Spotlight: Kristin Michael
Markers:
How do you know you’re destined for a career in business communications? When you not only have your first meeting at the age of six, as did Kristen, but when you, yourself, have called the meeting. (With mom.)
Growing up in the rural town of Americus, Georgia supplied Kristen with both her southern pragmatism and a yearning for the wider world. Even in middle school, she was already shadowing a communications agency, as well as assistant editor of the school newspaper. By her junior year at the University of Florida, she had paired her love of public relations with a minor in Art History to combine twin interests in business and philanthropy.
A college internship at the Mint Museum quickly developed into a three-year first job, one in which Kristen was involved in every opening during that stretch, generating awareness and coordinating membership drives. This first career step was capped by the opening of the Craft and Design Museum, an event which “pushed the envelope” for the museum.
Desiring corporate experience for a well-rounded agency-bound foundation, Kristen planned a five-year roadmap and jumped to a position as Public Relations and Advertising Coordinator with Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, an assignment that allowed her to master the exigencies of a for-profit institution in a universe dominated by nonprofit giants. Seeking total immersion in a creative environment, she came to LKM, where she manages the Georgia-Pacific account.
Family:
In 2007, Kristen traded vows with “southerner by birth, southern gentleman by the grace of God” Bobby Ray Michael. The lucky man is reputedly a charismatic sales manager with Nextel/Sprint, an avid golfer, sci-fi geek and collector of comic books.
Passions:
Singing in a praise band with Charlotte North Fellowship, leading a community group with the nondenominational congregation, and keeping up with friends and family.
Words:
Good leadership is not about making a decision on your own, but rather, owning a decision once it’s made.
