Susan Nealon
Virginia Tech
Something about me people might not know
I was both a cheerleader and a band geek in high school.
A life change that seemed risky at the time, but turned out positive
When I changed my major from business to fine arts end of my sophomore year in college. After graduation, finding a job in graphic design was pretty tough, but I did and absolutely enjoyed the creativity involved. But marketing must have left an impression on me, because here I am 20+ years later and loving my career in marketing and communications.
One word my colleagues would use to describe me
Creative.
What “breaking away from the expected” means to me
For our clients it means that we take the time to look deeper at a problem to figure out how to solve it, rather than offering a pat, prepackaged solution. Personally, I think it means looking at situations from all angles and bringing the best of my creativity and energy to approach to it.
My most significant role model
My grandmother. She was born on a dairy farm in 1900. She went on to graduate from University of Wisconsin with her undergraduate degree and Nebraska with her graduate degree. She did everything from teach at Rutgers University to cross the United States in a Model T. Ford. My grandmother always showed us (not told us) that we could be anything we wanted to be as long as we worked hard and did our best. I’m now doing my best to pass that wisdom along to my own children.
