Carrie Nelson
January 22, 2019
Carrie Nelson (2018)
Carrie Nelson is a former Midwesterner who now considers herself a bonafide desert rat living in Tucson, AZ. She is currently the Development Director of Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA) where she works a four day week, writes grants, uses power tools as often as possible, and tries to avoid rattlesnakes on her bike commute. She was recently described as “aggressively committed to her bedtime” and would like to have that engraved on her tombstone.
What year did you graduate and what was your concentration?
I graduated in 2012 with a concentration in Public Communication and minors in Political Communication and Photography.
What extra-/co-curricular activities did you do?
Like most Truman students and all 3’s on the Enneagram (Editor’s note: We didn’t know what this meant either), I tried to do everything I possibly could on as little sleep as possible. I was a member of Alpha Sigma Gamma and served on the executive board as the PR Chair. I was a founding member of the Communiversity Garden, a member of Students for Social Change, AD and PR Club, ECO Club, was in Lambda Pi Eta, and was a facilitator for Mass Communication.
I also had the distinct pleasure of working with fellow Communication Student Emily Lowndes as a co-assistant news director for KTRM for a semester where we did not break anything and made at least one friend at the radio station.
Carrie (left) and Emily “working” at KTRM-FM (2011).
Did you go to grad school? If so, where? Was it immediately after you left Truman or did you wait? Why?
I did not go to grad school and don’t have any current intentions, but who knows where life will take me in the next few years. For now, I’m content with the jobs I can do without more degrees and without having to learn to be a student again!
However, I didn’t immediately join the traditional work force after graduation, opting instead to do a year of volunteering with a non-profit through Mennonite Voluntary Service (a program adjacent to Americorps but with a broader commitment to living in community. No, Mennonites aren’t Amish). This was a bubble between college and entering the work force where I moved across the country to live with four strangers who were also volunteering full-time. My transportation, housing, and food were paid for by the program and through some fundraising I did on my own.
There are so many programs similar to the one I did that focus not only on non-profit work but community life and discernment. And no, I was not trying to convert anyone and I didn’t go door to door passing out Bibles.
Volunteering for a year helped me to build connections and work experience in a new place and it did eventually lead to a job, even though I was sure it wouldn’t. I truly think almost everyone should do a volunteer year to explore a community and world that is probably very different from their own. It is challenging and frustrating but also insanely rewarding and teaches you to be a better human and a better employee and a better problem solver.
What was your first job after graduation?
The first job I had after college was be a volunteer plumber/carpenter/electrician at Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA), a non-profit in Tucson, AZ that completes free emergency home repairs for low-income homeowners. As a 5-foot-tall woman who knew very little about power tools and had no idea what an evaporative cooler was, I was intimidated. But luckily CHRPA is safe place to learn. I was empowered by my own abilities and found joy in the absolute shock on client’s faces and Home Depot employees when I was the person sent to fix the floor. No, I did not need help loading that lumber onto my work van. I did not get paid to snake sewer lines, fix toilets, run electrical wire, replace furnaces, troubleshoot evaporative coolers, replumb trailers, build wheelchair ramps, or replace sections of rotted flooring, but I was gifted endless amounts of grace, homemade food, and stories of people’s lives.
Carrie handling power tools and fixing things (2018)!
The first job I got paid to do after graduation was work on a staff of two at a non-profit fair trade retail store, Ten Thousand Villages, in Champaign, IL. I organized schedules for 30 volunteer sales associates, trained volunteers, unpacked weekly orders and stocked shelves, wrote radio copy, worked with advertising representatives, and designed in-store signage. I also learned to count money very quickly, use a nine key, install security cameras, and run a successful non-profit while also working in the framework of a small business. I fell in love with fair trade coffee, skilled UPS workers, Excel spreadsheets, bank tellers, and the chaos of a retail Christmas (love is a word I can use now that I don’t listen to Christmas music for 9 hours a day).
What work do you do/What are you doing now?
I returned to Tucson in 2015 after being hired as the Development Director for CHRPA.
My days are varied between writing grants, dabbling in individual fundraising, developing new programs, acting as database administrator and IT person, keeping up with our alumni/volunteer network, designing print materials, posting on social media, reporting for all our federal/local grants, managing some client eligibility, occasionally getting out on job sites, and generally picking up any tasks that fall off of anyone else’s desks in this slightly (seriously) chaotic office. Everyday is different and everyday has a new and never ending to-do list.
How has your Liberal Arts/COMM education helped you?
Carrie (right) and Emily promote Lambda Pi Eta (the COMM honor society) through social media (2012).
My liberal arts degree prepared me for the multitude of tasks that fall onto my desk on any given day. Because I wasn’t on an exceptionally targeted career track, I learned a lot of different skills and interacted with lots of different people. Being able to quickly switch frames of mind between disciplines has served me well as I navigate the realities of working at small non-profits where everyone has to pitch in and learn and do other people’s jobs in addition to their own.
Having the flexibility and (stupid?) ambition to delve into the art world and the political world in addition to the communication world has really shaped the way I approach my work (everything is political and everything is a story) the jobs that I have sought out. A Liberal Arts degree helps you to merge all of your interests into one bizarre but fulfilling path of study and maybe even a career path.
Which class did you dislike at the time you took it, but now you’re grateful you took it?
I am grateful for the one class I got to take in the Visual Communication Department, Typography, because I learned so many graphic design skills that have been essential to my work designing promotional materials at both of my jobs. I worked super hard and wasn’t the best in the class. I was one of the only non Visual Communication majors, but it was a great experience and helped me gain confidence and expand my skill set. Plus, I learned all the words to “Aaron’s Party” while animating the lyrics,
Also, Communication Theory and Rhetorical Criticism set the stage for a lifelong obsession with analyzing everything and overthinking word choice.
What was your greatest accomplishment at Truman?
Figuring out a project that combined all three of my fields of study and realizing that I could do that in my career path. I had the opportunity to try my hand at photographing the Iowa Caucuses and then writing about that experience and trying to hypothesize about the media strategies of candidates. I then got to present that work on a panel at a conference in Cleveland. I still feel like I am still working towards that millennial dream of having a reasonable work life balance while doing work that is meaningful and suits my talents but having those things align for that project was a good start.
Carrie (left) with Dr. Yaquinto, Michael, and Cait in the Des Moines Convention Center during the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.
Or . . . creating the board game/Twitter game COMM Clue with fellow COMM Student Emily Lowndes during COMM Week 2012 will always be in my top ten greatest accomplishments. That and sneaking a 10 lb. box of chocolates into a study room at the library while studying for a COMM Theory exam (check out @COMMclue on Twitter).
What would you say a COMM student should absolutely do while at Truman?
Everything! Truman offers so many activities and clubs and opportunities while also being insanely supportive of your new ideas, successes, and failures. The more you can learn and do and the more people you can build relationships with, the better you will be when you leave college. I remember watching students from big universities sit at lunch counters eating during the Iowa Caucuses while we climbed around and took photos of candidates and wrote broadcast stories and had passes to the Google lounge. I was so glad to be a Truman student.
Why is Truman a good place for a student to study?
Carrie with Dr. Yaquinto (left) and Dr. Self (right) at graduation (2012).
Truman is a good place to study because it is small enough that your professors will know you and care about you, but big enough to keep meeting new people and being challenged by the subject matter.
As I was planning for my last semester at Truman, it became apparent that I would not be able to complete both of my minors because the two last classes I needed overlapped. After crying in a Hy-Vee, I talked to both my photography professor, and my communication professors (Dr. Self and Dr. Yaquinto) and we worked out a solution where I would attend parts of both classes as long as I turned in all my assignments and was able to keep up with the classwork. Splitting times between Ophelia Parrish Hall and Barnett Hall was not ideal (let me be one more voice in the campaign to convince/reassure people that it is a very far walk – Editor’s note: It really isn’t), but it all worked out. But I doubt these concessions would have been made to help me at a larger school.
Plus, you will absolutely meet the people who will help you make hard decisions over pizza/beer, edit your emails/everything you write, and who you will text every day (CHEESY FRIEND ALERT). Truly, the best people, both professors and students, are at Truman.
What advice would you give someone who wants to go into the same line of work as you?
Carrie at a pitch competition (2016). Click on the picture to see the video!
Do something that feels totally outside of the path of your planned career trajectory. Be a plumber for a year, or get a job reading books to kids, or work in a homeless shelter, just pick a non-profit you care about and get involved in any way you can. Be ready to work hard and probably be tired.
I have found that many people in Development didn’t take a direct route to this career path. The people who I know who enjoy their jobs and do exceptional work have a direct connected to a cause or have participated in direct service work. Writing about helping people is great, but having your own stories about real people you have met and know will make your writing much stronger. Find something you love to do, or a population you want to help and chances are you will be asked to fund-raise for it.
Development is all about learning to tell effective stories; it is a total show don’t tell moment (Media Writing reference). Every year, I publish an 80 page book of stories and photos that is 1000x more convincing that any profit and loss or grant proposal at saying why our organization exists and why our work matters.
Oh, also — get a standing desk. I spend about 9.25 hours of my 10 hour days in front of a computer and would lose my mind and my ability to walk if I had to sit all day.
What do you miss most about campus/Kirksville?
I miss having all of my friends and all of the things to do within walking distance! Tucson is not a huge city, but it is a sprawling city and I have to do so much planning to see people and get places. Small town living was not always my dream, but I also miss being able to be in the country after a 10 minute run or 5 minute bike ride.
Also, I miss my home away from homes: Barnett and Pickler Memorial Library.
Home. Sweet. Home. Barnett Hall
What tag line would you create for the COMM department at Truman?
I have to second Cait Bladt’s tagline: “COMM: You Get Out Of It What You Put Into It.”
Super catchy. #COMMygooiwypii. She has my vote.
If you could come back to Truman and teach a class for a semester, what would be its title and what would it be about?
ALL I WANT TO DO IS WATCH TELEVISION AND TALK ABOUT IT: A guide to connecting to people through pop culture. Also, have you SEEN the latest season of Big Brother?
Look, I don’t like movies, so let’s watch more TV and let’s talk about it. There is so much good rhetoric to analyze in both scripted and “unscripted” television. I managed to write an entire paper analyzing a couple of episodes of Arrested Development, so this could totally be a class. Plus, I bet everyone would do the reading…I mean…watching.
If you would like to learn more of Carrie’s story, you can follow her on Instagram or you can check out CHRPA’s Instagram and Facebook pages.