The Saint Mary’s College Future Business Leaders Club welcomed guest speaker Sue Ryan Tuesday to share her insights on communications, media relations and leadership.
Currently serving as the executive director of media relations at the University of Notre Dame, Ryan is the first female spokesperson in the University’s history.
As someone whose career path was hardly linear, Ryan told club members to have open minds about their professional pursuits.
Ryan started her journey in communications in the athletic department at Duquesne University, where she served as an associate athletic director from 1991 to 1997. From there, she got a job with the Big Ten Conference in Chicago and worked as an associate commissioner for six years.
“It was an interesting time when I was there,” Ryan said. “I was part of the first group that managed the first-ever Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.”
Not only was it interesting, Ryan said, but it was intense.
“When I worked in athletic communications, that’s a job that requires a 24/7 role, kind of like the role I’m in now,” she said.
She left athletic communications for a stint at Whirlpool, an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, and then started at Notre Dame in internal communications, where she was charged with informing faculty, staff and students about on-campus events.
“I moved from internal comms into media relations, and I’ve been in the media relations role for 10 and a half years now, and have been the spokesperson for just over a year,” Ryan said.
Now her job focuses on protecting and promoting the reputation of the University, which involves communicating with outside media departments on both the local and national levels and building partnerships within the university and the community.
“When you see a faculty member from any university that is on a national news broadcast, somebody in their communications office is likely the one who made that happen,” Ryan said.
Ryan pivoted to offering advice to a room full of future job seekers. She encouraged students to think about their passions and the things they love and apply them to their careers.
“It gives you a passion for your work,” Ryan said. “It motivates you to be your best self at work, and it really helps you kind of embrace and engage in your workplace when you can really believe in the mission and whatever’s happening in your day-to-day work.”
She also stressed the importance of managing people, which sometimes involves juggling accountability and compassion.
“To me, [that] means that we all have a job to do, and we’re there to get work done, [while] being there for your people, understanding where they’re coming from, understanding what’s happening in their lives,” she said.
Managing others can also involve managing oneself to keep personal and business life separate.
“If they can’t be their best self because of whatever’s happening in their personal life, that’s going to impact their work,” Ryan said.
At the same time, Ryan said recognizing individual flexibility is a key component in a successful career.
“If change is hard for you, I would suggest that you … learn how to make change,” she said. ”People that have a hard time with change have a hard time in a work environment because things are always changing.”
Ryan ended her lecture by encouraging students to remember the bigger picture of their lives, as well as the larger context of their job and their place within the organization.
“It’s critical for everyone within your organization to understand the mission and the goals and the strategy of the organization,” Ryan added. “They really have to understand how their work connects to the organization’s bigger strategy, bigger goals, bigger picture and mission.”
