Internship at Whole Foods a natural fit for PR student

The first time Kathryn Wilson ever shopped at a Whole Foods Market was when she arrived at the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, this summer as an intern with the company’s public relations department.

But familiarity with the supermarket chain specializing in organic food wasn’t a job requirement. It was the talents and skills Wilson honed as an advertising major in Drury’s Department of Communication that took her to Austin.

She was one of just 19 college students across the nation selected for the American Advertising Federation’s highly selective Stickell internship program this year. Drury has a remarkable track record with the program. Wilson is the third Drury student in three years to be selected and seventh since 2005.

Wilson, who is from Nixa, says she soaked up an incredible amount of knowledge in her 10 weeks on the job.

“You can really tell they are leading the charge in a lot of areas,” she says of Whole Foods’ approach to PR and branding. “It’s just a great group of people who are incredibly talented.”

Wilson immediately jumped into working with industry-specific software, analyzing the company’s Twitter account and working with outside PR firms on a variety of projects. She recommended changes to the company’s PR Twitter account that are now taking shape, and she handled story requests from national media outlets such as Men’s Journal.

Throughout, she felt like a truly valued member of the team at a market-leading company. She relished the opportunity to simply drop into the PR director’s office to talk, and felt gratified that Whole Foods was putting her work to good use.

“That was just a great philosophy for me because I felt appreciated and needed,” she says. “I felt like I was an asset.”

Wilson says Drury has been a major asset to her, especially her time on the AD Team with Dr. Regina Waters.

“The Drury communication department has been incredibly helpful in boosting me in my career and what I want to do later in life after college,” she says. “Dr. Waters in particular has been such a great mentor and cheerleader who’s always in my corner.”

By Mike Brothers, Drury’s director of media relations