Sydnie Mills
In an interview with Sydnie Mills, we touched base on her professional journey, current role and more!
On Mills’s career...
“I graduated from California State University, Northridge in 2020. I had my final internship at a marketing firm while I was in my last semester at CSUN and ended up getting hired there after graduation. It was a very interesting time because we were in the middle of a pandemic and job security wasn't something any of us expected in the heart of or coming out of the pandemic. So, I felt very honored and blessed to have that opportunity.
A little background on how that happened... I was interning for a marketing firm and got let go at the start of the pandemic. Two weeks after I was let go, my boss decided to bring me back and offered me a full time position. It was very interesting, as we had two more months of school at that point. That meant I was working and going to school full time, so it was an interesting way to start my career. At the firm, we focused on home building and tourism clients. The role pushed me from a creative standpoint and it was interesting to see how tourism was affected by COVID-19. I did this for a year and a half and realized that it wasn't a space I wanted to keep growing into at that particular agency, which I think is good to have recognized early.
Three or fourth months ago I started a new, better role at a different agency. My clients are now AT&T and DirectTV. I handle the marketing for events, such as NFL, NBA and NHL games, which is a dream come true. I’m like, “I get to go to concerts and events for a living? Fabulous!” This is one half of the job I am doing now. The other half entails working on the AT&T “Thanks Loyalty” program. Through this program, AT&T gives out gifts and passes to events just for being a loyal AT&T customer, so I am the one who gets to give out these gifts and brainstorm ideas of what we should do next.”
On Mills’s favorite project or campaign…
“Under the “Thanks Loyalty” program is a program called “Events Edition” that I head up. This keeps me on my toes because I never know what event’s I’ll be given and I need to figure out how to market them to achieve the highest numbers.
Also, I am working on the Super Bowl which is awesome. My focus has shifted to experiential marketing, which means I am in charge of creating experiences for people. For me, that’s the fun part - figuring out ways to let customers know that we care, they are appreciated and allowing them to walk away with those experiences.”
On why Mills chose California State University, Northridge …
“CSUN has one of the most competitive journalism programs, as it had the most to offer. I selected CSU Northridge based on people I knew in the program that were able to capitalize on what CSUN taught them. The Department had the ability to put an emphasis on PR, which is why I picked it. Marketing is not a field I thought I'd go into. I wholeheartedly wanted to be a journalist, but I transitioned into the PR world. Stacy (Professor Stacy Long at CSUN’s Journalism Department) opened up my mind to that and then I fell into marketing and realized that’s where I wanted to be.”
Mills’s on advice she would give her past self …
“I would tell her she’s going to be okay and to keep saying yes to those opportunities you know you aren't qualified for, but you’re going to figure out anyway. I fully believe CSUN gives you everything you need to be successful in your career and, at some point, it’s just up to you to use it and get used to being uncomfortable.”
Mills on where she envisions herself in the coming years …
“I kind of don’t want to say where I see myself in the future because I really don’t know. The positions I’ve had and where I’ve gone in my career in such a short amount of time, I would have never seen myself. I think I would see myself continuing to grow. That has been a constant for me and, as long as I continue saying yes to those opportunities and pushing myself, I’ll be cool wherever I am in five, 10 or 15 years. Overall, I hope that I’ve grown and learned and was able to help other that have come after me to be great in their careers as well.”
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