Alumni Spotlight: Emily Walsh Potts

Emily Walsh Potts (B.A. ’15) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.

One of the benefits of a Meadows education is that in addition to learning everything necessary to succeed in a given subject, it also shows students the different career paths available to them once they have their degree.

Emily Walsh Potts, an alum of the Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs (CCPA), fell in love with communications during her time at Meadows but she also was shown the various ways she could put her degree to work – from agency to corporate to nonprofit and everything in between – after she graduated.

“The CCPA program provided the foundation for everything I do on a daily basis in my career,” says Potts. “From the technical skills such as writing different materials to the softer skills such as networking and navigating people management, everything we learned in the classroom translated seamlessly into a career in communications.”

These skills helped Potts build up an impressive resume and eventually led to her founding her own company, EGP Strategies, where she puts her CCPA education to good use doing freelance strategic communications consulting for various organizations.

In addition to running her own strategic communications company, Potts has found even more ways to share her communications knowledge. She is also currently an adjunct faculty member at Meadows, where she teaches two courses: Advanced Writing for Public Relations and PR In Local Context.

“My classes are often filled with juniors or seniors, so I use them as an opportunity to impart as much ‘real world’ knowledge as possible before they leave the Hilltop,” explains Potts, who structures her classes to align with professional policies and expectations. “It's such a blessing to watch [students] develop and thrive over the course of a semester and I am so honored to give back to the CCPA program in this capacity.”

And it’s not only what CCPA students learn in the classroom that can be beneficial as they enter their career. The connections they make during their time in the program can prove very useful down the line. Potts urges both current and prospective students should consider this resource as a big advantage to the CCPA program.

“CCPA has some of the most engaged alumni within both Meadows and the University as a whole, who are interested and willing to help students,” she says. “Such an active, engaged and growing alumni base is not only a massive testament to the program, but a huge resource that cannot be understated.”