Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Jacob Hertwig is currently a full-time student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington pursuing a degree in communication. Through his job experience and community service, he has developed strong communication skills and a strong work ethic. In his involvement, he has worked in offices that require him to coordinate with clients and peers while managing commercial contracts. This is characterized by generating and submitting bids to grow the company’s business, maintaining business relationships, and ensuring jobs are completed correctly and promptly. In addition, Jacob also manages the company’s social media accounts online.
Jacob’s education has provided him with the ability to analyze the success of communication efforts of a brand, create effective marketing strategies, and have fluent knowledge of programs such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.
Outside of his professional and educational career, Jacob has held positions such as vice president and philanthropy chair for the Delta Kappa Epsilon Chi Beta chapter at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Through these positions, he was able to coordinate campus involvement and fundraising for organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Tackle ALS.“I build relationships to grow your brand”
Lillie Daughtridge is currently a senior studying at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is a Communication Studies major with a concentration in Integrated Marketing Communication. Her goal after graduation is to receive her master’s degree in Communication Studies. Lillie has taken numerous Integrated Marketing Communication classes in her time as an undergrad. In one of Lillie’s favorite classes, IMC: Campaign Design, she organized and created a total rebrand for the Taco Bell organization. Through this project, Lillie gained the skills and knowledge for content creation and concepts for new graphics and messaging for the brand. She also has her certification for the online social media management platform Hootsuite.
Lillie works as a social media manager at a small sandwich shop in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. She created their logo, eye-catching branding and even got the opportunity to publish her content for the sandwich shop in the local magazine. Since Lillie joined the business, it has gained over one thousand followers on its social media platforms. She continues to create content through photos, videos, and interacting with their online community.
Lillie is known for her communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and leadership experience. Lillie plans to create creative social media content for businesses searching for a new identity. She produces valuable content that will dramatically increase sales and target various audiences. Lillie is an active member of Lambda Pi Eta, the official Communication Studies honor society of the National Communication Association. “I create eye-catching social media content that helps small-businesses flourish.”
Mary Grace Copeland is currently a senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, majoring in Communication Studies, concentrating in integrated marketing. She grew up in Greensboro, NC but has spent her college years in Wilmington pursuing her photography business. Mary Grace is also a lead instructor for Wilmington Swim Academy giving toddlers life-saving swim lessons. She enjoys being active outdoors and spending time with her friends, family, and cat in her free time!
Mary Grace has focused on applying the communication and marketing techniques it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. She uses the valuable marketing information she learned, such as brand identity, marketing, and social media management, to reach her goals for her business. Mary Grace is a hard worker and takes pride in all her work. She focuses on being a reliable businesswoman and aims to be extremely consistent in her brand identity.
Mary Grace is Hootsuite Platform Certified, which means she can successfully create and manage social media content for a brand. Mary Grace helps manage multiple social media platforms, one for her photography account and the other for Wilmington Swim Academy. She is responsible for sharing content and interacting with followers or potential consumers for both accounts. Mary Grace has had lots of practice creating and learning about brand identity. She started marketing for her photography business through social media six years ago and has gained more experience through other similar opportunities. Helping to create content and manage social media platforms to develop consistent marketing for brands.
Hannah Copeland is a senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She will graduate in the spring of 2023 with a degree in Communication Studies. Hannah is from Greensboro, North Carolina, and chose Wilmington to stay somewhat close to home. She currently teaches swim lessons at Wilmington Swim Academy (WSA). Hannah is passionate about teaching individuals how to swim and save themselves from drowning, and she is hoping to start her own swim lesson program. Aside from work and school, Hannah loves spending time with her family and friends, going to the beach, and watching a good crime show.
Hannah is a very organized, task-oriented individual who loves creating plans to work most efficiently. She wants to help lighten your workload by organizing events or projects, creating a plan on how to execute them, and helping facilitate effective communication. Hannah is a natural leader with great experience. Hannah was on the Leadership Program for UNCW’s swimming and diving team as she helped communicate information from the coaches to the athletes and vice versa. She helped organize team functions, relayed important information, and was a voice to those who weren’t comfortable speaking up.
Hannah has a Hootsuite Platform Training certification, which taught her how to create and manage social media accounts for a brand. Not only is she Hootsuite certified, but she is also currently running Wilmington Swim Academy’s social media accounts. She is responsible for creating and posting content weekly and interacting with WSA’s followers. Hannah enjoys working with people and building relationships; she believes teamwork is essential to creating a great brand. She is very experienced and confident in her ability to succeed in a team setting, given she was an athlete for over 15 years and a member of group projects throughout school.
I blend creativity and strategy to make social simple.
Kayla P. Bruce is a senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with a concentration in Integrated Marketing Communication. In addition to being a student, Kayla is also a wife and mother of two. She holds the VP of Ways and Means board position at her children’s school, where she executes and oversees community fundraising and student and faculty events. Kayla calls Wilmington, NC, her home, and she enjoys date nights with her husband and driving on the South End of Kure Beach with her family.
Kayla is dedicated to executing her goals with strategy and innovation. She bridges the gap between marketing and technology, creating seamless communication and delivering exceptional results. Kayla sets herself apart with an eye for design, organization, and unparalleled customer service skills that help companies maximize and diversify their social reach. She is fluent in creative thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and strategic consulting, and emphasizes quality and excellence in everything she does—and her work demonstrates this focus. Kayla works to provide ambitious brands with comprehensive solutions that leverage the power of integrated marketing communication and technology to ensure business growth.
Morgan’s passion for success can be traced back to when she was young, when she spent significant time working on her work ethic, which started by playing sports. As a result, she is very determined, and when she has her mind set on achieving something, she will find a way to get it done! she always has an open mind and is willing to get things done differently if it will help better her brand or company.
Morgan has experience taking on a very hectic work schedule while taking on the student-athlete role. Morgan takes pride in providing the best projects, ideas, and work she possibly can. As a student-athlete, her goals include providing efficient work and feedback to push her brand/company to the top. She has a Hootsuite certification and Microsoft certification. With these certifications she can take her creativity to new levels and knows how to connect social media to new perspectives from a business standpoint. Many professors have recognized Morgan for her extraordinary commitment to completing things professionally in the classroom and on the field. “I am ready to be the leader you need to make your organization to the next level. Discovering a powerful connection between members within an organization and build a greater relationship with consumers outside the program. I want to be able to take the creativity and research and set a higher standard for who I am working with to bring the organization to life.”
Before coming to college, I did not have any plans to major in Communication Studies. My mind was set on graphic design which meant that I would be sticking with Digital Arts as my major. However, the more I got into the major the more I realized that it wasn’t for me, and I needed something with less tech and more people. Digital Arts were some graphic design, but a lot of coding and computer skills. Communication Studies, and more specifically the IMC track, gave me the chance to learn how design and communication became integrated into the marketing industry. I found that this is what I had been looking for all along. There were plenty of chances for me to sharpen my design skills for the work world and improve the interpersonal skills that would help me in the workplace.
Favorite Course
To this day, my favorite class within the IMC track record was COM 334 IMC: Message Design. This course had a huge focus on the creation of a BIG, Brand Identity Guide. This involved all aspects of branding, from dreaming up the premise of a brand, choosing the colors, and designing the logo, we did it all. Within the semester-long design project, the professor integrated different types of message design, hence the name. We created social media posts, advertisements, and even a website to promote the brand that we were developing. Although all the work we did was not for a real client, we developed and strengthened skills that we will use in the marketing world, if that is where we choose to go.
I greatly appreciate that I was able to finish the class with a product in my hands that I felt confident showing to future employers. This is one of the best qualities of the IMC track in Communication Studies. Most classes will allow you to sharpen a few very specific skills, implement them into a project, and then end with a final product that is close to a professional level. Granted, the quality of the final product is dependent on the work ethic and skills of the student, but the professors provide the opportunity and leave it up to the student to take advantage of it or not!
Development of Workplace Skills
This leads me to another point about the IMC route. This major, and this concentration specifically, has helped me develop the skills that many employers include in their job postings. As a soon-to-be graduate, I often cannot meet the “experience required” category that many employers want. Time and time again I see the want for a candidate with 3+ years of experience in the industry. This is something that many new graduates cannot meet because they simply have not had the ability to gain that much experience yet. Full-time students can’t graduate with years of experience in an industry because they have been in the process of learning about that industry so that they can work in it one day. However, the IMC concentration has equipped me with skills like proficiency in the Adobe Suite and Hootsuite certification which I can market to future employers to make up for the lack of years of experience. Having these skills allows students to market themselves as a competitive candidate to future employers.
Thanks to the IMC concentration in Communication Studies, I am able to confidently say that I feel prepared for whatever job I land after graduation. The IMC track offers students the opportunity to explore all aspects of today’s marketing industry, and appropriately prepares them to leave the academic world and enter the work world.
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