Today we’d like to introduce you to Alessandra Gonzales.
Alessandra, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in business. I never thought I’d be working in public relations, but it’s the things we least expect that we end up falling in love with. I started my career from the bottom as an intern grabbing coffee and helping out where needed, and then over the course of the years, I transitioned into different roles with more responsibilities. My determination to be the best version of myself led me to where I am today, as a Senior Account Director at Carve Communications.
Working my way up to my current leadership role taught me to have an understanding of the obstacles and struggles one experiences while trying to move forward in their career. I am grateful for the opportunity to provide insights into real life experiences, helping my team members navigate through their roles to grow.
Over eight years, I’ve been able to develop my expertise in the U.S., European and Latin American communications landscape, bringing forth my knowledge and experience in media relations, thought leadership, social media, and event management.
I also love helping clients uncover, create and amplify their brand stories, set up and manage news opportunities, and conduct goal-oriented campaigns.
I have created an expansive portfolio of working with world-renowned brands, including Spotify, Walmart, Mozilla, Sonova, FlashParking, eMerge Americas, among many others. My team’s work has been recognized by the SABRE Awards, a recognition on behalf of Spotify, for Best Latin America Consumer Marketing Program. The SABRE Awards is the world’s biggest PR awards program, dedicated to benchmarking the best PR work from across the globe.
In addition, my ability to speak three languages, English, Spanish, and Italian, has been an enormous asset throughout my career.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’d be lying if I said it’s been a smooth road but that’s part of life and it’s the way we choose to deal with situations that matters. I personally take them as lessons so I can continue to grow and be a mentor to other women who have faced the same setbacks in whichever industry they are in. Throughout my career in male dominated companies, it was extremely hard for my female perspective to be heard. I’ve had situations where I would lead efforts and others would take credit. I am very appreciative of those struggles because they made me grow as a professional and I am now at a company that looks at me for my ideas and takes into consideration what should be done for different clients’ campaigns. Never be afraid to speak up. No idea is ever a bad one because it’s a starting point where your team can offer constructive criticism and it can actually turn out to be the most successful.
Please tell us about Carve Communications.
As the Senior Account Director at Carve Communications, an award-winning Miami based PR agency that exists at the intersection of technological innovation and real life, I work closely with co-founders David Barkoe and Moon Vitiello to offer clients a unique blend of strategy, industry knowledge, execution and narrative development to deliver PR results and drive business value.
Carve is unique compared to other Miami PR firms, as we focus on technology startups and companies, working not only with local clients but clients located throughout the U.S. and even globally. The agency’s focus is on generating awareness, driving engagement and fostering activation for our clients through media relations, thought leadership, advocate marketing and digital media strategies. Specifically, my team is responsible for enterprise clients as well as consumer brands.
In my leadership role, I take pride in the company culture. When hiring, both Vitiello and Barkoe not only look the best in the business but those that will fit well into the team they have carefully built. From my perspective, keeping employees happy is key as they contribute to the company’s growth – the business and personal balance is real at Carve Communications. Just a few examples include “Take-out Tuesdays,” where the company buys lunch weekly, Friday’s we close at 3 pm, as well as have unlimited vacation and sick days. Vitiello and Barkoe have done an excellent job at keeping an open door policy where employees are not afraid to voice their concerns, whether it be on an account or something personal going on. As long as the employees get the job done well, there are incentives and opportunities to grow.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I definitely would have liked to have more confidence earlier on in my career and not allowed others to tell me I was not prepared to take on certain tasks. Nowadays, I’m actually thankful for that because I turned it into motivation to prove them wrong. I’m now in a leadership role at only the age of 30 working with clients in the male dominated tech industry. We need more women in the tech space to empower other women and I am happy to be in a position where I can now serve as an inspiration.
I compare myself to where I was when I first started and where I am today, and I feel extremely accomplished with my decision not to allow those comments to affect me, but rather put me at the forefront of the industry. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t always room for more growth. The best advice I can give is always to take constructive criticism as a positive thing because it will help you in the long run to become a better leader and expert, no matter the industry you are in.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3050 Biscayne Blvd, Suite 502
Miami, FL 33137 - Website: www.carvecomms.com
- Phone: 786-337-3026
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carvecomms/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/carve-communications-inc-/
Suggest a story: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
