Marketing and Advertising Management, Class of 2011
º£½ÇÂÒÂ× (HC): Tell us a little bit about yourself and your connection with º£½ÇÂÒÂ×.
Brittany Grunig (BG): My name is Brittany and I graduated from Marketing and Advertising Management in 2011. After graduation, I worked at a number of radio stations around PEI while also taking advantage of the degree pathways program. I moved to Ottawa in 2015 to work for Bell Media as an on-air talent, then became a music director. Fast forward a few years to now, I am the Regional Program Director for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario.
HC: You aren’t just any Program Director; you recently won a big award! Tell us about that.
BG: Yes! I was thrilled to be named the 2021 “Best Program Director of the Year (medium market)” at the Canadian Radio Awards. It was a huge honour to be recognized on that level. It is very cool to be included with such a prestigious group, as many of the other nominees in various categories were all people that I looked up to throughout my career. To not only be nominated alongside them, but to actually WIN the award was truly an amazing experience. I still feel like I am early into my career and to have already accomplished that seems a bit surreal.
HC: How did your experience at º£½ÇÂÒÂ× help you in your career?
BG: It was huge for me. Like many people, I left high school not knowing what I would do next and just really feeling like I couldn’t see a clear path to get started. I enrolled into the Marketing and Advertising Management program and learned so much from instructors like Karen (Scales) and Kathie (Coffin-Sulis). I instantly knew that this was where I belonged. Not only did I love the curriculum, but I was able to make so many connections. That path I couldn’t picture earlier suddenly became very clear. I did my on-the-job training for what was K-Rock 105.5 at the time, stuck around and was hired for the “summer cruiser” position. I had a first-hand experience in the radio industry that I wouldn’t have had without º£½ÇÂÒÂ× giving me that opportunity.
I decided to continue my education, and a couple of years after graduation, I enrolled at UPEI. From there, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sociology. º£½ÇÂÒÂ× is more than just a place to learn skills and get a job, it’s a place that really prepares you for the next chapter of life. I left with a diploma, but what I didn’t expect to leave with was this blazing confidence, loads of new life skills, and the feeling of having a people in my corner for whatever came next. To this day I keep in contact with people from my time at the college.
HC: What advice would you give alumni and future alumni?
BG: As cliché as it sounds, shoot for the stars. Do not limit yourself. There is nothing you can’t accomplish if you set your mind to it, so make goals of all sizes and work hard. I continue to have to push myself and still find myself sometimes feeling like I did the first day I walked into º£½ÇÂÒÂ× – wondering if I have what it takes, wondering if I am out of my league, wondering if I am the only one in the room wondering these things! You can’t let that stop you. Take the opportunities that come along and don’t talk yourself out of it. Doors will open if you have the courage to knock.
