By Emily Stephens, Gaylord College Media
Gaylord College alumna Mahsau Daee Cullinane's career has been marked by notable experiences and impactful moments. She has navigated the realms of crisis communications and media relations, ultimately finding herself at the forefront of youth safety as a leader on TikTok's PR and communications team in the United States. Cullinane graduated with a bachelor's degree in public relations in December 2011.
When reflecting on her collegiate experience, Cullinane says she has many fond memories that include the projects she worked on and the people with whom she built relationships. Cullinane was able to share some valuable insights into her own Gaylord experience.
"From hunkering down in the Creative Lab with classmates to finish our PR capstone presentation to popping my head into Lindsey & Asp to chat with friends between classes, Gaylord College always felt like a home away from home," she said. "I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for the support and guidance of the late Dr. Owen Kulemeka. Taking his crisis communications course was a pivotal moment not only in my junior year but also for the rest of my career."
Cullinane emphasized the significant impact that Dr. Owen Kulemeka had on her during college.
"It was through him that I discovered my passion for developing creative solutions for complex problems and was encouraged to begin my career in corporate PR," she said. "It was through him that I'm fully able to recognize the impact of the work that I do today. He was an amazing mentor and is greatly missed."
Cullinane credits her time at Gaylord College as instrumental in shaping her future career in public relations, highlighting the unique opportunities she experienced within the college.
"I am beyond grateful for the experiences and community that Lindsey & Asp has given to me," she said. "I did not fully realize until I graduated how unique it was to get agency experience as a student, during which I was accountable for billing my time, working directly with clients and coordinating with colleagues to develop and execute PR campaigns. I know that this experience set me apart from other candidates during interviews and helped lay the groundwork for a fulfilling career in PR."
Upon graduating from Gaylord College, Cullinane had diverse career experience before becoming a part of the communications team for TikTok.
"The first six years of my career consisted of me working in the Dallas area at notable global public relations agencies, including Weber Shandwick Edelman and Burson Marsteller, because I knew that these firms would give me exposure to both a wide variety of industries and communications challenges," she said. "While I was with my last agency, Burson, I transferred to Washington, D.C., where I was able to narrow in on my passion for crisis communications and media relations in the tech and political sector. It was this same passion and drive that led me to join the Internet Association (IA), which represented global internet companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google and Uber on public policy issues at the state and federal levels."
During her time there, Cullinane would find her passion for crisis communications.
"As Gaylord made me realize my love for crisis communications, my time at IA showed me that tech and public policy communications combined my creativity and love of complex problem-solving," she said. "I impressed the founder and CEO of IA, who now leads Public Policy at TikTok, and he eventually brought me over to join TikTok's communications team."
At TikTok, Cullinane primarily works to lead youth safety for those in the youth age category in the U.S. using the application by leading various initiatives and creating different resources for the broader community.
"On a platform as popular with teens as TikTok is, you can imagine how busy my days can be! My work focuses on educating teens, parents, educators, law enforcement, policymakers and the broader public community about our industry-leading policies, features and resources for teens, families and the entire TikTok community," she said. "My day-to-day consists of creating proactive and reactive communications strategies to maintain a positive perception of our brand."
"Because TikTok is a relatively young company with safety at the forefront," she said. "I also get to work closely with people from other teams to help shape messaging and initiatives to advance our safety narrative, mitigate risks around policy and product development and elevate the profiles of TikTok executives to help humanize the platform."
Cullinane's experience and work through Gaylord led her to be an exceptional trailblazer in public relations, working with companies to problem solve in various capacities primarily U.S. reputation building across all trust and safety issues, particularly focusing on teen safety.
For the students who are now where she was once, she gives two pieces of advice.
"Practice writing in all forms. Writing is ingrained in everything I do every day, including drafting press releases, talking points, social media posts, op-eds, media pitches, executive remarks, etc," she said. "Secondly, try to keep up with the ever-evolving media landscape. Newsrooms are shrinking, reporter deadlines are tight, and it's important to know what makes news, regardless of what side of the story you're on."
