Half a year. About 26 weeks. Roughly 182 days of full-time employment since college graduation. A lot has changed in the six months since I started working full time at Sachs Media, and given the occasion and workaversary (‘work anniversary’), let’s take a look at what I’ve accomplished thus far.

I mastered the hybrid work environment! Being able to work in your pajamas in the morning and go to the office whenever you want is pretty awesome. 

I survived Florida’s legislative session (and special session … and extra special session). It was a never-ending session this year, or at least it felt like it with the extra special – but not necessarily extra-special – sessions, and I came out of it in one piece with a lot more knowledge and understanding than I thought possible. I now consider myself a semi-expert on rooftop solar and net metering, social media content moderation, behavioral health care, property insurance, and so much more.

On top of learning all about the ins and outs of these policies and industries for my clients, I also met some legislators, got lost in the House Office Building, helped create and attend a rally at the Capitol, refreshed the House and Senate bill tracker websites well over a thousand times, and celebrated a handful of client wins with my team.

I did some extra learning. I earned certifications in the Fundamentals of Media Relations and Social Media Marketing Strategy (with more to come…). Woo! 

I traveled and co-directed. For one of my clients, the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida, I ventured to Marianna and Chipley to film some child care teachers in action. The videos my coworkers and I captured truly show the love these teachers have for their profession, will make some great social media and advertising content, and will hopefully encourage individuals in the area to become child care teachers, too. Check out a behind-the-scenes look of the shoot, too!

I became a blogger and an influencer. Is it sort of like “Inception” to talk about the blog you created while writing the blog? Anyway, along with my blogging I’ve also done some vlogging (see what I did there?) via Reels on Sachs Media’s Instagram account, which has been a lot of fun and, metrics-wise, has performed pretty well, if I do say so myself. 

I expanded my professional and social networks. I have attended several networking events, joined the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) as an official non-student member, presented at the student chapter of FPRA and provided some mentorship to Florida State’s public relations students, made friends at work, and enjoyed several networking opportunities, happy hours, and lunches with my team. I really took ‘work hard, play hard’ to heart!

I am establishing myself at the firm. Putting all of my enthusiasm about my work to good use, I have started serving as a project manager with the firm’s interns on a project to encourage individuals to come to Downtown Tallahassee, which has been a blast and a fantastic learning experience for me as well. Additionally, I’ve taken the lead on firm promotion efforts and web development project management.

Now, while all of those successes are great, there were certainly some mistakes (like calling a radio station to pitch an interview and accidentally being on air – yes, this happened). But it’s all a part of the learning process and I definitely have learned and become smarter as a result (like double-checking the phone numbers on your media list). 

Looking ahead toward the next six months, the future is definitely bright! I plan to build on the successes I’ve already had, make some more mistakes and learn from them, develop greater relationships with my clients, and come up with some more interesting things to share when I hit one year.