Hugh Braithwaite | CEO | Braithwaite Communications
I remember it like it was yesterday. During her very first day as a “wintern,” Marissa helped us a run an event for Fashion District Philadelphia. She came in smiling, unafraid, and blew both the client and our team away!
And after her internship ended, she started her first week at a new internship at another PR firm. But she had impressed so many of us in her short time here, we decided to call over there and offer her a full-time job. Our instincts were right on. From the moment she stepped foot in our agency we knew we had a met someone special, with a deep passion for media relations and an excitement to learn and lead.
Well, we are sad to say, she is now moving to her next adventure. She told us last night that she has made the difficult decision to leave agency life and pursue a new role in-house with Janssen, a pharma business unit of J&J, supporting their neuroscience communications team located in Titusville, NJ. Her last day will be Friday, November 13th.
While this is a sad day for us, of course we wish her only the best. She’s played important roles here on so many client accounts. From Wawa to Merck, Montco to Project Home, Philadelphia Foundation to PKF O’Connor Davies– at every turn, she made a steady stream of strong and smart contributions. Yes, nobody knows the regional media scene better than Marissa, but her real media power was her smart and dogged relentlessness.
It’s been awhile since we’ve all been in the office together, but when we were you would undoubtedly hear her on the phone calling the media over and over again with excited cheers happening in her corner when she landed a placement she had been working for so hard. If she was on your account team, you just knew you could count on her.
Of course, we will also miss her agency enthusiasm and infectious generosity.
We will meet with each account team to map out transition plans and be posting job listings to look for new talent. In the meantime, please wish Marissa well — and let us know if you have any candidates in your networks.
David W. Brown | Diversity and Inclusion Advisor to the Dean of Klein College at Temple University | Director of Public Relations Internships and Field Experiences | Department of Advertising and Public Relations | Klein College of Media and Communication |Temple University
“I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Miss Reale through Temple’s participation in the prestigious Bateman Case Study competition for which I serve as the faculty advisor. As you may be aware, the Bateman Case Study Competition is the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA’s) premier national case study competition for public relations students. Colleges and universities with PRSSA chapters across the country are given a single client challenge to apply their public relations skills in building a campaign. This year, the Bateman competition will develop a campaign on behalf of “With Purpose,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing awareness to the necessity of safe and effective treatment options for children with cancer in America.
From the moment Temple decided to enter the competition, Miss Reale was the first student to enroll in the class. But she didn’t stop there. She took it upon herself to recruit other top-flight students and Temple is now prepared to make its mark as the university enters the competition for the first time in the school’s history. Miss Reale is clearly our team leader and we anticipate making a big impact in the competition while making an even bigger difference for children courageously battling pediatric cancer.
Miss Reale is one of our most enthusiastic ambassadors as a leader for our PRSSA chapter routinely recruiting students to the organization. She also applies her considerable client service skills as a member of PRowl – Temple’s professional student-run public relations agency.
Finally, I have also had the pleasure of serving as one of Miss Reale’s professors. She is a dedicated student with a passion for the public relations discipline that is infectious.”
“Marissa has boundless enthusiasm and energy for the public relations field. She has a strong work ethic and a good understanding of what it takes to succeed. Her work for past clients has been exemplary and her class work is on an equally high level. She was a much-deserved recipient of the Philadelphia PR Association’s 2017 Dr. Jean Brodey Student Achievement Award in her junior year; an award that usually goes to deserving seniors. I predict a bright future for her.”
“One of the first things I noticed about Marissa Reale is her passion for all things related to public relations. She truly loves this field — and her passion is infectious. She is one of the first to arrive at a program presented by my Philadelphia Public Relations Associations colleagues and she is excited to discuss the activities that she is involved at Temple University and the Temple student run firm, PRowl. In a short time, she has emerged as a real source of energy and enthusiasm within the Philadelphia Public Relations Association (PPRA).I wasn’t really surprised to learn that Marissa did her first internship at age 17, working for a group of major market radio stations. Not even a college graduate, Marissa Reale is an experienced veteran in the field.
Another example of Marissa’s great work. Her 2017 internship at the leading Philadelphia television station, 6abc.
It seemed like anytime I picked up social media in the Summer of 2017, I saw evidence of Marissa being entrusted with a new, high-visibility project for the station — Snapchat behind-the-scenes coverage of the nationally-followed Bill Cosby trial, a promotional video for National Ice Cream Day and more.
The fact that 6abc asked her to stay on after classes resumed showed me one thing — Marissa leaves a lasting impression among those who work with her. She is the intern that companies find positions for after the internship ends. It is all the proof one needs to show that Marissa comes to work each and every day.
“Work ethic” doesn’t show up on a resume, but man — it surely manifests itself in a professional setting. Marissa Reale walks the talk! In a field like public relations — where too often the pool of talented entry-level job candidates exceeds the pool of open positions — someone with Marissa’s zeal and ability to impress colleagues gives her an upper hand.
Earlier this year, she was honored with the PPRA’s Dr. Jean Brodey Student Achievement Award — an award that sometimes foretells future leadership in the Association. Two former Brodey Award winners are currently serving the Association Board as Past Presidential Advisors and a third was newly elected to the Board of Governors. Will Marissa carry on this tradition? Put it this way. I wouldn’t bet against her!”
Jennifer Lynn Robinson, Esquire | Purposeful Networking | FemCity Philadelphia
“Marissa is a creative with a magnetic personality and outstanding work ethic. I am continually impressed with her understanding even as a student of how important it is to build relationships and her willingness to do so. The types of jobs and internships as well as awards she has received speak to these abilities and I am thrilled to see her being recognized for her efforts. I cannot wait to see what is in store for Marissa post graduation. This girl is on fire!”
Caroline Pavis | Director of Strategic Communication | Janssen Biotech., Inc. | Johnson & Johnson
“Throughout her internship, Marissa has shown tremendous dedication and passion to learn. She has asked great questions and has always been willing to take on any assignment that came her way—no matter how big or how small. All of Marissa’s projects were well organized and were delivered within the deadlines that she and Caroline identified.
Marissa is creative, energetic and brave. In our team meetings and brainstorms, she never hesitated to offer her opinions and thoughts, ask a clarifying question and/or recommend a new idea or approach. This led to the creation of her summer internship project, “Engaging Key Stakeholders through Snapchat.” I was greatly impressed with Marissa’s work on her final project. She gathered key insights on how we, as a healthcare company, might be able to utilize Snapchat with employees and with external stakeholders such as health bloggers. I will be using several of Marissa’s insights to integrate Snapchat into our 2017 HealtheVoices conference. Marissa conveyed her recommendations in the form of a powerpoint deck, which was presented to our Johnson & Johnson Communications Leadership Team (CLT) and our Chief Communications Office Michael Sneed on Aug. 3. She was poised, confident, enthusiastic and engaging as she presented her final project to the audience.
Throughout her internship, Marissa built strong relationships with me and with all of our team members. She is a true collaborator. Throughout the summer—every one of our 6-person team offered me positive feedback on Marissa and their excitement to have her on our team. She participated in 1:1 interviews with each one of our team members, and traveled to our Raritan, NJ and Titusville, NJ offices where she was given deep dives on our US, NA and Global Janssen businesses and the various roles our team members play in supporting these businesses. She consistently offered to assist all of our team members with any projects that may help her grow and learn.
Many of our business partners who worked with Marissa over the course of her internship (including Britney Micele (ONC marketing), Kristen Brill (our freelance consultant) Brian Fickel (ONC field sales rep) and members of the Tonic team) commented on Marissa’s professionalism, passion, creativity, and hard-working attitude. We are all very sad to see that 10 weeks has passed by so quickly.
As Marissa continues in her career, I recommend she continue her growth in key areas including her writing skills, media relations skills, research skills and working to apply measurement tools and analytics to key PR initiatives. She has a wonderful attitude—focused on collaborating with her peers, asking probing questions, illustrating good judgement and making good decisions. She has a GREAT future ahead of her in public relations and communications. I would absolutely be willing to serve as a reference for Marissa as she seeks to take the next step in her career. It has been a pleasure having her on our team. She will be missed!”
Loraine Ballard Morrill | News and Community Affairs Director | iHeart Media
“I’m delighted to write this recommendation on behalf of Marissa Reale. I’ve known Marissa since her senior year in high school when she interned for me at iHeartMedia. During her internship she exhibited extraordinary initiative, was quick to learn new skills, showed a great work ethic and was a delight. Marissa is highly goal oriented and strives for excellence as exemplified by her many accomplishments as a student at Temple University. I’ve worked with many interns in my career and I can always pick out the ones who will do well. Marissa Reale will do extremely well in any endeavor she takes on and any organization or program would be lucky to have her.”
Marissa Reale 