Where did it all begin? Planning my rockstar-themed 6th birthday party, or the first time I designed an event flyer in 8th grade? I’ve always been drawn to the creative side of life, and now I get to keep pursuing those passions into adulthood.
If you told my 18-year-old self that in a few years I’d be involved in pharmaceutical trade shows, I probably would have looked at you like you had three heads. But here I am, about three months into my role as an Associate Manager of Client Services at Access TCA, starting to see how the little pieces of my college experience led me here.
When I started at Penn State, I knew I wanted to study advertising, but I didn’t know what that meant for my future. I thought social media management was the path for me, but eventually the excitement faded, and I realized something else was waiting for me.
The light bulb moment came during an Association of Women in Sports Media meeting when a Penn State alum spoke about her career as an Entertainment Coordinator for an NFL team, helping plan game day entertainment, events, and fan experiences. I thought, Wait, you can actually do this for a job?
That meeting opened a whole new world for me. I pursued a minor in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management with a focus in Meetings and Event Management. I learned how to plan and execute events, and those ideas started bleeding into my advertising classes, too.
Brand activations. Pop-ups. Experiential campaigns.
Suddenly, they were everywhere.
At first, I saw activations like everyone else did. Something colorful caught my attention, there was probably some free swag involved, and it gave me something fun to do between classes. But once I learned more about marketing strategy, I noticed what was happening beneath the surface.
Download the app. Take the quiz. Sign up for the email. Follow the brand.
The “free” experience wasn’t quite as free as it seemed. These brands were creating a reason for people to stop, interact, remember them, and give the brand something valuable in return. That was what really pulled me into experiential marketing. Brands were giving people something to experience instead of simply asking them to look at an ad.
I spent the rest of college figuring out how to turn that interest into a career.
This past April came around, and so did Access TCA.
Access gave me a closer look at how experiential marketing actually comes together. At a trade show, a brand’s presence is more than a booth. It is exhibit design, people, products, logistics, and strategy working together to support a larger marketing goal.
For pharmaceutical companies, that can mean building awareness around a product, creating meaningful interactions with healthcare professionals, gathering information and insights, and ultimately supporting broader business goals around product adoption and prescribing.
That made Access feel like the right next step for me. I could see projects come together and learn what it takes to get everything onto the trade show floor.
In my first few months, I’ve already helped with 30+ events. I’m learning how to work with clients, manage timelines, coordinate logistics, and keep track of the details that must fall into place before a show opens its doors.
One thing I didn’t fully understand as a student was how much work goes into making an experience feel seamless. From the outside, you see the finished booth, signage, products, and people. Behind that are conversations, revisions, shipments, deadlines, vendors, and, of course, checking something once, checking it again, and then checking it one more time.
I’m also learning that experiential marketing is much more than the creative idea itself. The idea has to work for the client, fit the strategy and budget, arrive on time, and function when hundreds or thousands of people walk through the door. Creativity and logistics aren’t separate pieces of the puzzle. They have to work together.
I entered this industry because I loved the creativity and human connection, but I’m learning to appreciate the problem-solving behind-the-scenes, too.
Maybe that’s the fun part of being new. I’m still figuring out how all the pieces fit together.
I don’t think my 18-year-old self could have imagined this version of my future, but I’m beyond thrilled to be here. College taught me that sometimes you have to stop trying to figure out exactly where you’re going and pay attention to what keeps pulling you in.
For me, it started with a birthday party, an event flyer, and a whole lot of curiosity. Somehow, it led me to the trade show floor.
And I think I’m just getting started.