Photo credit: Kate deVeaux

Now out with her tenth publication on the shelves in the Unites States, Suzanne Selfors (M.A., 1990) has found her calling in writing children’s books. Although the journey to get there wasn’t easy, she said she has found her voice.Selfors’ story begins at the end of her driveway as she watched the school bus drive away carrying her youngest daughter to her first day of elementary school.

“I thought, ‘my life is about to change.’ This is my youngest child; she’s gone off to school and I can actually do something different now,” Selfors said. “I walked up my driveway, sat down at my computer, and I googled local writing classes.”

Selfors registered that same day at the University of Washington in their extension program for short story writing. Selfors had already graduated from the UW years earlier in 1990 with a master’s in communication with a popular culture emphasis. At that time she was interested in studying film, writing a thesis titled “From Menace to Messiah: A Cultural Study of the American Extraterrestrial Encounter Film.”

While at the UW, Selfors had an internship with KCPQ Television, where she was later hired after graduation as a research assistant. Channel 13 had just become the Fox affiliate, so the opportunity was well received.

“I was studying all the trends and trying to help the sales staff convince advertisers where they should place their advertising based on demographic and research information,” Selfors said.

However, Selfors decided to quit her job when she got married and began to start a family. She read to her children every night, even when they were babies, and started to notice something.

“There was a renaissance going on in the children’s publishing world. The Harry Potter books had changed the market and publishers were hungry. I fell in love with Lemony Snicket’s books, and a series by Suzanne Collins called Gregor the Overlander,” Selfors said. “I realized that I really wanted to write fiction.”

Selfors took the ferry from Bainbridge Island every Tuesday and Thursday night to go to the short story writing class at the UW.

“It was the first time I’d ever written an opening chapter for a novel,” Selfors said. “So that was nerve wracking for me. But the positive feedback gave me the courage to move forward with my story.”

In one year, from September 2002 to September 2003, Selfors had written her first adult novel that was set in Ancient Greece, found a literary agent that wanted to represent her, and it was being submitted to 12 publishing houses in New York City. Unfortunately, she got 12 rejection letters in return.

“It was a really dense historical novel and had a lot of research so I can look back and see why it got rejected,” Selfors said, “but I was stubborn so I wrote another adult novel, set it in ancient Greece again and it got rejected.”

When Selfors then wrote a third adult historical fiction novel that did not get picked up, she became discouraged and was close to giving up. But, nonetheless, the next story she wrote was a children’s novel titled “To Catch a Mermaid.” She finished writing it in 2005 and her agent sent it out immediately.

“He sent it to seven houses and all seven made offers on it,” Selfors said. “It went to auction, which is every writers dream because you have publishing houses fighting over you. So I realized I had found my voice and that’s what I was meant to write. It felt right.”

She said in contrast to the historical fiction novels which she had to fight her way through, the children’s books just flowed. Her kids were a major inspiration for “To Catch a Mermaid.”

“I wrote that first book for them,” Selfors said. “I read it to them while I was writing and I knew I was doing something right because at the end of each chapter they would beg me to keep reading.”

Selfors said writer’s block has never been a problem for her and that she has been creating stories in one way or another her whole life.

“I just have a brain that is very noisy,” Selfors said. “I have stories just waiting in line to be told.”

Her latest book “The Sasquatch Escape” debuted last month and is the first in a middle-grade series called, The Imaginary Veterinary Series. Four books in the series are currently under contract, with more to follow. The award-winning illustrator, Dan Santat, is designing the covers.

Selfors said that the best part about her job is getting letters, drawings, and gifts from young readers. She has also written four teen novels that inspire deeper letters from adolescents. Selfors said she responds to every single one.

Selfors is writing for three publishing houses at the moment (Bloomsbury Publishing; Little, Brown and Company; and HarperCollins), but when she has time she would like to try writing an adult novel again someday. Her first Greek novel ended up being published in Greece, so “I figured if the Greeks like it, it can’t be that bad,” Selfors joked. She wants to revisit the novel to smooth it out and try publishing it in the United States again.

“I’m happy that I’m building readership,” Selfors said. “It’s been slow and steady, but with each book I produce it does a little better than the last one.”

Her books have earned starred reviews, been Indie Picks, and Junior Library Guild award-winners. They’ve been included on the School Library Journal Best Books list, YALSA Best Books for Teens List, and multiple state lists, to name a few accolades. And they’ve been Scholastic Book Fair best-sellers.

“A lot of people think to make money in this business you have to be a New York Times best-selling author, but you don’t,” Selfors said. “If you continue to put out work that does well, you can make a living out of this.”

Although, with that being said, Selfors does hope to be a New York Times best-selling author one day.

Almeera Anwar (L) and KC Cowen (R) with Department Chair David Domke. Photo by Victoria Sprang.

Over a dozen Communication students joined recent grads KC Cowen (B.A., 2008) and Almeera Anwar (B.A., 2012) for a career chat over lunch. Cowen and Anwar met through the Association for Women in Communications (AWC) during their days as students and now both work at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They landed their jobs through a temp agency, sharing with the students that this is an excellent avenue in an increasingly competitive job market. Each student walked away with a copy of an article recently posted on the UW Professional and Continuing Education site about how temporary or contract work functions.

Both Cowen and Anwar gave a straight talk about working for such an internationally recognized organization. At the beginning of each day, said Anwar, “it’s just a job” with all of the day-to-day tasks any job requires. She arrives at her cubicle, checks her email, gets a cup of coffee, goes back to her email, creates spreadsheets or communication pieces, or any number of tasks that she needs to do to help the people she works for do what they need to do, to help the people in the field do what they need to do in order to deliver the vaccines.

Not all nonprofits are the same. The Gates Foundation employees get a laptop and a smartphone – a great perk, but one that comes with the responsibility of being available to respond quickly and sometimes after regular work hours. The pace is fast at their job and they both love what they do. They stressed to the students to not assume that their first job out of college has to be a bad job. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” quoted Anwar.

“Being a soon-to-be graduate of the Communication department with a strong interest in global health, meeting with KC and Almeera was a huge benefit,” one student said. “What they do is right up my alley, and I was so happy to speak with them afterward. Because of the meeting, I now have an opportunity of speaking again with them in the near future.”

Another student said, “I learned many lessons and got several tips of how to behave in a professional manner. I just wished the meeting was longer, but I had to leave early to go to my next class.”

The career chat is part of our Communication Works! series, offering professional development events throughout the academic year.

About the mentors:

KC Cowen was recently promoted to Senior Assistant on the Global Health Financial Planning and Analysis Team. She is responsible for providing high-level support to the Global Health Program Chief Financial Officer. She previously worked as a Program Assistant on the Global Health HIV Team, responsible for team-wide coordination, event planning and relationship management with grantees and partners. Before the Gates Foundation, she was employed at the Medina Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the University of Washington Office of Development and Alumni Relations. Cowen is a proud 2008 alumni of the University of Washington and owes her professional success to the connections and skills she developed as a student in the Department of Communication. She continues to give back by mentoring current Department of Communication students. In her free time, she enjoys walking Green Lake with her new husband Brian.

Almeera Anwar is a Program Assistant on Vaccine Delivery. While in college, she participated in the Dream Project, First Year Programs, Association for Women in Communications, Residence Hall Student Association, Associated Student, UW Leaders, and Relay for Life. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Anthropology. She did a Study Abroad in Switzerland, which was an intensive study on “Making Place: Tourism, Culture and Global Communication.” She considers herself an advocate for women and girls, education and cancer research. In her spare time she enjoys digging into a good book, trying out a recipe or exploring a new glass of wine with friends.

As I roamed around the room to the rotating four groups consisting of five or six students to one mentor, I picked up on some valuable advice that was being offered:

Edgar Gonzalez, Assistant Dean for Advancement and External Relations at the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Alumni board member and recent recipient of the 2012 UW Comm Outstanding Early Career Award

-Interviewing is a necessary evil. It’s not his favorite because you rarely get the best of someone. It would be easier to do over cocktails or coffee, but you can’t always do that. But think of it as a conversation and you have one free hour to convince someone that you’re great.

-Edgar looks at three aspects when hiring that are shaped like a triangle: On the bottom is aptitude (can you do the job?), which can usually be found out with a resume and cover letter. Next up is attitude: Are you positive and a team player? And at the top is fit. Your goal should be to have the hiring manager picturing you working there.

-Good questions to ask the interviewer at the end: One question about the job that goes beyond the job description, a question about the company (culture, the employees, etc.), and lastly something quirky or personal, like what’s the latest book they’ve read.

Terry Tazioli, host of TVW’s “Well Read,” former editor of The Seattle Times and alumni board member. UW Comm Alumni Hall of Fame inductee.

-Don’t sound like you’re reciting who you are and your accomplishments during your elevator speech. Relax, take a breath, and just talk. Record and listen to your speech beforehand. It’s good if by the end of your speech the hiring manager has a few points he/she wants to go back to and ask questions about.

-Don’t sound like you’re asking questions by ending your sentences with a higher pitch as it sounds like you are unsure of yourself. Make statements.

-At the first meeting, always shake hands and use your first and last name. Also, say out public relations, human resources, etc. on first mention instead of using the abbreviations PR and HR.

Vena Rainwater, recruiter at Amazon.

-Understand the context of the job you want. For example, human resources is this huge, wacky job that can mean a whole lot of things. What is it that you are interested in and how do your skills play into that.

-Know the difference between PR and marketing because they are very different, and know which one you want to do. Furthermore, marketing has a creative advertising side and a data side. Decide which path you want (at least when you are pitching yourself). Not knowing comes off as you not knowing what you really want to do.

Jodi Davis, staffing consultant at Microsoft.

-Humility: we are human beings and we make mistakes, so don’t say that you’ve never made one. Think of one before you go in to the interview and how you solved the problem.

-Accomplishments: How did you get there? Did you play nice in the sandbox? You could have great results, but did you step on others to get there? It is key to have soft skills beyond technical skills.

-Make sure your resume and cover letter are aligned with the job description. With hundreds of resumes coming in to Microsoft per day, this is very important. And stay connected with folks from your internships as they may think of you when a job opens up.

Student Feedback:

Katrina Tolentino (senior communication student with a sales certificate) said she was drawn to the event because of the companies that were being represented. “I was really interested in Seattle-based companies, so the fact that there were professionals from this area just helped me network a little bit better. What I really liked about this whole process was that there was a lot of great advice that I probably wouldn’t get from a classroom. Since there are recruiters here, they were telling us what they expect of the people that they are interviewing, so I got a behind-the-scenes kind of view.”

Stephanie Morey (senior communication student minoring in diversity) agreed and added, “In particular, I learned a lot about myself and what I’m good at and what I need to work on. For instance, Terry gave great advice to record yourself and I’ve never heard of that as a way to see how you present yourself, so I’ll definitely take that away even though it’s a little intimidating.”

Seth Deister (senior communication student) said, “I liked hearing the different perspectives that all four mentors had. Everyone had a different career path, but they all had relevant things to say to us.”

In a closing remark by Gonzalez, he said to put your dream job on the mirror. You may have to take jobs that you don’t really like at first, but see your dream and take the steps to get there.

Keep an eye out for more information on the final Career Kickstart mixer on May 17 for students 21 years and older.

Photo from thevoyager.net

University of West Florida: Deborah Bassett’s alma mater before earning a doctorate in communication from the UW, and the location of her first public lecture delivered on February 25. With an official title of the 2013 Jerry Maygarden Distinguished Lecture, she spoke about how the Native American community is using social media to fight back against negative stereotypes, using pop culture references, census data, and online networks to back up her theory. Bassett now serves as an Acting Instructor for the UW Department of Communication and is a researcher for the Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research.

Read more in this article written by Stephen Crawford on thevoyager.net>>

Jennifer with CCFA walk manager Deborah Jacoby at the Vegas Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon, as part of Team Challenge for Crohn’s and Colitis. CCFA is the official charity of the event. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Simmons O’Connor.

Jennifer Simmons O’Connor (B.A., 2001) never saw herself living back in Issaquah, the town she grew up in, or having a long career working for nonprofits, but she has found a lifestyle.

“I didn’t choose this career at all,” Simmons O’Connor said, “so sometimes the thing I revel at is that I’m happy.”

By choose, she means it just kind of happened. With a family full of University of Michigan alums, Simmons O’Connor decided as the middle child to be a little different and enrolled at the UW. Although only 20 minutes from her house, she lived on campus and met new people like the rest of the incoming freshman. Starting out with hopes to become an English teacher, she quickly changed her mind.

“I think I realized maybe a year in that actually becoming an English teacher and going to the UW is a pretty long program,” she said. “There’s an expectancy at 17 or 18 that you know what you want to do with the rest of your life, but I think that’s unrealistic.”

While sticking with English, Simmons O’Connor spontaneously decided to take an intro to communication class her junior year and fell in love. Although it kept her in school a little longer than four years, it has led her to where she is today.

“I’m one of those people that loved school – the educational and academic side of it, as well as the social aspect,” she said. “I like to write and I think that served me well in enjoying school in both English and communication.”

She interned at the Bellevue Arts Museum in their PR department, as well as at a small local newspaper, while in college and imagined herself going that route after graduation. She landed an interview at a large PR firm in Chicago, but decided it wasn’t for her and got a job at the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, where she managed the PR and marketing efforts for the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival, one of the largest events on the Eastside.

“I had a phenomenal experience and really started to like the fundraising and development side of it,” Simmons O’Connor said. “It was all corporate driven which is very different than what I do here, but it was a great way to experience kind of what a nonprofit was like on a day-to-day basis, especially in a small office, and what it meant to work for a nonprofit.”

After four years with the Chamber of Commerce, Simmons O’Connor joined the local team at the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), a national health organization based in New York with about 40 offices throughout the country. Starting out as a development manager planning fundraising walks, the annual luncheon, and running committees, she has made her way up to regional development director. While she does many of the same things as when she started, she has added staff management and office leadership to the list.

“From a career standpoint it was really important to continue to move up and make new paths for myself,” she said. “So I’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple years evaluating the nonprofit sector, which I kind of fell into but really enjoy, and where I see my path here.”

With so many different charities and nonprofits to choose from, Simmons O’Connor contributes some of her loyalty to the CCFA to her parents.

“I’ve been fortunate to have stayed here and I think it’s a little unique to work for one organization for eight years, and I think part of it is just how I was raised,” she said. “I feel very committed to the organization. I do have a personal connection to colitis so I know how devastating these diseases can be and that’s probably what sent me in this direction initially to this particular organization…but really it’s the ability to be successful in a career that I like, that happens to also help people at the same time.”

Although Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affects an estimated 1.5 million people (that’s almost three times as much as multiple sclerosis), they are not well known and are often referred to as “bathroom diseases.” While that’s not necessarily an incorrect label, they are much more than that, Simmons O’Connor said.

“Part of that is that people don’t really want to talk about it,” she said. “We work with kids that are 14 year old girls – they don’t want to talk about that, in fact some of them have the most elaborate stories on why they’re missing two months of school or why they are having surgery. And then there are adults who worry about how it’s going to affect their career. Do they want their employers to find out? There are a lot of things that go along with having a chronic illness.”

In 2013, the Northwest office will raise over $1.7 million in support of medical research, patient education, support programming, and youth activities – all for the mission to cure Crohn’s and colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases.

“I don’t like asking people for money and I can honestly say I know very few who do,” Simmons O’Connor said. “It’s part of the job that is actually really small. A lot of what we do is build relationships with people. We connect people with projects, connect people with our mission, and we make them want to participate in what we are doing and make them want to partner with us because they feel passionate about it. And the more passionate we feel about it, the more passionate they will.”

At age 35, Simmons O’Connor considers herself a career person. Happily living with her husband (who also started in PR and has moved to nonprofits), she has found a balance between working, spending time on the mountain snowboarding in the winter, and enjoying a regular life.

“I never went in looking for something that was easy,” she said. “I wanted to find something that compelled me and fulfilled me.”

-By Erica Thompson

Jennifer and her husband Dan at the CCFA Annual Casino Night and Silent Auction. Photo courtesy of Gail Ann Photography.

In December 2011, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle was going through turmoil. Having suffered 18 months without a CEO, leadership was needed to right the course for the organization.

Enter Pamela Banks (B.A., ’81). Banks heard about the opening for Urban League’s CEO position from her friends. Originally disinterested in applying for the job, her interest was slowly piqued after she read further into the job description. Banks had declined initial nudges to go for the job, deleting emails from her friends that saw her as a fit. “Then, that day, three more people emailed it to me. Those same people then called me and said that I should apply for the job. It was a little peer pressure. I took the job description home that weekend and I read through it. I prayed,” she said. “Then I figured, if I don’t do this and they hire someone different, someone from  outside the city, then Urban League may not survive. That’s when I decided to put my name in.”

Having grown up in Portland, Oregon, Banks’ grandmother was president of the Urban League Guild. At that time, men ran the league while women raised money through the guild. This trend has changed as presidents of half of the national Urban League affiliates are women.

Banks’ interest in the job gained as the interview process progressed. By the time Urban League National flew her to Denver for the final interview, “I walked out of that interview thinking ‘they’d be crazy not to hire me.’ That’s how confident I was,” Banks said. She was then hired on as the CEO of Urban League of Seattle, ushering in a new and positive era for the organization.

Banks was seen as a fit for the position because of her affinity toward working with and helping people. “My career took off when I realized that I am a people person. The things that I have done in high school, college, and my professional career can all attest to that,” she said. “I always thought that if I go into either teaching or non-profiting, I would get the chance to work with people.”

The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle is a non-profit organization that has been in existence for 82 years in the heart of Seattle’s diverse Central District. The goal of the National Urban League has historically been focused on community work with education, employment opportunities, health and housing for disenfranchised African Americans. With racial problems persisting today, the Urban League of Seattle now serves to provide opportunities for all ethnic backgrounds.

In Urban League’s program to help people keep their homes, around half the people it sees are white due to the recent foreclosure crisis. “We try to provide an equal playing field when it comes to job, housing and educational opportunities to folks of all racial backgrounds,” Banks explained. “I tell people that I did not get into this business to give a handout, but to give a hand up.”

The addition of Banks as CEO has done nothing short of made an enormous difference on the League’s mission. Her commitment and energy for positive change has given the non-profit a new attitude toward achieving its goals. “People know that I am a credible person, that I am committed to my community and I take that into those boardroom meetings, or those grants that we apply for, or to the funders that could potentially fund our program needs,” she said.

Looking ahead to the next decade, Banks hopes for many positive goals to be met by the Urban League. With a new Vice President of Operations and Development, the non-profit can look forward to raising money to meet community needs. “I will say that in around three to five years, the goal is to have the Urban League be financially stable. I would like to grow the organization to around 20 to 25 employees, with a wealthy budget. I want to also have stronger programs giving employment opportunities to ex-offenders and early childhood education,” Banks said.

With making a positive difference, there are always some struggles along the way. “I have had some personal life challenges dealing with family emergencies,” she said. “For me, all of those personal hardships have helped me as a person and be the woman that I am today. It has given me personal strength and has strengthened my faith in God.”

Banks has many hobbies outside of making a difference at Urban League. She enjoys reading, travelling, cooking, shopping and spending time with friends and family. As an avid sports fan she follows teams of all levels from high school to the professional leagues. Her favorite teams include the Oklahoma City Thunder, Seattle Seahawks and the Garfield High School Bulldogs.

Want to know more about Pamela Banks and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle? Visit their website at urbanleague.org.

-BY CHRIS DUCLOS

Mike Peringer

Mike Peringer (B.A., 1957) has a long list of impressive accomplishments to back up his well-deserved retirement fan fest at the Safeco Diamond Club next Thursday afternoon. The event includes a buffet luncheon, an all-star “roaster” (featuring dignitaries, colleagues, family and friends), and varying baseball-themed ticket prices with all the proceeds benefitting Urban ArtWorks.

A Seattle native, marketing executive, author, and civic leader are all titles that describe Peringer, and are reasons for being inducted into the UW Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame in 2007. He is stepping down from his role as vice president of marketing/sales for Process Heating Co., a manufacturer in the Sodo industrial area, but the impact he has made in the community will live on. He founded the Sodo Business Association in 1992 representing 2,000 businesses and 50,000 employees, and soon after started ArtWorks, a program developed to discourage graffiti by creating murals throughout the Sodo Urban Art Corridor area. The organization works with adjudicated teens that have painted more than 400 murals since 1995. He wrote Good Kids: The Story of ArtWorks and published Lifeline to the Yukon, all the while serving on countless committees and councils and receiving numerous awards for his public action, including the prestigious Jefferson Award.

Jillian Stampher (bottom row, second from right) with the other 2013 Olympia Program interns.

As the 4th annual Spring Fundraiser quickly approaches, we wanted to share a few stories about how the money raised at past auctions has helped students and their endeavors:

The Olympia Legislative Reporting Internship Program gives practical training to students interested in political reporting, while contributing to local news organizations. Past participants have gone on to write for daily publications including the Seattle P-I and the Tacoma News-Tribune.

Junior, journalism student Jillian Stampher decided to join after being approached by program coordinator Mike Henderson. She has been the news editor at The Daily for the past three quarters and hadn’t done much political reporting, so she determined to give it a shot.

“It’s definitely helped me branch out a lot because it’s put me in a situation where I wasn’t necessarily comfortable,” she said, “and it helped me be independent since I was working on my own down there, opposed to with a newspaper like some of the other students. And it’s definitely nice to have that variety in what I’ve been covering.”

Stampher is writing stories mostly focusing in higher education for The Daily, while other students in the program this quarter are contributing to the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA), the Washington State Public Affairs Network (TVW), Northwest Public Radio, McClatchy Newspapers, The Seattle Times, and Crosscut.com.

“It’s nice going down there and I can talk to Andrew Garber from The Seattle Times or anybody from these other newspapers that are used to UW students being down there and they can offer me advice,” Stampher said.

And the number one benefit of the program according to Stampher: hands-on reporting.

Register for the Spring Fundraiser here >>

The book cover photo is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

Alumnus Bob McChesney (B.A., 1986 and Ph.D., 1989), who was also inducted into the UW Communication Hall of Fame in 2010, has a new book out that is receiving national attention from scholars, tech-savvy individuals, and anyone concerned with the Internet.

Author of True Wealth Juliet Schor wrote, “A major new work by one of the nation’s leading analysts of media… A hard to put down, meticulously researched must-read.”

The book is titled “Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Away from Democracy.” McChesney described it as a “political economic examination of the digital revolution based upon 15 years of research” and the capstone of his career.

Written with the aim of helping scholars and citizens be informed participants of the potential of the digital revolution, editor of The Progressive Matthew Rothschild wrote, “With a panoramic sweep and profound insights, McChesney rings the alarm bells, showing clearly how capitalism is swallowing up the promise of the Internet. No one knows this field better than McChesney, and with this book, he has reached the pinnacle.”

“Digital Disconnect” is available at Powell’s Books or on Amazon.