16 | The Trials and Thrills of a Media Relations Manager - with Emory alum, Anushka Pathak

Anushka Pathak | Associate, Weber Shandwick

Anushka studied at Mayo College, and then completed an Economics and Political Science double major at Emory University. She is currently an associate at the PR Firm, Weber Shandwick in Bombay.

Arjun and Anushka discuss her trajectory from studying Business to Economics and Political Science, and why she chose to move back to India at the start of her career.

Episode Takeaways

Transition to Emory

Anushka had attended an all girls orthodox high school, so Emory was a huge change for her. She was very nervous but the warm environment and the support of various mentors helped her adjust.

Her Mentors

Her sophomore advisor who lived in her dorm helped her navigate her transition from business school to becoming an economics major. She helped her explore different academic options. Another friend of hers introduced her to EEVM, Emory’s Entrepreneurship and Venture Management Club, where Anushka worked her way up to Director over her four years at college. One of her economics professors at Emory also taught her how to approach economics as a major, as she had never studied it as a subject in high school. 

Academics

Anushka is a planner, so drifting away from her plan to do business was hard for her. However, as she started enjoying her Economics and Political Science classes over her business courses, she decided to switch streams. She kept her interest in business alive by organising a Business Hackathon at Emory every year, which is a kind of Shark Tank for colleges in the south east. In this competition, students get 48 hours to make a presentation or prototype of a business idea for a cash prize. They then pitch their ideas to CEOs of startups and Angel Investors, who could potentially help them take their ideas forward.  

Her 3 strengths

Organized, Disciplined, Dedicated 

Her Career Trajectory

Anushka was initially very focused on staying in the US but wasn’t able to find any internships in her sophomore year. She then got an internship with FilterCopy in Bombay and had a great experience doing marketing and PR for them. That’s when she realised she wanted to work in India as it was also becoming harder to try and stay in the US. She did a marketing and PR internship with Vogue India the following year and so when she was applying for jobs she started looking at good PR agencies in India, eventually starting working at Weber Shandwick. She really enjoys her career in PR as it keeps her on her toes, and as the spokesperson for a company, she needs to work on a lot of spontaneous content and has to come up with solutions on the go. She enjoys working under pressure and also highlights the importance of communication skills, through both writing and conversation. PR is a great avenue for growth because of news, journalism and crisis management. 

A Message for Students

“Take it day by day. Take a backseat, take a step back and really figure out what you want to do during this time because you’ll never get this time back.” Anushka is spending her time during the lockdown working from home and reading. 

On Her Experience at Edbrand

She enjoyed the brainstorming and essay writing the most and found her calls with Edbrand mentors very productive. She also enjoyed interacting with different students at the office and chatting with them.