Andrea Abate
Zeno Group's Hidden Gem - 03/2015
Andrea Abate is a young and bright Senior Account Executive on the rise at the Zeno Group PR Firm in Chicago. She sat down to talk with me about her experiences as a college student, which eventually led to her landing a position at the Zeno Group. Sitting in the waiting room, I was amazed by the bright and vibrant color schemes. The office space was very inviting and welcoming. After I waited in the waiting-room for about two-minutes, Andrea came out and greeted me. Andrea gave me a tour of the office space where other PR workers, and assistants were working diligently. We went into one of the small conference rooms to begin the meeting. On a white-board were ideas for a company they are working closely with to promote a new drink.
“We draft press releases, media alerts, and pitches. Being a good writer is essential to succeed in PR,”” said Abate. Abate, 25, is a native of Cranston Island, New Jersey. She moved from New Jersey to Chicago in 2007 to attend DePaul University, where she majored in Public Relations and Advertising. While attending DePaul, Andrea had hopes to be an event planner, primarily focusing her skills towards wedding planning. It wasn’t until her third year as an undergraduate that she began networking with one of her associates, who was a senior. Her associate recommended she look into fields similar to those that piqued her interest. She researched programs that could be fulfilling and began taking classes that were career-related. After declaring PR as her major her third year of college, she created a path to her present.
“I was a junior and didn’t know what I wanted to major in,” said Abate. Networking led Abate in the direction of PR once she discovered there was an event component in PR. Ms. Abate graduated from DePaul in spring 2011 and started looking for work. Out of college and in need of a job, she began applying to internships just to get her foot in the door. She finally found out about an internship program The Zeno Group was offering, but it was a five month commitment. “I took the internship not wanting to, since it was post graduate,” said Abate. “But I knew I needed a foot in the door and PR is what I went to school for so I took it”. She applied for the position and was accepted and began receiving training in the area of PR, marketing, and advertising. During this internship, she assisted with creating national campaigns for different company’s events and assisted as the lead intern on several projects given to her. During her internship she worked on The Allstate Media Tour with Second City for teen driving. The tour was to provide adults with an evening out but to also stress the importance of teen driving safety.
“I had a lot of fun working on this event,” said Abate. “I was able to work with the media, pitch news consumers wanted to know about, and really get to understand the nature of the business,” said Abate. For Abate, this was one of her greatest accomplishments while working as an intern because she was able to take the lead on the project. She was required to identify venues, make sure there was enough food from catering companies and, and stuff gift bags. Upon doing well as an intern, Andrea was offered a position as an Assistant Account Executive and has been with the Zeno Group for 3 years to date. As an Assistant Account Executive, she was required to work closely with Account Executives, ensuring all work was completed in a timely manner, evaluating information for projects and programs, and managing assigned activities.
“I was learning the business and observing closely my superiors’ work trying to figure out how I could reach the next level,” said Abate. In this position Andrea was able to gain the skills needed for promotion to the next position. “I have grown tremendously while working here,” said Abate. Working hard, and showing perseverance has earned her promotions to Account Executive and now to Senior Account Executive. This position requires that she oversee the junior staff and report to her bosses, but also stay on top of what her clients need. As a Senior Account Executive, Andrea now has more responsibility to the Zeno Group, upholding its mission and purpose, but also to herself. “Now that I am mid-tier level I have more responsibility managing junior staff and manage up to senior leadership,” said Abate. She has worked diligently and earned herself a place within this company and aspires to continue to grow there.
In Andrea’s line of work, she has to create a professional relationship with all of her clients and assist them in marketing, promoting, and branding themselves and their company. She discussed how she learned to time manage between all her clients and make time for her personal life. “My focus here at Zeno Group is event and national media relations focus. Having to work 45-50 hours weekly, late nights, and sometimes weekends, I balance my work life and personal life by not responding back to emails after 8pm. I let my clients know that I will be unavailable past this time in order to maintain a professional relationship with them,” said Abate. This helps her to maintain time to get other work done. Ms. Abate works with clients are primarily focus on consumer products. Her clientele consists of Quaker, Allstate, and Dickies. She assists with their budget management, national media relations, press material development and results reporting. Her duties as their Account Executive are to assist with marketing their products and brand to the public. Doing so, she receives reviews on how the public feels about the products.
“Media changes immensely,” said Abate. This is the one thing that she said has definitely changed since she began working at Zeno group. Everything that was digital has now changed and advanced in many ways. Something Abate does constantly while working on social media sites for her clients is repurpose the content. “Since everything is now easily accessible to people through IPhones, Androids, and the internet, it is a MUST to stay on top of new technology and health stories,” said Abate. One thing that she hopes to get better at while working at Zeno Group is managing up and down equally. She is still working every day to become a better PR manager and continue to increase her skills. “For anyone interested in working in PR, I suggest they learn how to write! Writing will help them land internships, and internships will help them get their foot in door,” said Abate. Ms. Abate has accomplished a lot working at Zeno for three years and she has further to go. Be on the lookout for Andrea Abate, she is doing great things while working for Zeno Group. She is a name to remember: a rising star in the field.
“We draft press releases, media alerts, and pitches. Being a good writer is essential to succeed in PR,”” said Abate. Abate, 25, is a native of Cranston Island, New Jersey. She moved from New Jersey to Chicago in 2007 to attend DePaul University, where she majored in Public Relations and Advertising. While attending DePaul, Andrea had hopes to be an event planner, primarily focusing her skills towards wedding planning. It wasn’t until her third year as an undergraduate that she began networking with one of her associates, who was a senior. Her associate recommended she look into fields similar to those that piqued her interest. She researched programs that could be fulfilling and began taking classes that were career-related. After declaring PR as her major her third year of college, she created a path to her present.
“I was a junior and didn’t know what I wanted to major in,” said Abate. Networking led Abate in the direction of PR once she discovered there was an event component in PR. Ms. Abate graduated from DePaul in spring 2011 and started looking for work. Out of college and in need of a job, she began applying to internships just to get her foot in the door. She finally found out about an internship program The Zeno Group was offering, but it was a five month commitment. “I took the internship not wanting to, since it was post graduate,” said Abate. “But I knew I needed a foot in the door and PR is what I went to school for so I took it”. She applied for the position and was accepted and began receiving training in the area of PR, marketing, and advertising. During this internship, she assisted with creating national campaigns for different company’s events and assisted as the lead intern on several projects given to her. During her internship she worked on The Allstate Media Tour with Second City for teen driving. The tour was to provide adults with an evening out but to also stress the importance of teen driving safety.
“I had a lot of fun working on this event,” said Abate. “I was able to work with the media, pitch news consumers wanted to know about, and really get to understand the nature of the business,” said Abate. For Abate, this was one of her greatest accomplishments while working as an intern because she was able to take the lead on the project. She was required to identify venues, make sure there was enough food from catering companies and, and stuff gift bags. Upon doing well as an intern, Andrea was offered a position as an Assistant Account Executive and has been with the Zeno Group for 3 years to date. As an Assistant Account Executive, she was required to work closely with Account Executives, ensuring all work was completed in a timely manner, evaluating information for projects and programs, and managing assigned activities.
“I was learning the business and observing closely my superiors’ work trying to figure out how I could reach the next level,” said Abate. In this position Andrea was able to gain the skills needed for promotion to the next position. “I have grown tremendously while working here,” said Abate. Working hard, and showing perseverance has earned her promotions to Account Executive and now to Senior Account Executive. This position requires that she oversee the junior staff and report to her bosses, but also stay on top of what her clients need. As a Senior Account Executive, Andrea now has more responsibility to the Zeno Group, upholding its mission and purpose, but also to herself. “Now that I am mid-tier level I have more responsibility managing junior staff and manage up to senior leadership,” said Abate. She has worked diligently and earned herself a place within this company and aspires to continue to grow there.
In Andrea’s line of work, she has to create a professional relationship with all of her clients and assist them in marketing, promoting, and branding themselves and their company. She discussed how she learned to time manage between all her clients and make time for her personal life. “My focus here at Zeno Group is event and national media relations focus. Having to work 45-50 hours weekly, late nights, and sometimes weekends, I balance my work life and personal life by not responding back to emails after 8pm. I let my clients know that I will be unavailable past this time in order to maintain a professional relationship with them,” said Abate. This helps her to maintain time to get other work done. Ms. Abate works with clients are primarily focus on consumer products. Her clientele consists of Quaker, Allstate, and Dickies. She assists with their budget management, national media relations, press material development and results reporting. Her duties as their Account Executive are to assist with marketing their products and brand to the public. Doing so, she receives reviews on how the public feels about the products.
“Media changes immensely,” said Abate. This is the one thing that she said has definitely changed since she began working at Zeno group. Everything that was digital has now changed and advanced in many ways. Something Abate does constantly while working on social media sites for her clients is repurpose the content. “Since everything is now easily accessible to people through IPhones, Androids, and the internet, it is a MUST to stay on top of new technology and health stories,” said Abate. One thing that she hopes to get better at while working at Zeno Group is managing up and down equally. She is still working every day to become a better PR manager and continue to increase her skills. “For anyone interested in working in PR, I suggest they learn how to write! Writing will help them land internships, and internships will help them get their foot in door,” said Abate. Ms. Abate has accomplished a lot working at Zeno for three years and she has further to go. Be on the lookout for Andrea Abate, she is doing great things while working for Zeno Group. She is a name to remember: a rising star in the field.