A couple days after accepting EWU’s offer to become its next marketing director, Sidney and I found ourselves engaged in an honest conversation. She told me she felt bittersweet about my next career step. I asked my wife to explain the “bitter” portion of her sentiment. As innocently and honestly as possible, she conveyed that we moved all the way across the country for WSU and that it now seemed weird that I was leaving the place we initially made such a big sacrifice for.

I responded by saying that we indeed made a major sacrifice to join the Coug community. However, the leap of faith we took ended up materializing in an extremely fruitful way that was worth every ounce of our westward sacrifice. Going to work at WSU allowed me to benefit from a once-in-a-lifetime work arrangement (don’t think I will ever get the opportunity to work from home four days a week again!), grow tremendously as a professional, and ultimately ascend the career ladder.

But, best of all, it allowed me to work with and learn from some of the best people.

Although I had my concerns when remote work started, it quickly became apparent that goals could be accomplished and camaraderie developed even if it required Zoom calls and Teams chats. Or perhaps we got s*** done simply because of the caliber of people I had in my corner, work-from-home be damned.

Whatever the reason, despite a global pandemic that disrupted everything, I developed strong working relationships and cherished friendships with my WSU colleagues that matched the relationships built at previous stops in my career.

So today I get to say thank you. I will absolutely embrace the opportunity to extend my gratitude to those who supported, encouraged, and empowered me. As I have mentioned, our University Marketing and Communications team accomplished much during an unprecedented time when everything imaginable was thrown at us. Any contributions I made resulted from the talent, selflessness, and leadership that surrounded me.

Okay, here we go…

I might be partial to my UMC team but I would be remiss not to mention the many bright, talented, and kind WSU employees throughout the system. Out of all those, I have a few favorites. Erin Carroll and Sarah Page from Student Affairs constantly brightened my week during our Wednesday meeting with their positive attitudes and humor. I respect how much they truly care for the students at WSU and are willing to do whatever it takes to improve the student experience. Over the past couple years, I have worked a lot with Hailey James who serves as the chief of staff for the WSU Pullman Chancellor’s Office. She has a tough and stressful job but I always admired how she would consider the viewpoint of our UMC team even if priorities between her department and ours ever clashed. Then there is Kylie Condosta from the President’s Office who was always so easy and helpful to work with. She was instrumental in assisting me with optimizing President Schulz’s social media presence and always supported the strategy I put forth.

Now for my UMC colleagues…
(a suitcase emoji 🧳 means the person no longer works at WSU. A paw emoji 🐾 means the person still works at WSU but not in UMC)

First, shout out to the patient and helpful administrative/financial officers, managers, and supervisors who helped me with all the budgeting, purchasing, and procedural tasks that are necessary for a social media program to function. Carrie Johnson (🐾), Brenda Campbell (🧳), Amanda Beardslee (🧳), Maria Amorim (🧳), Lael Gray, Kiersten Oliver, and Betty Smith…I don’t know what I would have done without you!

I will always hold a spot in my Coug heart for the news team. When I started at WSU, social media was part of the news unit. For those first several months, I was in a daily check-in meeting with the news staffers. They welcomed me with open arms and never hesitated to cover our prominent social media efforts. I appreciated the friendship of Will Ferguson (never forget late night beers at Red Lobster in Vancouver), the quick turnaround capability of RJ Wolcott, and the sheer brilliance/talent of Sara Zaske to make even the most complex scientific study understandable to a novice like myself. And I always valued the clutch web and HTML email work of Jon Bickelhaupt during major announcements when the pressure was on.

Speaking of friendship, Jenny Walsh (🧳), our former EM marketing director, was my first friend at WSU. We worked closely together and she helped me become acquainted with the WSU landscape. She cared about my success and made me feel comfortable in my role.

Another UMC employee who helped with our enrollment marketing efforts (and helped me) was Chris Falgiani. Many of our promo items were housed in another building on campus that I had limited access to. Whenever I needed to replenish our supply, Chris would happily haul the items from the building straight to my office. But I will most remember Chris for the countless discussions we would have about reality TV and MMA.

Our photography unit never held anything back from our social team. Bob Hubner, Shelly Hanks, and Dean Hare provided us with beautiful images that routinely became some of our top social media posts each year. I had the privilege of organizing and accompanying Bob and Shelly on several photo shoots and they were always so professional, technical, and efficient.

I can’t thank our video team enough. Jason Refsland and Kara Billington have contributed so much to UMC whether it be through brand videos, EM videos, or social videos. If not for Jason and Kara, our YouTube transformation would not have been possible (because you need the content) and my #1 WSU moment would not have occurred. This duo humored my ideas and brought many to life. Additionally, I also always enjoyed working with their top intern, Rhynne Lee, who brought a student perspective and genuine enthusiasm to every project she worked on.

While I am on the topic of interns, it is my pleasure to thank the ones who have worked for our social team over the past four years. Thank you to Kendall Hoy (🧳), Rachel Lutovsky (🧳), Chloe Houser (🧳), Dani Paramo (🧳), Fiona Scanlan (🧳), Ryan Hiller (🧳), Serena Hofdahl (🧳), Amy Rooney (🧳), Jessica Willis (🧳), Taylor Megaw (🧳), Shannon Whiting, and Claire Fruehauf. These 12 former and current WSU students brought creativity and ingenuity to the job each day. It is no wonder why many of these individuals entered immediately into incredible careers.

There probably isn’t anyone prouder of those interns than Matt Haugen, our social media manager. When I came to work at WSU I was impressed by Matt’s passion for the university and his job. Thanks to his 14 years of service to his alma matter, Matt constantly offered valuable institutional knowledge that helped our social program. He also knew how to plan one heck of a social media April Fools’ joke!

When you think of highly intelligent people with large brain capacity—at least in the context of marketing and communication in higher ed—the web director will always come to mind. I don’t like stereotypes, but in this instance I must say that Danial Bleile fits it, because in my mind he is a genius. Danial, our web development director, assisted me tremendously. Whether it was aiding me with Google Analytics, providing me access to manage the social feeds on wsu.edu, or placing the myriad of tracking pixels I asked him to install, Danial always came through. We also bonded over our nerdy fandom of Weird Al Yankovic.

If you need an example of someone who epitomizes integrity, look up Larry Clark. Our alumni magazine editor/content development associate director, Larry always puts others before himself. He will fight for, advocate on behalf of, and celebrate those around him. I worked closely with Larry as we both served on the UMC leadership team and I always valued the perspective he brought. There are two things I will always fondly remember about him: when I came to Pullman for my interview, Larry gave me the best campus tour imaginable (when he probably had a thousand other things to do) and he traveled all the way from Pullman to Spokane this week just so he could attend my farewell lunch. What a guy!

The next two people I am want to thank devoted their own talents and the resources of their team to WSU Social Media. Eric Limburg (🧳) and Jackson Price, who both served as creative director, spared nothing to advance the social media needs of our department. They greenlit any graphic that needed designing, video that needed shooting, or photo that needed capturing and made sure it got done. But you know what says even more about Eric and Jackson? Many times they would do the work themselves. I can’t count all the times we made a request and these guys decided to do the creating themselves—whether that meant they designed a holiday graphic, created a GIF, or made a social media profile frame. And their contribution to social is just a drop in the bucket of all they do for WSU and the creativity they bring to the table. Lucky for me, Eric and I will get the chance to work together again very soon 😉. Thank you to our talented designers for their attention to detail and willingness to experiment. I appreciate you Annie Patterson, Charles Dillon, and Valerie Boydo.

Time to say a few words about our vice president. To put it simply, I don’t know how Phil Weiler does it. If I ever felt flustered with any of the situations we dealt with over the past four years, I would just tell myself imagine what Phil is going through. As WSU’s spokesperson, you simply won’t find a more composed, even-keeled professional. When I traveled to Pullman for my interview, I had a short 1-on-1 session with Phil. He told me his leadership philosophy was to allow the experts in their area to shine without interference from him. Phil was true to his word.

Okay, Dave Wasson is up next. This guy was the very first WSU face I saw when he picked me up at the Spokane airport on a dark and cold December evening. He was also the person who hired me and initially supervised me. I joke with him that I accepted the job only because he gave me delicious Cosmic Crisp apples to take back to South Carolina. Of course that’s not why I actually took the job (well, at least it wasn’t the only reason), but holy moly those apples were good! In all seriousness, I appreciate Dave more than he knows. Our voyage to Pullman after he picked me up for my interview in December 2019 wasn’t the only time we would make that drive together. Knowing that we were just a one-car family for my first couple years of employment, Dave (who also lives in Spokane) would go completely out of his way to drive me to/from Pullman on the days both of us worked on campus. I sincerely appreciated his generosity and sacrifice while also relishing the chance to get to know him on a personal level during those car trips.

In January 2022, I didn’t make the best first impression with a UMC key hire during our 1-on-1 introductory call. I had come down with COVID and while my cough game was strong my ability to speak actual words was not. Thankfully, Cara Hoag, our EM marketing director, didn’t hold it against me. Her understanding would pave the way for an effective work relationship and a valued friendship. We navigated WSU’s partnership with a major vendor, introduced creative digital strategies to attract new Cougs, and totally transformed our university’s YouTube channel. The work we did on that last item sent us to Chicago where we presented on higher ed marketing’s biggest stage, an experience that I count as my proudest moment working for WSU. As we worked together on a professional level, we also clicked on a less formal level. For all the passion we have to advance the goals of the university we work for, at the end of the day both Cara and I are family-oriented people. We connected over this and respected each other for our shared values. Cara became a major cheerleader for my spouse and children while I did the same for her family. There is no doubt about it, our friendship will endure beyond my last day at WSU.

And now I conclude this “thank you” post by recognizing the single-most influential person during my time at Washington State University. What a transformational experience it was working for Holly Sitzmann. Her organized, pro-active, strategic leadership style has resulted in massive success within our department and provided me the guidance and opportunity to grow. It can’t be overlooked how much Holly does. She lives in Washington D.C. and works early east coast hours while finishing the day working late west coast hours. I have seen her rare vacations completely derailed by crises at WSU. I have watched as she dealt with personal tragedy after personal tragedy only to still stay on top of work and make sure her team was taken care of. Although Holly puts in long hours no matter the situation, it has always been her top priority to secure a positive work/life balance for those who work for her. She always allowed me to put my family first, pursue my quirky interests, and perform my WSU duties according to my preferred work arrangement. I have learned so much from Holly about marketing and communication but I have learned even more from her about leadership and what it means to be a good human.

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It is time to finally (and sadly) make my WSU exit. Holly reminded me of a blog post I penned just a couple weeks before I started here. I wrote: I have no greater motivation than to show my new bosses and co-workers that they made the right decision in hiring me. I hope I was able to achieve that objective. It would be quite the shame to come up short when all the people I mentioned above did everything possible to help me thrive.

So let me just say it one more time: THANK YOU!

What a pleasure it has been to serve Washington State University, I will always be a Coug at heart. Don’t Blink.