Member Spotlight - September 2015 

MEET PRSA AUSTIN CHAPTER MEMBER: Meghan Butler

What do you currently do for a living? I am the Account Director at Arrow. We’re a PR and branding shop devoted to the art of creative storytelling as a strategic business driver. Basically, I’m a news junkie who gets to brainstorm, solve problems and create opportunities. And occasionally state in my understated Olivia Pope voice, “It’s handled.” It’s a privilege to work with a dream team (and our clients!) who are all committed to the simple notion of doing well by doing good.

What did you want to be growing up? I originally pursued a nursing career, starting as a licensed professional at a hospital. I learned very quickly that I had a knack for patient care and medicine, but not much patience for the technicalities (i.e. flesh-eating diseases). However, that experience has been incredibly useful when counseling clients related to health and wellbeing and Big Pharma. 

What motivated you to pursue a career in the communications industry? I have been a writer since I grabbed that first Crayon. One of my biggest influences was Dr. Gerald Mann. Every Sunday I listened to him tell a very well-structured sermon. He teed it up, flagged three key points in the story, then brought it home in one profound closing. His timing and cadence were always impeccable. When I was in college, I realized you could be a storyteller for business. I don’t know if the angels sang, but the clouds definitely parted.

Where are you from? Where have you lived? I am a native Austinite. I just returned from a seven-year “road trip.” I first relocated to Burlington, Vermont to work at Seventh Generation and enjoyed everything New England had to offer, even in winter. (Night snow-shoeing is really a thing.) Then I landed in Nashville where I accidentally fell into music management and marketing, taking me all over the US and Europe, until I slid into an agency gig covering Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. Though I loved my adventures, I was very glad to return home this year to work with the Arrow team.

What college(s) did you attend? I started at Texas Tech and finished at Texas State. The little college football fan inside me is confused. So…hook ‘em? NO! Gig ‘em! WAIT! Sic ‘em! Heck, I don’t know.

What was your first job in PR/communications? I was an overly enthusiastic and insufferable intern for Howard Falkenberg at Staats Falkenberg & Partners. Bless his heart. I learned a lot, but he sure did put up with a lot, too! 

What is your best piece of advice to your fellow PR practitioners? Two things immediately come to mind.

1. Ask questions and then stop talking. If given the space, you’d be shocked by how much someone will tell you.
2. While long-term stints are admirable, allow yourself the opportunity to work in different environments with very different people. I believe it is critical to becoming a well-rounded, flexible and tolerant team member.

What is your most memorable experience as a communications professional? My career has been many things, but never boring. In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, when Austin hosted the overflow of evacuees from Houston, our team at GCI Group (now Cohn & Wolfe) worked with United Airlines to media train their volunteer pilots and coordinate the media. Every relief worker and law enforcement officer on the ground cheered wildly when they opened the plane doors. It was humbling to see all different folks arrive with only the clothes on their backs and the baby on their hip. Some may have had a trash bag of diapers at most. Many bent down and kissed the ground. If they weren’t weeping, they were silent. Dazed, even. These were the people that clung to rooftops for days. Their survival was unifying. The news crews had little to do because the story told itself.

What do you do in your free time? What are your hobbies/interests outside of work? If I start writing in my head, I’ll wrestle it to the page. If there’s a crossword, I’ll kill it. If there’s a band playing, I’ll listen. If there’s a cold beer, I’ll drink it. If it takes a road trip or plane, I’ll do it. If I can bring my dog Norman, he’ll come. If there’s Netflix to binge, I’ll play it. If it involves any one of those things and a friend, then I’m a happy camper.

What is one of your favorite quotes? “Just 'cause somethin' ain't been done don't mean it can't be did.” - Shel Silverstein

What is the best part about your job? It’s always an honor when someone trusts your team with their story. A big upside to agency life is the opportunity to be a steward of many different brands and usher them to life in the marketplace. In doing so, we adopt an expertise for their subject matter. This is the perfect job for the insatiably curious. Also, we get paid to follow the news. How is that not a huge bonus?

What Austin brands or companies do you think are doing a good job in communications/marketing? It’s been really fun to watch Deep Eddy and Tito’s vodka distilleries turn into powerhouse brands. They were helpful when I was homesick for Texas and Jack Daniel needed to sit down for a while.