Scholarship Spotlight: Tiffany Plowman

by Rachel Jordan-Shuss, AWC Austin past president

Recently, I caught up with Tiffany Plowman – another past president and previous Jo Caldwell Meyer Scholarship winner. A native Texan and ’99 UT Austin alumna, Tiffany now works in Washington, D.C. but has never forgotten what AWC Austin and the Jo Caldwell Meyer Scholarship have meant to her. Take a moment to learn a little about this month’s Scholarship Spotlight.

AWC Austin: How did you learn about AWC and the Jo Caldwell Meyer Scholarship?

TP: I learned about the scholarship through my involvement with the AWC Student Chapter at the University of Texas at Austin. I was part of the student chapter’s board, and if I remember correctly, I think I decided to apply for the scholarship without my parents knowing much about it. They had been so supportive to me throughout college, so it was nice to surprise them with the scholarship.

Being a part of the student chapter was so valuable. I helped to lead a career development workshop, which connected me with women in AWC Austin. I was so impressed with the variety of work and experiences they had, but most importantly how supportive and engaged they were with the student chapter.

AWC Austin. How did it feel when you received a scholarship from AWC Austin?

TP: I received the scholarship in 1998 and was absolutely thrilled. My sister attended Banner Brunch with me and I remember being so impressed and inspired by the speakers at the event. I was going into my senior year at the time, and I felt confident that after graduation I would be surrounded by such inspirational, talented and supportive communicators.

AWC Austin: What inspired you to become a member of AWC Austin, and what year did you join?

TP: I joined the summer after graduating. Kelli Kelley, who was chapter president, asked me to serve on the board of directors as the student chapter liaison. I hit the ground running with the professional chapter and saw very quickly how beneficial it was to get involved. At the time I was working for a PR agency. We made a job announcement at one of the luncheons and the person we hired was a new AWC member attending the luncheon – she also happens to still be a good friend of mine.

AWC Austin: What have you gained from being a member of AWC Austin?

TP: Where do I start?  I always say that you never know your mentors until you look back in time and realize that someone was a mentor to you during a particular time or event in your life. Looking back on my time with AWC, I can count a number of informal mentors. I’m not sure if they realize they were mentors to me at the time, but they gave me so much advice on how to lead an organization, the direction to take my career and the never ending juggle of work/life balance. I’m extremely grateful to have been surrounded by such wise, inspirational, thoughtful and creative people during the first part of my career. 

Serving as president was certainly one of the most valuable experiences I had with AWC. I appreciate all of the women who worked on the board with me as I got my leadership “training wheels.” It was an exciting time as we had just celebrated our 75^th anniversary and we needed to figure out our way ahead. I took from the experience how difficult it can be to drive change and lead an organization. And in many ways, that’s now my day job! 

AWC Austin: What would you say to students who are thinking about joining either the AWC student chapter or the professional chapter?

 TP: Join! But more importantly get involved. Be open to the opportunities that it offers. You can learn so much. 

AWC Austin: What advice would you give to students studying communications?

TP: The communications field has changed drastically in just the last 10 years, yet the fundamentals have never changed. Learning how to be a good writer and strategic thinker is the foundation for any communication professional. The tools we use as communicators will always change and that’s a good thing. But just remember that good communication is about more than the tools – it’s the skill of knowing how to define a message, target an audience and effectively communicate using the right tools. So, focus on developing the skills and don’t get distracted or focused just on the shinning (and often fun) tools we get to use as communicators.

Tiffany Plowman is a Senior Consultant for Deloitte Consulting. She works in the Federal Human Capital practice doing strategic change management. 

Download a scholarship application today. Deadline to submit is Feb. 25, 2011!