I’ve always been an animal lover, so the summer after my sophomore
year at the Fashion Institute of Technology I landed my dream internship at the
ASPCA.
I got to work beside some of the most talented animal
advocates in the field and even helped launch the ASPCA’s farm campaign. I saw
firsthand that protecting animals doesn’t have to be just a passion; it can
also be a career.
I realized that I could take the marketing and communications
strategies I was learning at FIT and apply them to a nonprofit’s mission and
help create a kinder world.
Come spring of my junior year I was looking to intern for
another animal protection organization. I discovered Long Island Orchestrating
for Nature (LION), a nonprofit that advocated for all animals. I interviewed
with Julie Cappiello, one of the founders, and received an offer.
From social media strategy to messaging, Julie taught me a
lot about working in animal rights. She went from being my boss to being one of
my closest friends. Her drive and passion to do as much good as possible for
animals inspire me to this day.
Like most college students, at the end of my senior year I
was looking at jobs. I came across Mercy For Animals. The positions listed weren’t
good fits, but that didn’t stop me. I found someone on LinkedIn who worked in
hiring and reached out.
Jake Morton from MFA responded to my message. He said that MFA
was in the beginning stages of seeking a new member of its social media team
and that I would be a good candidate. A few rounds of interviews, a working
test, and a flight to Los Angeles later, I received a job offer. I was
ecstatic!
But I soon realized moving across the country right after
college was financially unrealistic. Turning down the job was one of the
hardest things I’d ever had to do.
In October 2015, while working for a major food and beverage
public relations agency in New York, the
United Nations listed processed meats as a carcinogen. Like many animal
rights activists, I took to Facebook to post the announcement. The next day I
showed up to work and got my knuckles rapped for disregarding one of the agency’s
largest clients—a major processed meat producer.
Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled.
So I reached out to Ari Solomon. He said that MFA was still
looking to fill the social media role and that the position could be remote.
It’s been nearly two years since I started working for MFA,
and I still can’t believe that my passion to protect animals is my career. I
love working for MFA so much—my boyfriend, Brian, even works as an MFA graphic
designer, and Julie, my boss from LION, works with me on the social media team!
“If you
do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life, the
saying goes. I truly believe that. Challenges come with every job, but at the
end of the day I know that my work helps the billions of animals who suffer at factory
farms.
Want to work in animal rights? Click here
for a few tips on landing your dream job.
Click here to view MFA’s
job openings.