WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Former National President Combines PR
and Health Care Careers
Five Entrepreneurial Secrets to
Catapulting Your Career
BY HANNAH HOCK BY BEN BUTLER, APR
PRSSA played a large role
in the life of Adam Aisner
during his college years. Be-
fore serving as the PRSSA
2011–2012 National Presi-
dent, he joined the Nation-
al Committee as the vice
president of advocacy while
attending Hawaii Pacific Uni-
versity. Aisner has a unique
twist in his story though. He
has taken the skills he learned
as a communications profes-
sional and is now applying
them in the medical field. His
public relations talents allow
him to better communicate
with patients and between
professionals for hospitals.
Hannah Hock, a junior at
Liberty University and cre-
ative director of the Liberty
University PRSSA Chapter,
connected with Aisner and
asked him about his experi-
ence in PRSSA and how it led
him to his career today. Life is all about playing to
win or playing not to lose.
I founded Top Hat — an
integrated marketing com-
munications agency in Pitts-
burgh — in 2013, as a senior
in college. It was a decision
to play to win. It was risky,
especially since I graduated
with my survival and coffee
addiction hinging on the suc-
cess of the agency.
Four years, countless cli-
ents, some awards and one
major brand evolution later,
we have not just my, but our
entire team’s coffee addic-
tion comfortably supported.
And a bit of success too, I
guess.
Here are five entrepre-
neurial secrets that catapult-
ed Top Hat and can catapult
your career too — whatever
your goals may be.
Take measured risks.
Starting the agency was
just the first risk. There
were, and still are, plenty
more risks that come along
the way — from taking on
that scary large client to hir-
ing a new team member.
As a young communica-
tions professional, there are
plenty of opportunities to
take risks. Maybe yours is
starting that agency too, or
going for that dream job or
internship. If you can learn
to embrace measured risks,
you’ll begin to rapidly feel
the acceleration in your ca-
reer.
Instead of filling out that
online job application, po-
litely invite the president
of the company to lunch
(and pay for it). Rather than
searching for internships,
consider creating your own
opportunity by pitching your
skillset to local businesses.
Regardless of fear, reach out
to larger-than-life profes-
sionals and ask if they can
offer you a few pointers over
coffee. The only limitation is
your imagination.
Understand how busi-
ness works.
We live in a moment when
it is more important than
ever to understand how busi-
ness works. In order for com-
municators to gain a seat at
the leadership table, we must
know relevant business acu-
men. We need to understand
what we’re doing and how it
affects the bottom line, and
we need to understand where
that bottom line comes from.
It doesn’t matter what
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Q: How did you get in-
volved in PRSSA?
A: During my first year at
Hawaii Pacific University, I
met Brandi Boatner, who was
serving her term as PRSSA
National President. My aca-
demic adviser introduced me to
Brandi; Brandi introduced me
to public relations and brought
me to my first PRSSA meeting,
during which I made a motion
for biweekly meetings because
I loved attending so much. The
motion passed. The next year I
was Chapter president, attended
national events and was elect-
ed to the 2010–2011 National
Committee as vice president of
advocacy. I ran unopposed for
National President in 2011.
Q: What has been the
biggest benefit of PRSSA
membership and joining
the National Committee?
A: The biggest benefit for me
was acquiring all of the skills that
you can’t learn in a classroom,
such as learning the art of net-
working — which means estab-
lishing and maintaining mean-
ingful relationships with peers,
colleagues and mentors. While
I was on the National Com-
mittee, I was able to be creative
and strategic in my approach to
implementing initiatives, and so
this really shaped my leadership
style and how I collaborate with
others in a team-oriented envi-
ronment. I use strategic commu-
nication and the leadership skills
that I learned to help improve
the internal communication be-
tween nurses and physicians.
Q: What was your big-
gest achievement and big-
gest challenge as PRSSA
National President?
A: My greatest challenge as
PRSSA National President was
National Assembly. Assembly
was always my favorite PRSSA
event, and it was my favorite
event that year as well. But that
doesn’t mean that it didn’t have
its challenges. If I remember cor-
rectly, this was one of the longest
elections in recent history. There
were a lot of candidates running
for National Committee and
many motions being presented.
FOUNDER, TOP HAT
On top of that, it was St. Pat-
rick’s Day. So it was a challenge
trying to be diplomatic, and try-
ing to speed things along.
My biggest achievement was
Amy Bishop’s biggest achieve-
ment. During my term, Amy
served as the Publications Editor
in Chief. Amy’s greatest achieve-
ment that year was a complete
redesign of FORUM and our
blog, named Progressions. She
and her team did an amazing
job with the redesign by paying
attention to details. They did
outstanding work, and