Jillaine Henry #withUFPRSSA
Jillaine Henry, Brand Strategist at HighKey and University of Florida public relations department alumna, joined UF PRSSA on Nov. 4. Henry shared her journey to her current career and offered helpful advice on working towards what you want to achieve.
Henry was not sure what she wanted to do with her degree. People around her planned to work for agencies, but she was looking for something different. In order to build her resume, Henry started focusing on the YouTube and Instagram platforms she started in high school. With this as a portfolio, she started to cold email all her favorite brands about potential opportunities. Two months later, Devacurl gave her a job that flew her out to New York after graduation.
At Devacurl, Henry was the Public Relations and Influencer Marketing Assistant. She helped with copywriting, press pitching and social media marketing. This is where she fell in love with influencer marketing, as she enjoyed connecting with people.
After working at Devacurl, Henry decided to leave and go earn her masters at UF. She also worked for UF Communications as a Content Specialist. Here, she worked as the connection between the news and marketing social media, as well as a writer for Inside UF. While this opportunity was different from Devacurl, it opened several doors for Henry and introduced her to many different people.
After her masters, Henry realized she missed the thrill of working for a company like Devacurl. When she started looking for new jobs, she came across a startup for a healthy snack company known as Highkey Snacks. It was a risk, with only five items on Amazon and five employees, but she decided to make the jump.
The job was all hands-on deck. The environment was fast paced, giving Henry the thrill she had been looking for. She has successfully managed national content strategies, built the brand’s social channels from the ground up, and created strong relationships with influencers in order to help support HighKey’s goals.
Along with sharing her career journey, Henry shared the following advice with UF PRSSA members:
Show that you are willing to learn and grow.
Patience and persistence are key.
Build connections with people in industries you’re interested in.
Going an extra mile isn’t always attainable, but always go an extra inch because they’ll add up to that mile.
Stay motivated and keep doing the things you need to do to get where you want to be.
We thank Jillaine for joining our chapter and offering her advice and insight. Connect with her on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsjillaine/, and make sure to reach out to her if you have any further questions about her line of work.
Written by Chelsea Mistretta