Career Roadmap
Allison's work combines: Education, Government, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bishop Feehan High School
Bachelor's Degree
International Relations and Affairs
Tufts University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Marketing Managers:
Bachelor's Degree: Marketing/Marketing Management, General
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I was a pretty driven kid. I was the 6th grader who based her junior high choice on how it would affect the college I'd get into. I also graduated 2nd in my high school class.
2.
But being driven & excelling in secondary school didn't mean I was prepared to make the best decisions after high school. In fact, I was aimless. I chose my college based on proximity to friends.
3.
I had no idea what to study in college - everything interested me! I bounced around a bunch of majors and ultimately settled on International Relations and Anthropology.
4.
Our education system fell seriously short for people I knew in Boston. I decided I wanted to "do something in education policy." But I knew first I ought to spend some time in the classroom.
5.
I taught middle school & high school Spanish in MA in my early 20s. Then my life almost ended in a car accident. After a few years of reconstructive surgery, I took some time to travel the world solo.
6.
I landed in NYC after, needing to start fresh in a new career, with a 2 year gap in my resume! I ended up with a communications internship at a nonprofit doing education policy. I also waited tables.
7.
I had always been a good writer, so I thought that a career in writing fit. I wasn't really sure even what communications was. I ended up loving it and rose from intern to communications director.
8.
After 8.5 years in NYC, I moved to Austin & worked remotely for a bit. We'd worked with UT Austin at my prior job - how I heard about TXOC. I love our mission and now I head up marketing & comms!
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
I relocated from NYC to Texas, and a lot of people warned me the job opportunities wouldn't be as robust.
How I responded:
A lot of the cities we used to think of as the center of the universe for things like nonprofit management, journalism, communications and marketing are not anymore. Do your research to make sure the place you want to live has job opportunities that match what you want to do (check out job listed on Indeed.com, for example), but don't feel like you have to live in a place you don't want to live in.