Samantha Lucas - Johnson and Johnson
Samantha Lucas, Global Advocate Communications leader for Johnson & Johnson’s Enterprise Strategy and Communication group, joined UF PRSSA on Feb. 17.
Lucas shared her journey to her public relations career and offered helpful insight on the difference between working for an agency and working in-house. She currently develops and implements global strategies to partner with key audiences to help strengthen the global reputation of J&J.
Lucas always knew she wanted to work with people and began her career by attending Manchester University. Taking a media and communications course was the first step in her journey.
After graduating, no jobs were available at the time; however, Lucas was quick to notice one sector of communications was rapidly growing: technology. To kick start her career, Lucas interned with a technology agency for two years.
“The experience of working in these environments and seeing what it takes is absolutely priceless,” she said.
Shortly after, she moved to New York and jumped from agency to agency. Although she once thought entertainment and music PR was more exciting, she believes her technology PR experience gave her incredible opportunities to keep climbing the ladder to bigger and bigger agencies.
A key piece of advice Lucas offered to members was to never stop learning. At Burson-Marsteller, Lucas worked alongside Harold Burson who she said was a strong advocate for learning. She worked at Burson-Marsteller for 18 years before moving onto J&J.
Lucas ended her conversation with us by showing a J&J purpose video.
“The real power is in feeling good about what you and the company is doing and feeling good about what you’re helping others with,” she said. “If you haven’t made your audience cry then you haven’t been successful.”
Lucas encouraged members to consider working for an agency after graduating.
“You can move really far really fast,” she said.
Even though her first internship wasn’t her dream job, it was a start. She advised students to consider that when applying for internships. She also encouraged our members to never be afraid to speak up, ask questions and keep learning. She also recommended students develop their personal brand.
We thank Samantha for joining our chapter and offering helpful advice. Please connect with her on LinkedIn and reach out to her if you have any further questions about her line of work: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samlucas/.
Written by: Kailey Kiss