Rachel Meltzer

Rachel Meltzer, current Gaylord College Outstanding Senior, graduated with a degree in public relations and a minor in arts management and entrepreneurship in December 2021. She is serving as the national president of the Public Relations Student Society of America and also served as national vice president of events and fundraising for the group. While at OU, Rachel was president of the OU Ad Club, secretary of the OU chapter of PRSSA, and worked with Lindsey + Asp. Her internship experience is extensive, including time spent with The Gooden Group, Freestyle Creative and Adams Davy Agency. Rachel has a passion for theater stage management and has worked with several summer stock and thespian groups in Texas, Tennessee and Virginia. JayMac recently visited with Rachel about her new position with Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants.

How did your new position as Social Media Coordinator with Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants come about? 
I actually found my current position on LinkedIn. I had originally planned to go the agency route right out of college to gain more experience, but I thought the flexibility and relevancy allowed from the social perspective of working as a brand would be really fun—and it has been. Plus, who doesn’t love barbecue?

Tell us about your new position? What does a typical day look like? 
Dickey’s actually has a lot of brands within the company, so it’s almost like working at an agency. A lot of my job revolves around social strategy for all our brands, as well as managing influencer and partner relations as they pertain to social media for all of our brands. So basically, I’m always on social media or responding to an email about social media. Dickey’s is over 80 years of being a family-run business, and it’s very much emphasized that we still run like a startup. I get to interact with our CEO pretty much daily, which I don’t think you would find at a lot of other companies as someone who just graduated two months ago. It’s a really interesting dynamic to be working in as my first job post-grad, but I feel really lucky to have so much ownership over our projects.

Your schedule must be very full as you also currently serve as PRSSA national president. What are you working on for PRSSA? 
I wouldn’t trade getting to serve as PRSSA national president for the world. As national president, I get to touch a little bit of everything. A big focus of my term has been reconnecting with our chapters and identifying what real value means to our members. With so many changes in the past few years, it’s so important for us to evaluate how our society has and hasn’t changed to make sure we’re providing tools to help our members grow personally and professionally.

Tell us about your “Hi Friends! The Podcast.” 
"Hi Friends! The Podcast" was actually a project that came out of a social media marketing class in Gaylord that I really found a passion for and became my independent study project for my minor. I loved the process and getting to talk to so many fun folks that I decided to continue the podcast post-grad. I am all about sharing stories and this has been a really fun way to share my connections with others, as well as continue to learn from new friends.

What advice would you give to recent Gaylord graduates?
Take advantage of all the connections and relationships that you developed while you were a Gaylord student. As I’ve been navigating post-grad life, my old professors, advisors and Gaylord mentors have been so helpful in providing me wise counsel and helping me continue to make new connections in my industry.

What are your long-term career goals? 
In addition to my work with Dickey’s, I have a photography business, Hi Friends Co! Eventually, I would love to expand this into not only photography work, but also social media management and branding for my own clients. Being a huge theater gal who grew up in the arts, I would love to be able to do something creatively that helps support arts education and involvement in the arts as well.