SERRIA THOMAS - Sr. PR Manager, Winky Lux
Serria is the senior public relations manager at Winky Lux, the social media manager at 23&9 Creative, and a standup comedian and writer at comedy clubs all over NYC—when there isn’t a global pandemic happening, of course. She spends a lot of time writing, pitching and selecting dynamic, thoughtful and enticing stories that elevate the companies she works for. Whether she’s building a PR department from the ground up or making people laugh on and offline, Serria does it all with wit, enthusiasm and the desire to always keep learning.
The Basics:
Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN
Current city: New York, NY
Alma mater: Ball State University
Degree: B.S., Public Relations
Very first job: Hostess at a local restaurant
Hustle: Sr. Public Relations Manager, Winky Lux; Social Media Manager, 23&9 Creative; Comedian + Writer
The Interests:
Babe you admire and why?
I was raised by extraordinary women who are my favorite babes. My grandma, my mom and my aunt are inspiring people—they are hard-working and smart and kind; traits that I’ve tried to absorb personally and professionally. They’re wildly supportive and have made huge impacts on my PR career growing, my side hustles bustling and my comedy career blossoming. I think having a genuinely supportive community who loves you AND pushes you can really make a huge difference in career development.
Favorite comedian (past and/or present)?
Taylor Tomlinson is a favorite of mine—she’s young and funny and so relatable. I feel like we’d be friends in real life. Michelle Buteau is also a favorite of mine—she’s super positive on stage which you don’t see a ton, especially in female comedians! I absolutely adore John Mulaney and Nate Bargatze—they both have their own very distinct and genuine way of telling stories, and that’s my favorite version of comedy.
Favorite internet rabbit hole?
I’m typically scrolling pretty deep into Twitter, since it has a great combo of real news and great comedy, but since the pandemic started I’ve been more into TikTok—and what a rabbit hole that can be! I spend hours watching the falls and learning the dances and laughing at the trends. I’ve made a good chunk myself, and one of them even went viral(ish), so that’s kind of been my biggest achievement of the quarantine.
The Hustle:
Tell us about your hustle.
My main hustle at Winky Lux is incredibly busy, but so much fun! Winky Lux is a cosmetics brand that brings beauty lovers together with happier healthier products that delight every sense. As the Senior PR Manager, my job is to secure stories in the media about the brand, product and executive team. I spend my days doing everything from pitching exciting new product launches and sending samples to editors and reporters, to coordinating podcast interviews for the CEO and managing any crisis that might come up. I also manage a PR agency and work with our social media team to ensure messaging about the brand is cohesive. Basically, it’s my job to make sure the public knows all the exciting things we’re working on at Winky Lux and understands what the brand is about!
My side hustles are a bit more flexible. 23&9 Creative is a creative business (run by a babe who really hustles, Chelsea Kardokus!) that designs custom websites and templates, so my job is to showcase who she is on her Instagram and show off her services via Pinterest—it’s a lot of writing fun captions and selecting perfect imagery.
As a standup comedian, I’m writing all the time! I keep a notebook around and jot down jokes that come to me throughout the day and try to dedicate a little time each day to sit down and write—sometimes that results in great jokes and sometimes that results in a bunch of jokes that aren’t funny at all! I also spend time writing blogs to make people giggle, and other forms of comedy like satire.
Prior to Winky Lux, you were the first PR Manager for the UNTUCKit. What was your process for building the entire PR function from the ground up?
Starting at UNTUCKit was an exciting challenge! I knew what it took to get press coverage and keep the lights on, but it took a lot of big picture thinking to step back and think about how I wanted the full function to look. I made decisions on processes to work with the full marketing team, I met with C-Suite executives to determine what results they wanted to see, I created annual and quarterly strategies for myself and our agencies. It was a combination of knowing what the long-term goals were for the PR department and taking the short-term steps to get there. At Winky Lux, I’m taking a similar approach. Creating a PR function from the bottom-up gives you the liberty to make it operate exactly how you want it to, and the flexibility to change and shift when you think something needs tweaked.
When did you decide to pursue comedy professionally? What challenges did you face when starting out?
I’ve always had a passion for comedy but have never really understood how to pursue it. I’ve always been told I’m funny and I love late night and stand-up, but until a few years ago I didn’t have any idea how to make it happen. I started with taking classes at clubs and going to open mics, and from there it’s been making friends in the comedy community and continuing to find my voice. The biggest challenge to begin with was getting past the feeling of “I’ve never done this before!” Any time you try something new, you’ve never done it before, so I just worked hard to push past that feeling and get to “I do this now, and I’m learning more about it,” so it felt less like a dream or hope and more like my reality and my life.
How do you balance your careers while allocating time to invest in your passion for comedy?
Balancing full time jobs with side hustles is always tough. For me, I try to dedicate time when I know I feel most creative to focus on my comedy—and that happens to be first thing in the morning. I like to start my day with jokes and laughing, then head into my day job in a better mood. Sometimes (a lot of times, actually!) that doesn’t happen, so it’s a matter of making sure my main career tasks at hand are taken care of and completely finished, so I don’t feel guilty for spending a little time on my passion project later in the week.
How have your past professional and academic experiences and lessons prepared you for the work you do today? How have they not prepared you?
College did prepare me to be a professional—not necessarily academically, but socially. Like so many students, I did a million activities and projects and classes and group functions. Turns out, it prepared me very well for the hectic and ever-changing day-to-day work I do now. My first “big kid” job was at a PR agency called Derris, and that played a huge role in preparing me for my internal PR jobs. The agency taught me process and teamwork, which are skills that allowed me to join an internal marketing team with ease. It also taught me how to build relationships and what is newsworthy, which gave me the framework to build my own internal PR function first at UNTUCKit and now at Winky Lux. All that said, there is only so much a class or job can prepare you for. A ton of my current skill set I’ve learned on the job, in the weeds, getting my hands dirty—there are some skills and problem solving that just can’t be taught until you’re doing them!
How has being a woman impacted your professional experiences? What can we collectively do to support and empower women in your industry today?
In the early days of my career, I benefited by being a woman because I worked in PR alongside so many other women who were smart and driven and thoughtful teachers. It made me a better professional and smarter publicist, in large part because it was naturally #womensupportingwomen (which we love!) However, as I’ve grown and developed, I’ve had to face new challenges as a woman in the workplace. I work with larger teams who aren’t all women and who aren’t all focused on teaching me—which means I spend a lot more time advocating for why my knowledge and recommendations are valid, versus just doing the job I’m qualified to do. A great place to start with empowering women is giving them the immediate validation and support so often given to men who make decisions in the workplace. It’s not just about titles and paychecks, it’s often about letting women make the calls and backing their plans, rather than questioning them. And that goes double for women of color.
What’s the gender ratio like in your industries? Do you see it evolving? Why or why not?
PR is predominantly women, but I do think there’s a growing male presence in the industry. When it comes to comedy, the industry is widely known to be dominated by men. Comedy is a field run by gatekeepers and club bookers and managers, so many of which are men who are used to hiring men. It has become a cycle over the years that makes it tougher for women to break in, which results in fewer of us being out there and getting noticed. I do see and meet a lot of women on the scene who are finally being seen and respected, bit by bit, so I really hope the industry continues to move in that direction.
What’s one thing you’re proud to have accomplished in your career so far?
I’m proud of running an entire PR function on my own, not once but twice! It’s a huge responsibility that so many people don’t get the opportunity to do at my age. I am lucky to have gotten the opportunities I have, but I am also incredibly proud of myself for taking those opportunities and turning them into successes and learnings.
Who are some women in your field that you look to for inspiration?
When it comes to PR, I look to my peers, honestly! There are a lot of successful publicists running massive company communications and managing celebrities, but the ones I trust and call when I have questions are my peers. They are smart and informed professionals who have always been available to talk through an idea or concern with me—and that is inspiring to someone like me, who is running a department alone.
Career and/or life advice for other babes?
Network, network, network! I know this is advice that everyone gives, but I’ve seen first hand the success of networking. The only reason I got my first PR job in New York was due to an intern manager I had in college. I’ve gained new friends who are technically competitors, but understand my day-to-day work. My newest gig at Winky Lux only came to me because of a woman I interviewed with last year who didn’t hire me, but remembered how smart and capable she thought I was during the process.
It’s not about just finding a person to move you forward, it’s about building a community—people to celebrate with, to recommend you for open jobs, to complain to, and to review your work is what makes a job more fun to do and a career easier to develop.
I’ve found the same thing to be important when it comes to a side hustle like comedy. I seek out other funny women who I see at shows, I connect with smart women on Twitter whose writing I respect—then I blind DM and email them to get a drink or ask to take a look at my work or just let them know I think they’re awesome.
Meet people in your industry, meet people in new industries, meet people who compete with you, meet people smarter than you, look for a mentor, look for a mentee. I can’t recommend building a network enough because it just has served me so well!
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