October 11, 2015

MEREDITH YATES
Senior Account Executive at The Bradford Group
October 6, 2015 | Mary Kem

Meredith on Public
Relations

Public relations is
engagement with target
audiences in a way that
is meaningful to a
company

Long term
investments and long
term goals

A Day in the Life of A Senior

Account Executive
What is Public Relations?

Public relations is
speaking to the
audience at large and

Public relations is engagement with target audiences in

a way that is meaningful to a company. Different tactics are

used for different clients, but they all share the commonality of
using the Bradford Group to be facilitating the conversation.

providing value to
them

October 11, 2015

Do You Consider Yourself a PR Professional?

I guess so! I do it every day and it is how I make my

living says Meredith. She also notes that the more time she is
invested in this work, the more confident she becomes in it.

Educational and Professional Background

The Bradford Group

Smart. Active. Results.

Meredith is a 2011 graduate of the University of

Tennessee, Knoxville. She graduated with a degree in
journalism. Meredith worked as a reporter in the Tri-Cities in

The Bradford Group is a

Washington before moving to Nashville and working for The

Nashville based marketing agency

that was opened in 2000 by CEO
Jeff Bradford and COO Gina
Gallup.

Bradford Group.

Combining traditional and

digital marketing tactics while
approaching marketing through
public relations instead of
advertising is how The Bradford
Group goes about their work.

a law firm and a nonprofit organization. The Bradford Group

The Responsibilities of a Senior Account Executive

Meredith is in charge of driving five accounts, including

typically works with businesses that serve other businesses. She

also is involved in media relations where they pitch story ideas
and bylined articles for their clients.

The Bradford Group lists their

core values in three statements:
Hire SMART people.
Generate measurable

RESULTS.
Be an ACTIVE marketing

partner.
The Bradford Group consists of
nine team members; two account
associates, two account executives,
three senior account executives, a
vice president and COO, and a
president and CEO.

October 11, 2015

The Organizational Structure

Within the Bradford Group, a small PR firm of nine team

members, it is a team structure. As a senior account executive,

Pros and Cons of

Working in the Public
Relations Industry

Meredith works with an account executive and an account associate

in her work. She will hold internal meetings with the team. She
does both management work as well as account work. She noted
that the further up in the organizational structure you are, the
further away you move from account work to fill the management
positions. Meredith reports to the CEO and COO of the Bradford
Group because it is such a small firm.

A Typical Work Day

There is no typical day. It changes from day-to-day says

Meredith. Often, Meredith with start the day by reading the news
and checking social media. It is important for her to stay on top of
what is happening in order to serve her clients well. There is daily
account work that needs to be done. This includes tasks like writing
press releases, work with social media, internal meetings, meeting
with clients, and phone calls.

Public Relations vs. Marketing

According to Meredith, there is no firm line between the

Pros
Meredith enjoys the variation that
her job offers. No day is the same
as the next. Compared to her
previous job in journalism,
Meredith favors the long term
investments and long term goals
made in public relations. She also
enjoys the writing that public
relations requires. Meredith enjoys
her work environment and
colleagues noting that they are
great people to work with.

Cons
It is very fast paced. Things
happen continually for all five
clients says Meredith. Working a

two. Meredith notes that marketing is more of an internal effort.

job like one Meredith holds means

There, it is important to get in front of the intended audience

working in a stressful environment

through advertising, conferences, trade shows, etc. Public relations

and learning to deal with

is speaking to the audience at large and providing value to them

rejection.

public relations and marketing have the same end goal: to grow the
business says Meredith.

October 11, 2015

Her Words to Public Relations

Students

Meredith emphasizes the importance of internships saying

that seventy-five percent of learning will happen outside of the

Seventy-five percent of

classroom through working in the industry.

learning will happen

When asked what was something she wish she had known

outside of the classroom

before entering the public relations industry, Meredith said I

through working in the

didnt realize how critical good writing was for PR. She also

industry

mentioned that writing ability is taken very seriously in the

hiring process. She advises that public relations students develop
great writing skills and stay on top of what is happening in the PR
industry.

PRSA and Other

Professional Organizations
The Public Relations Society of
America (PRSA) is the largest PR
professional organization in the the
world.
Although Meredith is not a member of
PRSA or any other professional
organization, she still encourages
students to be active and involved in
their schools chapter of PRSSA it
because it gives them the ability to
learn about PR from a new angle.