Road Trip to Maverick

On October 30^th, our public relations class was given the opportunity to go on a field trip to meet the individuals who work at Maverick. We were introduced to three individuals during the meet and greet, Julie Rusciolelli, Jennifer Nebesky and Micha Goddard. Rusciolelli is the President of Marverick and she began her own company after gaining experience from National PR and Cohn and Wolfe. She began the meet and greet by telling us about crisis management and how at 7am in the morning she had received a client call about the crisis. Therefore, she was only there for a few minutes with us. She explained that this quiet normal and is something we will experience in the PR industry. She also shared a story about where the company name came from. Maverick is defined as being unbranded and it refers to a person that is independent from others in the group. Rusciolelli says that this is where the inspiration comes from, if the industry “Zigs” then Maverick is going to “Zag” in order to remain independent from the rest.   

Next we spoke with Nebesky, the Senior Vice President Client Services and Goddard, the Director of Integrated Consumer Marketing. Together, they discussed the importance of a good resume and making sure that is visually appealing to the employer. Nebesky also mentioned that it is important have a section that outlines key skills as well career objectives in order to help the employer understand if you are a good fit in the company. Some of Maverick’s clients include the Toronto Eaton Centre, Durex, and Cadillac Fairview. They also mentioned how Maverick was the company that released the announcement about Sears closing in the Eaton Centre because Sears is trying to determine what future direction they want to take. When asked what they found to be the best part of their job, Nebesky mentioned that she loves how everyone gets together to approach a problem or to brainstorm. She likes the team environment and making sure everyone is involved. She mentioned a story about her past job, where she got the all the departments in one room in order to brainstorm and the receptionist ended up having the best idea. She believes that everyone brings something to the company and you never know where a good idea may come from. Overall, the trip to Maverick was great and the students got to hear some great stories while munching on some delicious cookies!