Get Professional

This past Friday, our communication class got a visit from one of the leading public relations executives in the Charleston region—MikeTouhill. The College of Charleston is fortunate to have a plethora of resources in terms of guest speakers, internship opportunities, and events. 

 Touhill serves at the director of public relations for Kiawah Partners, a real estate company located on nearby Kiawah Island. 

The Island was most recently prominently featured during the 2012 PGA coverage.

While we do learn useful material on a daily basis in Professor Harwood’s multimedia reporting class, it was refreshing to hear from a professional in journalism and public relations.

Touhill offered extensive advice, from figuring out your vocation to landing your first job. Touhill also shared stories from his own experience.

Although he started out looking for a career in journalism (he was editor of his college newspaper in Virginia), he soon rerouted towards a career in public relations. 

Since college, he has worked in Richmond, Va. where he helped to develop campaigns for Geico, and Washington D.C. at a global PR firm.

After getting laid off at the height of the economic collapse, he and his wife were intrigued by the Lowcountry lifestyle, and decided to pursue a job in the area. 

Touhill visiting the Doonbeg Lodge in Ireland

Touhill encouraged students to take advantage of the resources available, namely the advisory council.

The CofC Communication Departments advisory council is composed of executives within communications, public relations, and journalism.

“Take advantage of the advisory council, it can help you get employed”, said Touhill.

Touhill also encouraged students to have a social media presence.

"Clean-up, the Facebook and Twitter pages, and administer these tools to your advantage. It is important to brand yourself" , he said.

This idea is something that I myself have been working towards---creating a personal brand that resonates with the industry that I am trying to break into. It was refreshing to have a professional in the area reinforce so many concepts that our professors have been advocating in our classes.