Mentoring program helps Wright State marketing students develop leadership skills

Wright State junior Katie Coyle’s mentor in the Emerging Marketing Leaders program helped her discover that she wants to work on creative projects in the marketing world. (Photo by Erin Pence)

Marketing students at Wright State University are finding career paths to pursue and ways to get noticed by employers through a special mentoring program.

Offered by the Department of Marketing in the Raj Soin College of Business, the Emerging Marketing Leaders program helps students develop their leadership and business skills and network in the local business community.

Each student is paired with a business leader who best fits their career interest for a one-on-one mentorship that provides the students with individualized coaching and career advice.

Members of the Emerging Marketing Leaders advisory board and students also participate in interactive meetings and discussions about contemporary marketing issues and topics. These discussions of real-world issues can help the students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students also receive a $1,000 scholarship.

A mentorship with Susan DeSantis, director of marketing and corporate communications at Reynolds and Reynolds, helped junior Katie Coyle discover that she wants to work on creative projects in the marketing world.

“She has helped me focus on my interests, and introduced me to the idea of working at a marketing agency,” Coyle said. “It would allow me to be more ambitious, creative and fast-paced than working in the marketing department of one business.”

Coyle has also been able to learn from other mentors in the program through one-on-one meetings. “I love hearing about their journey and gaining insight into their jobs,” she said.

Senior Mairen Donohoe learned to understand the importance of branding herself and being her own person from her mentor, Richard Kaiser, the founder and CEO of the Wilderness Agency and a Wright State marketing graduate.

“As marketing majors, we often forget the importance of marketing ourselves in addition to our work,” Donohoe said. “The mentors lead and guide you into the world of creating an identity for you on LinkedIn and what resonates best with potential employers.”

The program has helped Donohoe blossom as a business professional.

“I have identified a brand for myself, built up my resume, curated and designed my own portfolio site, strengthened my LinkedIn, grown my network and developed lasting friendships,” she said.

Coyle applied for the Emerging Marketing Leaders program to help her grow by connecting with professionals who are doing what she wants to do and learning how to follow in their footsteps. She said the students and mentors in the program are driven and motivated.

“Each mentor wants to set you up for success and every student wants to go above and beyond simply getting a degree,” Coyle said.

While Donohoe joined the program as a way to build her resume, the experience has exceeded her expectations.

“I have learned many valuable and useful skills that will translate to my job hunt post-graduation and into the remainder of my career,” she said.

The mentors also benefit from participating in the Emerging Marketing Leaders (EML) program.

For instance, DeSantis has learned from both the other mentors and the students. “It is gratifying to be able to help the students with questions they don’t know who to ask and to be able to provide career guidance and preparation,” she said.

Meeting with students has helped her understand more about the young adults often hired by Reynolds and Reynolds. The students DeSantis has mentored have been very engaging.

“They want to learn, and that is exciting,” she said. “Rarely is there a session without a good lineup of questions.”

Todd Hale, principal of Todd Hale, LLC, and a two-time Wright State graduate, said serving as chair of the Emerging Marketing Leaders (EML) advisory board is a way to give back to the university and help students prepare to launch their careers.

“In our last two EML meetings students heard EML business sponsors describe careers in sales and marketing,” he said. “During one-on-one discussions between business partner mentors and students, the feedback was extremely positive and many students I spoke with called out how joining the EML program was yielding benefits beyond their expectations.”