Enginuity Employee Spotlight: Renee Hicks, Account Manager

Welcome to the Enginuity Employee Spotlight series! This series shares employee stories, focused on their achievements, personality, successes, challenges, and more to get to know them in and outside of work. Our goal for this series is to build connection among employees and boost belonging and inclusion among our larger community.

Today's employee spotlight features Renee Hicks, a Market Enginuity Senior Local Account Manager for WAMU in Washington, D.C. Renee has been with Market Enginuity for 3 years and spends most of her time prospecting and outreaching potential clients. She loves how no day is the same in her work week. We are excited for you to get to know her better!

Tell us about one of your favorite work stories

An exciting success story was selling the first custom Healthcare Report to my client Johns Hopkins Medicine. The sponsorship aligned very well with JHM's marketing goals and brand initiatives. Their multimedia campaign was comprised of targeted radio day parts and messaging, along with digital components.  

 JHM's campaign has been extremely successful. I've closed this Healthcare Report to JHM four times in a row starting with the inaugural sponsorship.  

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love going to the movies alone and with my husband and friends. I am a huge sucker for romantic movies like The Notebook. I also really love good action flicks. I’m a big fan of Tom Cruise and I’ve seen all the Mission Impossible movies. 

The most fun I had recently at the movies was when a bunch of friends, my husband, and I saw the new Top Gun. It’s definitely one of those movies that you must see in person, and we all had such a great time. I'm a California girl, so I love movies and wanted to be in the movies when I was little.  

I also enjoy jogging as well as listening and singing to custom music lists of favorite songs with my husband. Those playlists will take us back to when we met, when we grew up and didn’t know each other yet, or a moment from our wedding! It’s just really fun because it’s an eclectic blend of all kinds of music, and it's a nice reminder of the fun things that connect us. It reminds me of not only why I love my husband, but why I like him too as a person. The little things can make a difference.  

What is the most important thing you have learned in the last five years? 

I always look for, be aware of, and stay open to new business prospects/opportunities that can come from anywhere! One of the things that keeps it fresh and exciting for me, as well as building a base of business and opportunities, is maintaining a keen sense of awareness that anyone can be a new opportunity for me to connect with. 

I could be at the dentist and really like their service and maybe recognize that this organization needs more people to know how they provide such good service. I could be anywhere really and want to know more about their business and help them market so more people know about the amazing things they offer. 

What would people never guess you do in your role? 

I enjoy dedicating time to creating custom sponsorships and campaigns based on interesting holidays and events that align with client goals. Right now, I am focusing on sustainability. For example, American University has invested a lot of money in becoming a leader in sustainability and following through on those kinds of promises.  

One of the things I keyed in on is there is an international food and waste awareness day in September. So, I created a sponsorship so that more people in the community know what they have done and what they can do.

I love looking for unique awareness days, celebrations, or holidays that potential clients can gravitate towards, invest in, and align their brand with. It’s another way of creating potential revenue opportunities and a way to keep things exciting and fresh.  

Where would you like to go on a dream vacation? 

I like the idea of going on a trip to Spain. It seems like a romantic place to visit. It’s been on my bucket list for a while because of the food and culture! It definitely feels like the kind of place everyone should check out at least once in their life. 

A fun fact that Renee wanted to share is her passion for music and getting caught up in the moment. If you knew her when she was younger, then you would know she loved to dance on top of tables to her favorite songs -- she would just get lost in the music and have so much fun with her friends. It’s definitely one of her favorite memories. We hope you've enjoyed getting to know Renee! Consider reaching out to her at rehicks@wamu.org.