Mary Nhotsavang

Account Supervisor

Creative Juicer

Q: Plan a road trip. Where would you go? Who would you take with you?
A: I would take a cross country road trip with my boyfriend, Chad. I envision we would rent a 2012 Ford Taurus (his current obsession), hook up the satellite radio and hit all the high points like Graceland, the Rockies, Vegas, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, and of course my alma mater, Ithaca College.

Q: Of your creative accomplishments, what has given you the most satisfaction?
A: Making a scrapbook of my college years is the one creative accomplishment that has given me the most satisfaction. It took me six weeks to put together and is a permanent keepsake of all the fond memories I have at Ithaca. When I'm feeling nostalgic I like to pull it off the shelf and look at it from time to time. If I had more spare time, I would love to create more scrapbooks of trips and other major events in my life.

Knowledge Seeker

Q: What is something new you want to learn in 2012?
A: I'm not a very crafty person and I've always envied those who could create masterful centerpieces and wall-hangings on a budget. As a new homeowner who desperately needs to add some decorative pieces to the house (now that I've got the furniture taken care of), I want to learn how to make creative DIY crafts for decorating empty walls and spaces. I've been perusing Pinterest for some fun ideas and hope to try a few.

Q: Describe a recent problem that you solved in a unique way.
A: Thinking through all the logistics and potential mishaps that can happen while running my first marathon, I encountered one snag in my perfect plan -- proper attire that would keep me warm during the first leg (a balmy 40 degrees at 7:30 a.m.) but keep me cool once things started heating up. Rather than wear a long-sleeved shirt that I would eventually have to toss aside along the route never to see again or wrap around my waist (which I imagined would be a nuisance and hindrance to my time), I came up with the perfect solution. To keep my arms and hands warm, I wore long tube socks as sleeves that served its purpose of keeping me relatively warm, but wouldn't be a huge loss to get rid of further into the race. Never mind that I looked rather silly -- it did the trick!

Productive Partner

Q: Who was your favorite mentor and why?
A: My PR professor in college, Jerry Engel, was the man who made me the concise writer that I am today. He was a tough editor that provided constructive criticism and advice that has proved invaluable as I've progressed in my career. Throughout the years, Jerry has offered me many words of encouragement and wisdom as I navigated my first PR job out of college, suffered my first lay-off, and contemplated getting a Master's degree (graduating in May!).

Q: Share a secret tip that you use often.
A: One of the many things I learned from my first supervisor at my first job out of college that has stuck with me is to always print a hard copy of when proofing. More often than not, your eyes will catch typos, grammatical and spelling errors that you may miss reading on a computer screen than on a piece of paper. It's proven to be very helpful.