Get To Know Me
If you had told me 10 years ago, I would be pursuing a degree and a job in Communications and Marketing I would have laughed in your face. Like most precocious 10-year-olds I had limitless ambition, far too much faith in my mathematical abilities, and a steadfast belief that if I put my mind to something, I could do anything. I wanted to be a chemist and invent the cure for type 1 diabetes. My family has a history of the disease and I wanted to figure out how to stop it. Then high school chemistry happened, and I realized performing stoichiometry for the rest of my life would be fighting God. Upper-level math and I are not, and will never be, friends.
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Jokes aside, with my only dream crushed, I had no idea what to do with my life. I loved theater but I knew there wasn't any money in it, and the only other passion in my life was reading. Then, junior year, my high school guidance counselor suggested I take "Newspaper" to fill an elective hole in my schedule. I immediately fell in love.
When it came time to pursue a degree, I accepted an invitation to study at Salisbury University in the fall of 2018. I majored in Communications and picked up a minor in Marketing Management. I found through my studies that while I enjoyed giving other's a voice and learning the intricacies of a story, I much preferred standing behind a cause I believed in- rather than constantly searching for a scandal. This segued me into marketing and my current career path. My background in journalism is as integral to my marketing style as my formal education in business and I've found that marrying the two together has given myself and my employers an edge over the rest.
This website is my portfolio of what I have accomplished throughout my career, and I hope you can experience the same joy exploring these pages as I did creating the content you see here.
-Gillian Keirn
Experience
Marketing Specialist- Content Revenue, The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 2024 - Present
Responsible for supporting audience growth and engagement while generating revenue for a full suite of content products. Primary responsibilities include developing and executing integrated multi-effort marketing and awareness campaigns to grow circulation, managing products across various platforms, and overseeing the reporting and analysis of on and offline marketing programs.
Booktok Creator, Self Employed
March 2023- Present
While unpaid, this is a passion project of mine that allows me to flex my marketing muscles "pro bono" for indie and major publisher signed authors alike.
Marketing Coordinator, ISEC, Inc
May 2022- February 2024
Creating and upholding the national brand through collateral and speech, supporting the sales team on bid documents, proposals, and client relations, and maintaining national databases. Orchestrating client and corporate events and building east coast marketing vendor relations while building our stellar reputation to span across the Midwest. During my tenure I have supported the corporate social media team where my strategies and content more than tripled our engagement across all platforms, and more than doubled our click-through-rate.
Small Business Owner, JessAndGeorge- Etsy
September 2023- January 2024
This is my small sticker business that I run on Etsy. It is another of my creative outlets that allows me to keep my graphic design and editing skills up to date.
Intern, Weinberg Center for the Arts
May 2021 - August 2021
Planning, Designing, and Publishing social media campaigns, Copywriting for theater publications, and engaging in community outreach projects.
Sales Associate, The UPS Store
November 2018 - Present
Assisting in growing and serving the loyal clientele of the business, causing the Salisbury store to report the highest numbers of drop off packages in the region in 2019, and 2021.
Marketing and PR, South Carroll Stagelighters
August 2018-May 2018
producing, publishing, and networking through the community to promote our theater troop's shows. Runner up Best Marketing and Public Relations, CAPPIES of Baltimore, 2018.
Education
Formal and Certificates
August 2018- December 2021
B.A. Communications , Salisbury University
August 2014- May 2018
Diploma, South Carroll High School
2023
Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-Commerce, Google Career Certificates
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."