Name: Erin Kenning
Class Year: 2017
Title: Global Senior PR Manager
Organization Name: Galvan London
1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?
I am responsible for achieving the overall positioning and image goals of the brand on a global level through editorial placements, celebrity dressings, influencer activations, digital PR, and branded events.
2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross? How did you learn/decide it was a good fit for you?
I always imagined myself working in the fashion industry since I was a young girl, but I didn’t know exactly what field I wanted to be in. When I was a freshman, I attended a Holy Cross fashion networking event at alumni Carolyn Risoli’s home in NYC. At this event, I met Erika Bearman who was the SVP of Global Communications and PR at Oscar de la Renta. After hearing Erika speak about her career at the event, I reconnected with her through email to speak more about her career path. We met at Oscar de la Renta’s HQ in New York, and soon after she offered me a summer internship in the PR department. From the moment I entered the PR closet and became immersed in the PR world of fashion, I knew then and there that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I continued to intern at Oscar de la Renta for almost two years every winter and summer break. After I graduated, a woman from the Oscar de la Renta PR team offered me a position at a new company she was moving to called Solid & Striped. It was a unique role where I would help build and establish the first in-house global communications and PR team, which jump started my career.
3. What were you involved in when you were on campus?
I was involved in HC Fashion Society and volunteered at Blaire House (Alzheimer’s home) and Girls Inc. in Worcester.
4. What was your major and how did it affect your career decisions?
I was an English major with a concentration in creative writing. I don’t think that my major necessarily affected my career decisions, however it certainly helped me in my career as it is very important to be able to speak and write articulately in PR.
5. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?
The key skill that I developed at Holy Cross was to be a divergent, unconventional thinker which I attribute to my liberal arts education.
6. What advice do you have for students on campus today?
Never stop learning. If you are the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong place.
