Hi there, my name is Karly and I am the newest member of the AM:PM PR squad!
Since I was a little girl people have always told me I’m a great storyteller. It used to be my hidden talent but ironically enough I have now made it into my career. I can thank the organic chemistry course I took in college to sway me away from becoming an obstetrician to seeking a career in crisis communications. I know, logical jump.
I’ve always lived in the Pacific Northwest so it only seemed fitting to continue expanding my roots at the University of Oregon and grow as a full-fledged duck. While in school I dabbled in sorority life, the Public Relations Student Society of America and working on social media campaigns surrounding nonprofits and consumer products. College was also the time when my parents referred to me as a part-time vampire due to working my summers on graveyard shift in a paper factory. It was in that hot and sweaty factory lifting tite-pak twice my size that I realized how passionate I am for public relations and communicating with people.
Fueled by insane amounts of coffee and a need to tell stories.
You may be wondering what inspired my pursuit for becoming a crisis communicator. Well, one fateful night a few years ago I decided to watch the highly-controversial documentary Blackfish. After watching the film, I was so curious over how SeaWorld’s PR people were handling the fallout it probed me into hours of research, not only over Blackfish, but for other highly controversial crisis topics as well. This ignited the spark for my now deep love of dissecting crises and coming up with the best possible solutions to solve them. I still get to be a doctor like I wanted to be in high school, but in a different way than I originally thought.
My dad always told me the key to being successful is being a good listener and leading with empathy. I’ve always taken that advice with me and integrated it into my life by making people feel comfortable around me just by listening and being authentic with them. I have an interest in crisis management because I believe those skills are incredibly valuable when successfully helping a client in a sticky situation.
When I am not at AM:PM I can be found doing a myriad of things ranging from hiking in The Columbia River Gorge (where I grew up), to sampling different types of coffees, to perfecting new makeup trends. It’s been great getting settled back in Portland after spending four years screaming “SCO DUCKS” in Eugene, and I’m hoping to spread my roots out even further here.
You can find me attempting witty banter and taking trendy pictures at @KarlyTarsia on your social media platform of choice.
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