This post was written by Jessica R., marketing communications specialist.

When I was hired at Reynolds in 2018, my primary responsibility was acquiring new, and maintaining existing, customer references and testimonials. A typical day on the job involved interviewing Reynolds and Naked Lime customers about the products and services they were experiencing success with, recording their positive feedback, and composing formal testimonials for use in marketing collateral and sales presentations.

Learning the skills necessary to ask the right questions and get the answers I wanted took some practice, but after a few dealership interviews, I had it down.

As I grew more comfortable in my role, I asked to take on more. It wasn’t long before I was offered the opportunity to market some of our products and new company acquisitions. Some of my new responsibilities included building email campaigns, creating flyers and digital ads, and writing posts for social media.

My career with Reynolds developed even further, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, when we had to quickly and creatively think of new ways to communicate with customers outside of traditional marketing methods. Sending product marketing emails just didn’t seem timely with everything happening in the world.

We decided to connect with our customers through a weekly podcast (unironically named The Connected Podcast). When I was asked to be the host, I quickly jumped at the opportunity. My experience interviewing customers made this a great fit and an exciting next step.

In my role as host of Connected, I work with producers to select potential interview candidates/topics, draft talking points, and interview guests on camera. It’s an amazing way to meet and pick the brains of industry experts, dealership personnel, and other Reynolds employees! I also get to promote and market the podcast, which has been a really cool way to try different types of paid ads and think outside the box.

Being the host of Connected has improved my interview skills and allowed me to feel confident talking on camera. I’ve even been able to translate those skills into my personal life. Soon after I joined the podcast team, I thought, “If I can talk to a camera at work, why can’t I do it at home?” My YouTube channel, where I review different clothing brands, has been going for 3 months and is already 1k subscribers strong!

None of this would be possible without the experience I’ve gained and the opportunities I’ve been given at Reynolds. It’s the best feeling in the world knowing you work for a company who supports your growth and is open to letting you try new things. I look forward to many more years of taking on something new.