Have you had a mentor? If so, how has he/she influenced your career?
Yes; she taught me the importance of crafting your own personal brand.