PRSay Houston

How To Start In PR, No Matter Your Age Or Where You Are In Your Career with Tiffany Marascio

• Veronica V. Sopher, PRSA Member and Host

Share episode

 Welcome Tiffany Marascio, to PRSay – the podcast of the Houston PRSA Chapter.

In this episode, Tiffany shares about How To Start In PR, No Matter Your Age Or Where You Are In Your Career.

Tiffany was born and raised in the Greater Houston area where she lives with her husband and three kids. She holds a master’s degree in marketing from the University of Houston and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in studio art. She is an active part of her community and enjoys sharing with residents and visitors everything that North Houston has to offer.

Connect with Tiffany at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanymarascio/,
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiffanymarascio1/,
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffanymarascio/,
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmarascio

Learn more about the PRSA Houston Chapter, our events and opportunities at www.prsahouston.org.

PRSay is brought to you by Veronica V. Sopher, Public Relations. 

Unknown:

Music.

Veronica Sopher:

Welcome to PRSay, the podcast of the Houston chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. On PRSay, we spotlight our talented members and get to know each other a little better. If you are a prsa Houston chapter member and don't get a chance to network as much as you like, or are unable to attend our in person events, here's your chance to connect with your fellow members. Hello and welcome to PRSay, this is the Houston PRSA chapters' official podcast, and here on PRSay we make an effort to get to know each other and make sure that our members are always connected, whether they are able to attend an in person events or they're participating virtually. So I'm really excited about today's guest. We're going to talk about how to start in PR, no matter your age or where you are in your career. So that's always a fun conversation. I will remind you, before we get there to our guest, that you can always listen to our podcast by hitting subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and catch all of our episodes, or you can always catch us on Facebook or YouTube and drop us some comments, so that my guests and I can be sure to circle back with you. So we'll go ahead and get this episode kicked off. I have Tiffany maraccio joining us. Welcome Tiffany,

Tiffany Marascio:

hi. Thank you so much for having me

Veronica Sopher:

So excited about today's conversation and to meet you, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Tiffany Marascio:

Okay, so as you can tell by the title of the show, I started a little bit later in PR and that is okay. That's okay. It takes a while sometimes to figure out what you truly enjoy and what you're good at. So in college, I was on the nine year plan, and that's because I paid for it myself and worked as I went. And that's part of the story. Was that my first job was in the legal profession, and so I really pigeonholed myself. I thought I had to always work there, and noone else would hire me, because they saw that that's first thing and only thing I had done. And so I did that for several years after I graduated, and then we moved and I took a little bit of a break having kids, and that can also kind of derail your career if you're not keeping up with things. So I did move back in slowly, trying to get a job again. And one of the things I did was really just get out there, meet people, just go to events with the type of people that I wanted to be around. And I did start running into the same people, and they were very motivated and driven, and I noticed that they were doing PR things. And to back up a little bit, I've always been pretty shy, and I had to make a conscious decision to move away from that that's not going to work

Veronica Sopher:

in PR, yeah, I'm glad you made that decision. You can

Tiffany Marascio:

change yourself. I firmly believe in that. It just takes a lot of work. So from there, I found who is now my current boss, and I just made sure that she was going to hire me. I just really wanted that job, and went after it. And so I didn't start really in the PR part of it. I was really as behind the scenes as possible, just helping in any way I could. And then I kind of created my role as I went along. And realized that everywhere I went, and I love talking about where I currently work, at Hello woodlands, I was representing them and so and, you know, in a smaller part, also the woodlands. So I have to keep that in mind everywhere I go, and that's how I've just kind of made it. You know, my a part of myself is getting out there and talking to people, and now I love it. Everyone has these amazing stories, and I did just write a story on someone, and it's so inspiring. And you know, I hope I can do that for someone else. I hope that they can see I was in my 40s by the time I realized that this is what I need to do and that this is my calling. So it can happen. That's

Veronica Sopher:

right, it can I love it. And so you really nurtured that natural storytelling skill that you had. Tell me about how you really stepped into that. How did you decide? Okay, now I'm with a great organization, and I'm going to start creating my job. You talked about creating your job. What does that look like for you? I'm really interested, because I think some folks maybe only think they can apply for jobs that already exist and that the job description is already laid out, but it's out, but it sounds like you kind of created it on your own.

Tiffany Marascio:

I did, and that was part of this newfound drive, you know, I discovered again later in my 40s. I felt like so my boss, I could tell just. Had a lot on her plate, and I really just wanted to, I just love to learn. And so every time I took on something new, I found out just more and it related to something else. And so basically, I would just say, why don't I try that? And the risks in the beginning were pretty low. I wouldn't, you know, take on more than I felt like I could figure out sure Google was a great friend of mine, and so was YouTube. And there's a lot of people in this area that I admire, and actually are also members of prsa, and they do a great job. And every time that we get a press release from them, I can tell because what they do is amazing. They are great representatives, so I just follow what they do and admire them. But bringing it back to how I created the job is I just kept taking on more and saying, you know, how do I do this? And if you don't know, I'm going to go figure it out so that my boss could focus on what you've needed to grow the business. I just found it fascinating and fun, and just this whole learning process along the way keeps me motivated and driven. Mm, hmm,

Veronica Sopher:

yeah, absolutely. And so what are some of the tasks that you've, that you've that you're responsible for. Now, you talked about writing a story. What are some of the other things? It sounds like you're doing some development and networking. And how does all that fit into your day to day?

Tiffany Marascio:

So absolutely. So here where I live in The Woodlands, there's a lot of different neighborhoods and villages, and so I go out to them. I go to their events and let them know, hello woodlands exists. How can we help you? How can we help the community so that I'm a representative of Hello woodlands to the community, lots of networking to get the word out about us, and that how we are a resource for the community. Like I said, I write, I interview, I take in press releases from, as I said, members of prsa who did who do a great job. So a lot of editing the press releases, I get lot of fact checking, and then a lot of behind the scenes analytics, looking at SEO and that sort of thing. But I love hearing people's stories and just listening to these events, letting them know who I am and that we actually care, and then listening to what their stories are. And I think that's how I also found a way to develop my job too. Was saying, oh, that's actually a good idea, why don't we integrate that into what we do,

Veronica Sopher:

yeah, and what? What advice would you give to someone who's thinking about, you know, sometimes we we go to school and we go right into the profession we studied, and then quickly we realized this isn't a good fit. And you mentioned finding your calling, which sometimes takes a while, right? Because that's part of your own discovery. What's some advice that you would give to someone who finds themselves in that situation? How do you how do you even separate so that you can start new?

Tiffany Marascio:

So that is difficult, and there are things that you're going to hear a lot, which is, and I will echo them, try new things as you can do your best to overcome fears. And the way I did that was with baby steps. You know, you start small because I did not like public speaking as many people don't, and I didn't like getting out there in the beginning. So I would start. One of the things I learned along the way was, if you see someone else enter a room that you can tell is also having trouble. Just bring them into your sphere, and then you instantly have a connection right there. Or if you see people who are just coming in, you know, point them in the way of the food, and then you can talk about that. Getting out there is really important, and there's always a connection to be made. So if you're at an event, yeah, you know, you can pretty much talk about anything, and then you find out, Oh, here's our connection. I know that person too, or I've been to this event, or, you know, especially here as the small community getting out there is a big one, trying new things and not being afraid to fail. You know, calculated risks. You Right,

Veronica Sopher:

right? Yeah, I tell people all the time, yes, think big, but don't be stupid. Don't just walk off the job, right, without a plan.

Tiffany Marascio:

So you can listen to your friends and see what they're doing. And I also did that. Yeah,

Veronica Sopher:

and tell me a little bit about your involvement in prsa. I know that as a professional coming in, the ability to network and maybe just have resources has been really great, but you mentioned being up in the woodlands, and we do have a lot of members up in that area, and so how do you stay connected to them? Yeah,

Tiffany Marascio:

well, I see them at a lot of events also, and so we're able to connect. We have very strong advocate here, and she's absolutely great. And I'm actually, at the moment, studying for the APR, and I'm really excited about that, and I have friends that already have done it. So putting all that together, Yeah, amazing resources, and the people are amazing, and that says a lot about the organization itself. Yeah? For sure,

Veronica Sopher:

sure. So next time you're on the show, we'll have to have comma APR after your name. I would love that. That will happen, yeah? So how has the APR experience been for you so far? Are you practicing in a study group? Are you doing some of the online tools? What are what are you doing to really maximize your study time?

Tiffany Marascio:

Okay, so I started first with the materials. I'm putting everything together for the panel. That's been the part that I've been the most worried about, because I love school and studying and tests and all that. So not that I'm not taking that seriously, but my main concern has been putting everything together, all the notebooks ready, and I've written out what I'm going to say. So I haven't had a chance, but I'm absolutely going to do a boot camp or a study group or anything I can get my hands on, because not just for the studying, but these people have the same goals I do. These are like minded people, and they're people that I'm going to want to know no for the rest of my life, I'm sure, yeah,

Veronica Sopher:

no, absolutely. And that's what I love about prsa, especially the Houston chapter, the network, is just so great that you can always find somebody that can help you. And Tiffany, I'm just so proud of you for doing that good job. I I think your story is very inspiring, and I think when you find your calling, you live a healthier, more fulfilled life. So congratulations. Thank you so much. All right, Tiffany, how can people can connect with you? How do you prefer people reach out? Because I definitely know that there are going to be people who want to give you some APR advice, or people who might want to people who might want to

Tiffany Marascio:

have you right. And I'm always happy to talk about pretty much anything I love that listen and help anyone who wants to, you know, maybe change their career. I love talking about that. I'm on LinkedIn at Tiffany maraccio, and I know that's kind of a interesting spelling. So,

Veronica Sopher:

yeah, we'll put the link in the show notes so

Tiffany Marascio:

people can just click on it, yeah, but LinkedIn is great for that awesome All

Veronica Sopher:

right, Tiffany, it was so great chatting, and I hope we can meet in person soon.

Tiffany Marascio:

Thank you so much for having me.

Veronica Sopher:

All right, everybody, make sure you connect with Tiffany. If you've got any APR advice as she starts that journey, make sure you reach out and connect, because here at PRSA in the Houston chapter, we are all about supporting each other. So I hope you enjoyed this episode of PRSay, if you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes. And if you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, drop us some comments and we will catch you next time you.