Managing Your Personal Brand and Preparing for a Career in PR
Cal State Fullerton PRSSA
by Emily Cordero | March 23, 2026
As a pre-professional in the communications field, you may often get advice to maintain an active, up-to-date LinkedIn profile and be prepared with a strong elevator pitch. While these are useful tips for networking with professionals, one piece of advice I was given at CSUF PRSSA’s Fall Networking Mixer was to practice personal branding and content creation before entering the communications field. Brand management is a key pillar of public relations, and in the age of social media, content creation is a critical part of that.
The Professional Perspective
I am grateful I had the chance to follow up with Elena Bosch, the director of communications at Think Together, a non-profit organization providing children with extended learning opportunities. At the fall mixer, I spoke with Elena about how she approached personal branding and content creation early in her career.
Elena graduated from CSUF when Facebook was still new and limited to college students, and social media was not yet widely used by professionals. This positioned her as an early adopter of these platforms.
“Being flexible and open to learning helped me grow my skills, adapt to market changes and continue advancing in my career,” she shared. “My advice to students is to stay curious and embrace new tools and trends early.”
Much of Elena’s early work in public relations was influenced by her own interests, like her music blog, which led to an ambassadorship with Music Saves Lives at Vans Warped Tour. Later, her mom-blog encouraged her to continue practicing skills in influencer and product marketing, she said.
“Today, at Think Together, I continue building my personal brand, focusing on reputation management and social impact, and it’s incredibly rewarding,” she explained. “The key takeaway for students is to seek opportunities to practice skills in real-world settings, volunteer strategically and build relationships that will support your career growth.”
Content Creators in PRSSA
Many members of CSUF PRSSA are paving their own paths online with their career aspirations in mind, similar to how Elena started out.
One CSUF PRSSA member, Jennifer Hoang, is a fourth-year sociology student with a double minor in communication studies and business marketing. Motivated by her passion for the “little moments and experiences,” Jennifer started creating food and lifestyle content on Instagram and TikTok.
As she looks to enter a field that relies heavily on strategy and storytelling, Jennifer says she is using content as a catalyst to connect with audiences and companies. She says the biggest takeaway she’s had in her experience with personal branding and content creation is the value of consistency, organization and intentionality when posting online.
By recommending the best local places to eat and sharing glimpses of her life behind the scenes, Jennifer is developing skills in strategic messaging and creating an authentic brand story that will easily translate to her future career.
Ellisa Westrich, or Elli for short, is another chapter member serving on the external communications committee. Elli creates Formula 1 and motorsports content on TikTok and Instagram that is both witty and relevant for viewers familiar with the sport, as well as educational for new fans.
“I started creating content as a way to document a new chapter in my life,” she said. “I wanted a space to express my personality, show my growth and build a foundation for my future career by practicing the same storytelling skills I hope to use professionally. And also, it is just truly fun to create, film and edit content.”
Having amassed 2.6 thousand followers and 390 thousand likes on TikTok, Elli learned how to track her audience engagement, recognize what content will perform best and adapt her content accordingly.
“F1 History with Legos” is a TikTok series that Elli created. She says she finds it to be incredibly enjoyable to produce and significantly strengthen her video editing and storytelling skills.
In the future, Elli hopes to apply her foundational skills in content strategy, audience analysis and video production to work in motorsport public relations, preferably for a Formula 1 team.
Benefits Beyond Virality
Jennifer and Elli’s stories are just two of many examples of how content creation can fuel your passions and creativity, while also preparing you for a career in the PR field. Despite many people’s opinions, posting online isn’t a cringey attempt at brief virality, it is a viable way to practice skills for your future career in communications and give yourself a competitive edge in the job market.
While talking to Elena at the mixer, the concept of imposter syndrome came up. She reinforced the idea that posting online – even if no one sees it – holds a greater benefit for you in this field than not posting at all.
Even if no one sees your content, you will improve with practice, which makes you more confident and more desirable to employers down the line. Ultimately, the only thing stopping you from posting is yourself, so find your niche and don’t miss out on the most widely available opportunity to set yourself up for future success.