Are you good with people? Interested in marketing? Love social media? Then you’ll love our Spotlight on Annie Dreshfield, a Scrippsie whose hybrid job includes PR, social media, and community management at Nextdoor.com, the ‘private social network for your neighborhood’!
SCRIPPS PROFESSIONALS NETWORK: So what was your life at Scripps like?
ANNIE: I went to Scripps partially because I fell in love with the campus the first time I ever saw it (while visiting my brother for his first Parent’s Weekend at CMC), but also because I knew I could receive the education I wanted. I knew I was going to study writing and even though that would require self-designing a major, I realized that I was excited by the chance to design my own major. When I sat down to talk to my advisor, Kimberly Drake, early my first year, she asked me about any other topics I’d be interested in studying, and I chose media studies. I’d obviously grown up with the internet, but I’d also grown up playing video games and participating in online fan fiction communities. I wanted to somehow work that into my education and possibly a job after college. I ended up self-designing a major called Creative Writing for Contemporary Media, which was basically a writing major fused with media studies, specifically new media and digital media theory.
Self-designing a major completely shaped my education and time at Scripps, and I couldn’t be more thankful that I was not only allowed, but encouraged to take part in determining my own education. I ended up writing my thesis on online fan fiction communities, which was surreal – if I’d told my younger self that I would be penning a 100+ page research paper on my hobby in college, I probably wouldn’t have believed it!
Outside of my studies, I participated on the editorial boards for both the Scripps College Journal and Passwords, two literary magazines at the Colleges, rode with and eventually captained the Claremont Equestrian Team, served on the Educational Policy Committee with the Board of Trustees, worked in the IT office and Career Planning and Resources office, and contributed articles to the Office of Communications and Marketing, in addition to having a few remote, part-time internships.
Nextdoor is the private social network for you, your neighbors and your community. It’s the easiest way for you and your neighbors to talk online and make all of your lives better in the real world. And it’s free.
SPN: What do you do for Nextdoor?
ANNIE: I work on the communications team at Nextdoor, which handles all public relations for the company. Personally, I also run social media for Nextdoor, develop our blog, and also do various community management tasks for our members around the country. It’s quite the hybrid role, like most jobs at start-ups, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every hour is different, which is both exciting and challenging. Any given day, I’m involved with media relations, pitching journalists, drafting blog posts, running social media contests, or helping our members build the best communities they can. At start-ups, you have to be working for a company that is building a product you believe in, and I absolutely believe in Nextdoor. I’ve heard incredible stories from our members about how Nextdoor has helped them bring back a sense of community to their neighborhoods, whether it’s finding a lost pet or a missing child, coming together to help a neighbor in times of need, or simply organizing a block party or barbecue. It’s inspiring, and honestly thrilling to be a part of.
SPN: How did you get involved in the tech startup scene?
ANNIE: I started looking for internships my first year at Scripps, and I approached it much like I approached self-designing my major: I knew I wanted to write, the only question was how and where. I narrowed my focus to tech companies, since I was obviously interested in the field, and tried to find creative positions. My first internship was in the spring of my first year at Scripps, where I worked remotely to run the blog and social media for a newly-launched business, Savvy Cinderella, which was a kind of Craigslist for brides.
I knew I wanted in-office experience for my next internship, so I started looking for positions in the Bay Area that were also writing-focused and at companies that had interesting products that I believed in and used. I found an unpaid community management internship – another hybrid role consisting of customer support, marketing, and editorial work – for a small company called Livefyre in San Francisco. With the help of a grant from Career Planning & Resources, I was able to move to the Bay Area for the summer to work for them.
At that time, Livefyre had built a real-time commenting platform for blogs, which elevated the act of commenting on blog posts to actual, immediate conversations that also pulled in conversations from social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The first day of that internship, the company was about twenty people. We were all crammed into a converted studio apartment. I learned so much at Livefyre that summer, from working directly with customers around the world to deliver the best commenting experience possible, to how to craft a blog post our customers would engage with and respond to, to how to build a pitch deck for the CEO.
The summer after my junior year, I returned to Livefyre for a paid internship that incorporated more customer strategy work, hybridizing the role further. By that time, the company had basically doubled. Once again, I found myself immersed in all things community management, social media, and digital marketing.
The Working Wardrobe is a news site dedicated to styles and accessories for the office, how-to’s, inspiration from what others wear to work, and how to put outfits together that are not only appropriate for the workplace, but also complement your own personality.
SPN: Can you tell me about your work on TheWorkingWardrobe?
ANNIE: I actually met the Editor-in-Chief of TheWorkingWardrobe, Rachel Yeomans, through Livefyre. She was one of the users I worked with daily. I’m a huge fan of all things fashion and beauty, so it felt more like play than work to be participating on a fantastic blog about fashion in the workplace. After I left my second internship at Livefyre, Rachel asked me if I’d like to be a contributor for TheWorkingWardrobe while I was at Scripps, and I happily agreed!
I still write for TheWorkingWardrobe to this day as their Lead Contributor, which is a blast. There’s nothing quite like combining several of your favorite passions – for me, it’s writing, fashion, and start-ups – into one. TheWorkingWardrobe is an incredible suite of publications and I’m lucky to contribute in my own small way.
SPN: Do you have any advice for current Scrippsies who want to work in tech, but not necessarily purely programming or engineering?
ANNIE: First of all – do not be discouraged when you attend tech career fairs and it feels like no one wants to talk to you. I marched into Harvey Mudd’s career fair armed with my resume and a smile. I must have talked to two dozen representatives, and almost every single one of them turned me away because they weren’t looking for marketing or community management candidates. Remember, though: all it takes is one person. One recruiter happily told me that she wasn’t really looking for someone with my skill set, but she would pass along my resume. That one conversation led to dozens of interviews at that company and a trip to San Francisco to interview at their headquarters. It was a valuable experience and an eye-opener for me.
My main advice would be to focus on building specific, applicable skills that any company would find valuable, and look carefully for positions where your skill set would be highly valued. I knew that I wanted to work in tech, but I also knew that I had skills that were not as highly in-demand as programming, in one of the most competitive industries in the world, so I researched every other position I could possibly do. It’s important to remember that start-ups are indeed businesses – that means that they’ll eventually need HR, marketing, public relations, recruiting, sales, and so much more. There are plenty of opportunities out there, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Know how you can contribute to a company and make it clear to them, and you’ll be valued, even if you don’t know a lick of Python.
And one last piece of advice: use the Scripps network, as well as the Claremont Colleges network, to your advantage. Attend the trainings, lectures, and workshops at Career Planning and Resources. Head in for personal sessions with a career counselor to start yourself off on the right foot. I went in for resume and cover letter help while I was a student, and I certainly wouldn’t have had my first in-office internship in San Francisco without the help of a grant from CP&R. Throughout my senior year, I tried to be as prepared as possible for the entire process, from applying to jobs, to networking, to navigating final interviews. I worked with a Scripps alumna, who is a recruiter for tech companies, to determine how to negotiate based on my past experience. There are plenty of women who are here to help you on your journey – we know it’s a tough one, but it’s rewarding in the end.
On that note, feel free to email me if you’d like to connect: [email protected]. I’d be happy to help Scripps students trying to work in tech in whatever way I can. And if you’re ever in San Francisco, come say hi!