About Thomas Kelleher
In 2016, Kelleher discussed his entry into public relations, recalling that he secured an internship after meeting a vice president of marketing while bartending at a holiday party. He said he was surprised to find that professionals in the field "really love their work" and described the job as involving strategy, writing, and intellectual effort. Kelleher added that he continues to find communications exciting because it allows him to promote things he likes and use his writing and strategic skills.
In 2019, Kelleher, as chair of the advertising department at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications, asked alumni and friends to donate to the program. He stated that donations of any size help bring industry professionals to review student portfolios and that the percentage of alumni who give is a key metric for the department's success.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Thomas Kelleher's recent appearances.
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Transcript (1 segments)
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Thomas Kelleher0:07
I was a broadcast major, but had an opportunity to get an internship in public relations. I remember asking my roommate, 'What do you think I'll do? What's an internship in public relations going to be like?' And he said, 'Now you'll probably be hosting cocktail parties and stuff like that.' I actually got the internship because I met a vice president of marketing while bartending at one of his holiday parties. But when I got to the job, I was really surprised at how much people really love their work in public relations. They love strategy, they loved the writing, and it was a lot of intellectual work, but people saw it as really rewarding. I picked up on that, and to this day I still get really excited about communications because it's fun. You can promote things that you like, you can communicate with people, you can put those writing skills to work, you can do strategy. But it really is a job that I think graduates are going to love.
