When you find people you work well with, you want to make it last.  And when you find people who make your clients happy, you really want to make it last. At Tell Your Story, I’ve had the privilege of having two such people work side by side with me, Amanda Pollard and Nicole Benzer.  And it’s about time I recognized them properly!

Amanda Pollard has been promoted to Director, Content & Social Strategy. We have been on a fun journey so far, having first met when I was heading up and growing the Chicago office of what is now gyro. I introduced her to Twitter! True story. She was a skeptic then, but now she jokes she spends half her day on Twitter and the other social channels we use to tell our clients’ stories. She was my first full-time hire at Tell Your Story in 2011, and was an early new breed of public relations professional who understood the power of combining earned, owned and paid media to develop and share great stories. And she keeps getting better and broadening her story both professionally and personally.

Nicole Benzer has been promoted to Director, Digital Marketing. Amanda and I often say that we hit the jackpot when we hired Nicole, after reviewing more than 200 resumes back in early 2013.  Nicole hasn’t only mastered the role we hired her for – integrating traditional PR with social media community management – but she has taken herself and our small agency to the next level in developing crucial knowledge in the areas of paid social media, SEO and SEM, and our partnership with One North Interactive, providing a true digital marketing perspective to Tell Your Story and its clients.

I used to think titles weren’t that important, especially at a flexible, nimble (and small) agency like ours. But I was wrong. Titles are signals to the marketplace of what we are and what we do. It sets expectations and it puts pressure on those with titles to meet and exceed those expectations for professional success and personal fulfillment. Plus, new titles are deserved as people grow into new specializations and take on more responsibility. So, it is with this that I say congratulations to Amanda and Nicole, my team members that rock the house.  Give them a shout-out on Twitter at @apollard19 and @nicolebenzer.