PR Flack to Schoolteacher
Brent Harney, 29
The Previous Job
I worked in public relations and marketing for consumer brands—sporting goods, consumer electronics, grooming products—implementing strategies for new product launches, campaign initiatives, and product placement and marketing. Mostly it was talking to media to figure out editorial coverage for the products I was covering.
The Problem
I majored in PR and journalism in college and always had a goal of being the director of a PR agency. I did get to hang out with celebrities and pro athletes, and it was cool and I was excited about it. But after six years, it got to the point where it was very repetitive: at the end of the day I was just trying to get editorial coverage of products. We did have some great programs, like raising awareness for ovarian cancer. But even while we were raising awareness we were also trying to sell a product. For example, we worked with a woman who was a victim of child sex trafficking. She was a child prostitute, and her own daughter was kidnapped and raped. She made me realize that what she was doing was amazing, important work. I was helping tell her story, but mostly I was saying: “Don’t forget to write about our hand cream!”
The Turning Point
Part of my role was handling our intern program. I wanted to implement a series of workshops where people in the company were teaching interns different facets of PR. We started those classes and I really enjoyed it. It felt good to lead a class and teach people who were interested and wanted to learn. I led this weekly workshop for two years and decided I wanted to become a teacher. I started applying to schools and actually quit my job before I was accepted. Thankfully I got accepted to grad school a week later.
The New Job
I’m teaching at an elementary public school in Tribeca and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s going great! I know it’s kind of cheesy, but I love the feeling I get when a kid finally gets something. It makes me feel like I’m doing something more important than pitching a product. I’m not going to say that nothing I did in PR was of value, but there’s not a personal connection to what you’re doing. And in school you see the returns much more quickly. I do wonder if it’s something I can continue doing for 10 to 20 years. One day I may decide to do something else—maybe go back to PR but find a job that somehow marries teaching and PR, like working at a children’s book publisher. It was something that was part of my life for six years.
The Result
It’s harder to do something different, because at your old job, you’re making money and you’re doing something that you know how to do well. And reinventing yourself is tough. Going through the experience is interesting and you get to learn new things about yourself in the process, but there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety that comes with it. I don’t know if I could go through that again, but looking back I really appreciate that I did something new.
Next: Advertising Account Executive to Doctoral Student
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Thank you for only including one Office Space style switch. I can’t stand how prevalent the idea is that manual labor is inherently better for everyone than a more cerebral job. Everyone gotta find they own bliss!