After a sink or swim corporate communications gig, a pandemic, a brief stint in the Detroit Public Schools system, and the completion of a master’s degree, MSU StratCom alumni, Kenedi Robinson found herself hand-picked for her dream agency role.
“After graduation I had been job searching for about five months, when The Martin Agency messaged me out of nowhere on LinkedIn,” said Robinson. “I thought it was a scam at first.”
Thankfully, it was not a scam. Robinson landed a role as an Account Coordinator for The Matin Agency on the GEICO account. Her responsibilities include client communications and having a first-hand look at advertising creation and ad trafficking. Lots of skills she talks about the StratCom program giving her the confidence to dive back into after taking a hiatus from the communications world.
“When people say, ‘what’s meant to be will be’, that’s kind of how it felt,” said Robinson.
The agency is based in Richmond, Virginia, so she made the move by herself out of the state for the first time, which had been a dream of hers for a while.
“Going into the StratCom program, my goal was really just to brush up on and re-learn the things I loved about communications,” said Robinson. “But after graduating, I realized I had forgotten how much I loved this stuff, so making this big move away from home seemed worth it to be back in an industry I love.”
Robinson always said she wouldn’t go to grad school unless she found something that genuinely sparked her interest.
“I was connected to a fellow Detroit Public Schools employee, who happened to be a former StratCom student, and she raved about the program,” said Robinson. “And because I kind of felt stuck in an industry I didn’t plan on being in, and during a weird time in the world, I thought I’d look into it.”
She explains how the learning and then applying mentality of the StratCom program is what gave her the most confidence. That, and the instructors.
“The fact that I could call Jason, or my professors when I needed them is something that I had never experienced in a school setting before,” said Robinson. “If I hadn’t had that type of communication and support, I don’t think the program would have made as much of an impact on me as it did.”
Robinson talks about how she was apprehensive at first to join a large communication agency again after her experience at an automotive one right out of college. Because just like at a big university, you can also get lost at a large company as well.
“The thing about both The Martin Agency and the StratCom program is that I don’t feel like just another number,” she said. “And sometimes that personal attention makes all the difference in the world.”
By Claire Dippel