{not} autobiographical
I began my journey into Public Relations which officially began at Niagara College. Of our many assignments one instructed us to write a profile for a student assigned to us. I was honoured to have Jacqueline Howse write mine. Ms. Howse has exceptional talent when it comes to the English language and I just had to include this wonderful item on my blog.
When Zoë Siskos was four, she wanted to be Superman when she grew up. “Seriously,” the grown-up Zoë says. “I used to have this red Smurf smock for when I did arts and crafts, and I’d just turn it around for a cape.” Not a doctor or an accountant. Superman. “It’s interesting that somebody with that kind of power still embodies everything virtuous,” she says. While her four-year-old self might not have explained it so eloquently, it isn’t hard to imagine her earnestly believing she could be Superman. Zoë is open to possibility.
In the low light of the quietest corner at the little coffee shop where we’re sitting, her smile flashes bright and often. Even in the dimness, her eyes manage to sparkle when she smiles. Her voice is a bit husky. It’s late on a Sunday morning, and she sips a cup of green tea while those around her knock back caffeine. The night before, she volunteered at a fundraiser for a local sexual assault centre. Despite the late night – “I left at 2:30,” she says – she sits straight in her chair, alert and engaged, poised and carefully thoughtful in our conversation.
She’s had many opportunities to gain that poise. The single common thread in her work life so far has been her jobs’ reliance on social skills. She used work as a receptionist in a mayoral office, for instance, where social discretion is a requisite. “All the jobs I’ve had involve dealing with people,” she says, “I love it.”
Zoë hopes there might be an opportunity for her to work in public relations at the casino where she now works as a blackjack dealer but she’s open to other possibilities. She says, “I really enjoy my job. I’m interested in it still, but I’m not surprised that my views are changing. I want to kind of branch out a bit.”
This desire to branch out is characteristic of Zoë . Her path to public relations has been a meandering one. Many of those who end up in PR are English nerds, but Zoë’s favourite subject in high school was biology. Next she studied community health sciences at Brock University. While most people tend to fall one side of the arts/science divide, Zoë likes to keep her options open: she had a foot on both sides of the dividing line. In her Bachelor of Arts program, out of interest she took mostly science courses as electives.
After finishing her degree, Zoë had a chance to go to work right away. “There were a few opportunities in my field in the States, and to this day, I can’t tell you why I turned them down. They flew me down to Boston for an interview. Everything went well. She called me with the offer, and I just said no. When I said no, I knew I’d been waiting to say no, and I’ve never regretted the decision. I truly believe in my gut instinct. I always follow it.”
Zoë’s instinct led her next to public relations. She was looking for something to spark her interest, and she found the Graduate Certificate Program at Niagara College. For Zoë , Niagara College was a good fit. Her husband Jamie was already studying electrical engineering there, so Zoë joined him on campus. “To me,” she says, “I make school what it is.”
Flexibility attracted her to public relations, and Zoë’s all about flexibility. Her biggest fear, she says, is that she’s good at something that she’ll never know she’s good at. “So I try to do a lot of things,” she says. “You look at my resume, and I’m all over the place. That’s what I love about PR – you can do PR in any field. It gives you the opportunity for opportunities.”
What comes next for Zoë ? Well, she’s thinking about a few options. She might stay on at the casino, if that looks like a good option. She might go to San Franciso for an internship with a non-profit organisation that supports changes to copyright licensing practices. “I’m definitely looking for something like that,” she says. Then again, down the road, she might be a housewife and stay-at-home parent. She was lucky to have her mother at home when she was a child, she says, and she’s grateful for that. If she has children, she would like to give them the same gift. However, on the question of whether she will have children, Zoë says, “Even still, I’m not 100% sure I want to go that way. We’re still talking about it.”
At this point, Zoë’s considering all her possibilities. When the time comes, she’ll follow her instinct. It hasn’t steered her wrong yet. And her intellectual flexibility makes her an attractive prospect for employers. Get her a red cape, and watch her go.