Employee Case Study

Lauren’s job title: Account Executive

Joined the Touchdown team in: 2022

Office location: US – Austin, Texas

Lauren’s Background

Before getting to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do in terms of a career. The only things I knew were that I loved working with people, I wanted to be in an environment where I would be learning every day, and I wanted to have a job that didn’t keep me cooped up in an office. When the time came for me to pick a major for college, I was wracking my brain to find something that I would be passionate about that also ticked all my boxes. I was talking to my mom about what I should do when she said “What about PR?” and suddenly, everything clicked. PR was perfect. Throughout college I worked hard to hone my skills so that by the time I graduated I would feel confident to step into the real world. Cut to the end of my college career, where I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a minor in business.

Opportunities at Touchdown

My time at Touchdown so far has been extremely insightful and valuable. I have been with Touchdown for just over a year and a half. In this time, the opportunities that I have had the pleasure of pursuing have opened my eyes to just how exciting and vast the tech PR industry is.

My first big opportunity came when I was approved for Touchdown’s inter-office travel program. After the approval, I was packing my bags and heading off to the U.K. to work from Touchdown’s Basingstoke office for a week. While there, I was able to go with my team to meet with one of our international clients face to face for the first time. Not only was I able to flex my client facing muscles, but I was also able to form a more personal connection with my client — one that we may not have achieved had we not met in person. While in the U.K., I was also able to attend my first international trade show, InfoSec Europe. Being able to see how this show differed from U.S. trade shows and being able to gain industry experience and knowledge overseas with my team was not only an insightful experience but a fun one too. What ended up being the most valuable experience from my time in the U.K. was being able to work alongside and bond with all of my colleagues from Touchdown’s Basingstoke office. As a global agency, Touchdown does a great job of keeping its remote and global employees connected with the rest of the team, allowing us to work seamlessly and effectively. However, I really enjoyed and valued the time I was there and the relationships I was able to form while working face-to-face with my U.K. colleagues.

In addition, one of my other favorite opportunities that I was able to have at Touchdown so far was getting to attend Austin’s own Texas Cyber Summit. I had secured one of my cybersecurity clients a speaking slot and a seat on the CISO panel at this summit, and because it was a local event I wanted to attend. I saw this event as an opportunity to see my client speak and meet them for the first time in person. While there, I was encouraged to maximize my time, so in between meeting with my client’s event team and getting some client face time, I also worked on my networking skills. I stopped by every booth, introduced myself and worked on getting Touchdown some new business leads which was so exciting. Overall, attending the Texas Cyber Summit helped me improve upon and expand my expertise as a PR professional by giving me the space to work on my client-facing skills and my networking skills.

In what can only be described as a “full circle” moment, I also attended the Moody College of Communication Career Fair, this time as a representative from Touchdown. It felt surreal attending the career fair as a professional. It also reminded me of just how far I had come.