AD+PR Professional Advisory Board’s Bree Balogun Discusses Pathways to Success in AD+PR
By: Emily Manriquez
Editor’s Note: Michigan State University has cultivated an amazing group of alumni that ventured into the world and become successful leaders in their fields. The Department of Advertising + Public Relations’ Professional Advisory Board serves as an outlet for board members to assist the MSU faculty in evaluating and planning curriculum for MSU students. Connections with the PAB allow students to learn firsthand about their chosen industries from professionals who started out just like them.
Bree Balogun is an MSU alumna who has worked her way up to vice president of account management at Revolt TV. She is also a new member serving on the Department of Advertising + Public Relations’ Professional Advisory Board.
Balogun started out as a pre-law major up until her senior year at MSU, where she realized her life’s true calling. The summer between her junior and senior year, she discovered her love for advertising and public relations by helping her father with a national seminar campaign. There she was paired with the PR team, which sparked her passion for the industry.
“When I got into the real world, it was not what I expected,” said Balogun. “Having worked at agencies, with clients directly and 360-campaigns, I wanted to bring that perspective to the MSU curriculum, to make it so students have real-life practice. My goal is to see how I can help the curriculum and bring a real-life focus to what you learn at Michigan State.”
She says that the hands-on practice and experiential component ensure students are better prepared for success post-grad. Balogun says that experience can help students prepare to be flexible, and learn what they like and don’t like in a job. Balogun said her own career path was not linear and did not always go as she planned.
She moved to Atlanta, right out of college, where she landed a job with AT&T, hoping to advance in the marketing department. She says she quickly realized that the job was not a good fit for her and returned to Michigan. She soon landed a job in the traffic department in an advertising role at Global Hue, which she attributes to the MSU resources and connections she made while in the program.
“It is all about trial and error. There is nothing like getting out there, learning and failing,” said Balogun. “I couldn’t have been more appreciative of that experience at that time.”
The person who hired her at Global Hue is now CEO of Revolt TV. She attributes her trajectory to the relationships she built in her first jobs out of college.
When asked about what advice she has for advertising and PR students, who want to follow in her footsteps, she says to put yourself out there and try it!
“Advertising and PR is not for everybody, so you must have some sort of idea of what you want to get out of that role,” said Balogun. “Be true to what your passions are and what makes you happy. There is no way to learn better than to not be afraid to fail and to fail fast.”