Original advice on life and the future--"Travel and vote."

Jenny Grigsby and #clarkclass 13.0

An always welcome returning speaker to this class is Jenny Grigsby of RefreshCreative, because she brings experience in not just social media like twitter, but in success in living, going beyond what a college degree means.
She  parlayed a UCO theater degree into her own digital media management company.
Her story of working  for nonprofits and the State Fair before branching out on her own is punctuated with humor and hard work, as she manages media for some major companies. 
Add her sense of humor--showing up in costume on Halloween, no-nonsense conversations with our students, and record of self taught media savvy, and she offers genuine insights.
How different is she? Asked what advice she'd give the students facing graduation, the answer was unexpected, and so important:
"Travel, and vote,"
Here are other student takeaways of her sometimes unorthodox advice in our debriefing after she left: 

• You learn by doing, from experience.
• Constant communication with clients.
• The goal is to make the clients look good and not yourself.
• Oklahoma City is collaborative and friendly.
• Content is king.
• Nobody has it figured out.
• It's not about promoting yourself; it's about selling tacos.
• It's alright to take a risk.
• Do everything as organically as possible.
• Don’t mix your business and your personal.
• Broaden your horizon.
• Personalize your content.
• Took Google classes to learn SEO.
• If I can do it you can to.
• Be authentic.

From theater to self-employed social media 'wrangler'

#clarkclass, with @EnergyFC gifts from @justjennyg of @refreshcreative

@Okieprof

Jenny Grigsby, a 2004 UCO theater graduate, is now a self-employed social media "wrangler,"  manager and consultant for several  Oklahoma City companies. 

@JustJennyG in #clarkclass

After working in PR for the state fair, and teaching herself about digital media, she gradually did consulting until she got enough clients to go full time a little over a year ago. Now her husband has joined her in the business, @refreshcreative.

It's interesting to me that almost all the speakers in this class have been referrals by others, as Jenny was mentioned by @rcrissinger.
 Speaking to #clarkclass, she brought gifts, her sense of humor--"I’m still employee of the month, but he’s been runner up several times” and a wide range of knowledge about Oklahoma City and twitter.

While she has two laptops at home, most of her work is done on the phone, or in person dealing with clients most of our students have heard of. 
Here are some of  them, and she introduced them by saying, "I am...":  @EnergyFC, @HideawayPizza, @Oak&Ore, @RJSupperClub,

@Ludivine, @TowerTheatre, @H&8thNightMarket, plus

consulting with dental offices,  retail companies and a plastic surgeon.

It all started when having lunch with someone who asked her to help with their social media.

"Always go to lunch with people, "she quips. "Keep your options open."

Here are some of her comments, and student debriefing notes, with the help of @cassjack12:

• Learning the basics is invaluable
• Look at different brands for ideas
• Take screenshots and save them so you have ideas to pull from
• "Social media is basically me sitting on my couch giggling"
• “Social media is way to share moments--whether it is your child’s first steps or a block at a soccer game
• Most challenging thing: managing expectations - trying to be available as much as possible and communicating when you might be busy
• Recognize moments and what people talk about 

Student debriefing notes

•  Twitter is like the ears and mouth of the company  
• Very candid, open with reality of what she does and how she feels about it 
• Having skills that people wouldn’t expect 
• Uses screenshots as idea archive file 
• Facebook more for family and close friends and twitter is for networking and for close colleagues 
• Knowledgeable about each client … “I am EnergyFC, Hideaway, etc”  
• Be engaged to get engagement, making friendships 
• Speakers have ended up on different paths than they expected they would be- open to change and progress 
• Works from home-working from car 
• “Babystep it” – start with small steps that will lead to something bigger
• Always promotes clients while speaking 
• Knowing when you have enough clients, don’t look at it as more people, more money