New York native Adriana Ball is gearing up to graduate from Columbia’s part-time Strategic Communication M.S. program. With an extensive background in public relations, she shares how the program helped to elevate her career and to provide her with a toolbox of skills that has broadened her versatility in the field. Adriana is currently working at the financial technology startup DailyPay. She shares how she has always dreamed of the perfect Crisis Communications course and how she is now applying these new skills in her role.
Tell us about your current role at DailyPay.
I am a publicist at DailyPay, a financial technology company that provides on-demand pay solutions for enterprises. This is a startup that was founded in 2015 and is on a mission to change the financial system by rewriting the invisible rules of money. In my role, I work with a number of cross-functional teams, in addition to handling internal and external communications. Because of this, I am able to collaborate with various teams such as our sales, data, and our vastly diverse marketing team. My role is primarily focused on working with our partners to generate impactful press opportunities that speak to a B2B and B2C audience.
How do your classes at Columbia complement your career?
Columbia prepared me for my current role in every aspect. I come from an agency background and have represented a wide variety of clients. In those roles, I was only working with colleagues who were also public relations professionals. In my current role, I work with colleagues across many professions including finance, research, compliance, HR, and project management. Attending a program that encompasses all aspects of communications aside from what I was already familiar with, was really beneficial.
When I took on this new role at DailyPay in August of 2021, I felt comfortable with what I've learned and I have applied it to the work that I do now, especially the coursework in research and data analytics, behavioral science, and branding. So many of the classes were relevant to the work that I’m doing at DailyPay.
Is there any course you hold dear and would recommend for current and future students?
My absolute favorite class is Crisis Communications with Professor Andy Whitehouse. When I was an undergrad, I studied communications and always knew I wanted to work in public relations. I specifically loved the crisis communications aspect of it all, but I had never taken a class that simulated real-life experiences without actually being in the field.
I’ve always envisioned the perfect crisis communications course and everything I ever wanted was in Professor Whitehouse’s class. The work that he gave us is directly applicable to real-life situations and when I finished, I felt I had a new toolbox of skills that left me more prepared and far more comfortable to handle any situation.
Why did you choose the part-time path and how does it complement your career?
I chose the part-time path because it provided me the flexibility to continue working full-time while pursuing my master's degree. This was really important to me. The part-time program structures its curriculum to take place in the evening with classes between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. This allowed me to continue focusing on my professional career while pursuing higher education after hours. As a result of the pandemic, the majority of my program transitioned to synchronous online learning through Zoom.
How are you managing your time between work and classes?
As a full-time employee and part-time student, I spend my days at work and my evenings in class. I took three classes per semester which is an advanced version of the part-time curriculum; typically part-time students only take two classes per semester. With this, I had class on three weekday evenings and I completed a majority of the assignments and required readings on the weekend. While it requires time management, it's not impossible to balance work, life, and school.
All but one of my classes during the program were online. During the Fall of 2021, I had a class on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus. It was the first time I had to incorporate a commute into my workday schedule. Taking in-person courses is really nice because there's an interactive element to gathering in-person that you can't achieve on Zoom.
What advice would you give to incoming students?
Be open-minded. At some point in your career, different elements of the program will become applicable; maybe not all at once, but throughout. This program is strategic and exposes you to all different aspects of communications. A large part of the program encompasses teamwork because much of the work in the real world also involves working with other players on different teams so embrace that.
I would say the best part about the program is that we're in cohorts. The cohort becomes one network; the university another. And everything in-between essentially becomes your third network. Embrace it all.
