A Day in the Life

By Nicole PitaroJune 1, 2015

The alarm goes off at: 5:30 AM. And then again at 5:45. Then 5:55. Then 6:00. Then 6:05…let’s just say I know my way around a snooze button.

I start my day by: Working out in the Bhava gym, or as I’ve affectionately come to call this, “Watching Bhava’s managing director and fitness extraordinaire Amber complete her intense workout routine while I goof around with a couple of weights and maybe jog on the treadmill.” But in all seriousness, I do love to start my morning with endorphins from a good sweat session.

First thing I do at work to start my morning at Bhava: Coffee. And food. And then more coffee.

A typical morning as an AE looks like: Barring any urgent tasks that arise, the first part of my day consists of reading the day’s headlines in search of news hooks that could be an opportunity for my clients, responding to any emails that came through overnight, organizing my inbox, scanning any alerts that have come through for possible client coverage and crafting a tentative to-do list for the day. I usually have at least one client sync or internal touchbase every morning, so a portion of my time is often dedicated to preparing for those, whether it’s crafting an agenda, reviewing a deck we are about to present or organizing talking points on my completed action items. And no morning would be complete without a pit stop in the fully stocked Bhava kitchen for a snack.

For lunch, I…: Pig out – whether that means hitting up Farley’s for a coffee and a big salad, checking out the food trucks around the corner on Hollis, making a quick drive over to Berkeley Bowl, grabbing some Thai food with one of my teams or raiding the Bhava fridge for a burrito and other snacks.

Back to PR for the afternoon. What does an ideal afternoon look like?: My afternoons can involve anything from crafting a rapid-response pitch for an afternoon breaking news story and building a list of media targets, to managing a proactive pitching effort and crafting an abstract for an upcoming client speaking opportunity. No two days are ever the same in PR, so I do my best to power through my action items as soon as I get them in order to leave time for any unexpected projects that crop up.

My favorite mid-afternoon pick-me-up is: a trip to Starbucks and a quick browsing of BuzzFeed or Imgur for something to give me a good laugh.

I wrap up my work day by… reviewing my to-do list to make sure my deliverables are complete for the day. I also love getting my inbox down to as few emails as possible and starting my to-do list for the following day so I feel organized.

After work, I might head out into nearby Oakland, Berkeley or San Francisco to: Try a new restaurant, go bowling, attend happy hour or play tennis. Most of my time outside of work revolves around spending time with friends and either a) eating or b) exercising.

Best part of being an AE at Bhava Communications: Feeling totally trusted to take on new, challenging projects, and feeling empowered by my colleagues and the resources available to me to tackle these challenges fearlessly. I love that even at such a relatively early stage of my career, I get the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone daily and contribute to bigger picture strategic projects. There are even some projects I get to own pretty much soup to nuts. I always feel like I have the support behind me to deliver incredible results, even when I’m undertaking a task that is somewhat or completely foreign to me.

What have you accomplished that has surprised you? The leadership team at Bhava has done an incredible job of knowing when to hold my hand, and when to let me take a challenging project and run with it. From day one, I’ve been surprised at the things I am capable of doing–everything from grasping the heftiest of B2B technologies and crafting pitches, press releases and other content around them, to contributing to developing and executing strategic, big picture plans for proactive pitching, social media campaigns and launches.

What advice would you give to someone at this stage in their career? Ask for feedback early and often. I’m blessed to work at Bhava where the lines of communication are always open and my teammates are amazing at providing honest critiques and kudos that help me develop on a daily basis. Wherever you are, it is important to ask for feedback from both your managers and your peers, so you can be cognizant of the areas where you are excelling and the areas where you need to practice and perfect. Don’t ever shy away from hearing constructive criticism. Though it can sometimes be tough to hear, it ultimately makes you into a better PR professional!

What do you like to do to contribute to Bhava’s culture? The best thing about Bhava’s culture is that you can incorporate whatever your interests or passions are into the team activities. For instance, I’m a total bowling nerd, so I like to “get the ball rolling” (yikes) and organize Bhava bowling outings at Plank in Oakland. I’m also passionate about fitness so I like to participate in any of the number of fitness-related programs or challenges that Bhava is constantly implementing.

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