Meet Our Panelists: Amy Parrish

This year’s University of West Georgia‘s Media Day is Chief Marketing Officer and Managing partner of Rhythm Communication, Amy Woodward Parrish. Parish has been involved in the industry for over 20 years, starting in the field of journalism before moving to media and public relations.

Parrish’s career began while she was in college and wrote for her college newspaper.

“I went to the University of Georgia, writing for The Red and Black,” said Parrish. “While there, I heard about an opportunity with a local cable news station. They were wanting to start a television spotlight to talk about local businesses.”

Her experience with The Red and Black led her to become a reporter for the cable news station. She did business spotlight interviews called “Athens Around Town”.

“Because of [my experiences], I interviewed for a paid internship with NBC news and got it,” said Parrish. I was a producer for the NBC Atlanta Bureau, an international bureau that would send news stories to New York.”

            Though she ended up as a journalist and loved it, Parrish wanted to be more creative with her work. Her previous experience in journalism and hard news works to her advantage in marketing and PR knowing how to package a story.

“I really do enjoy the creative process which is why I went from journalism to PR,” said Parrish. “I was advised by a friend in public relations that I might enjoy telling the story from the corporate side and being more creative versus a news angle. Instead of doing hard news stories, I am able to use my creative side of telling the story more.”

She has been working for Rhythm Communications since 2003. The company is an integrated marketing firm based in Atlanta that is led by public relations efforts. The primary focus for Rhythm Communications is to harmonize a business by ensuring all of the marketing needs are synchronized with the pulse of the marketplace.

Rhythm focuses on many resources to help a business. Their services include strategy, public relations, digital marketing, event management, social media, marketing collateral, advertising, entertainment and sports.  

“We do everything from day-to-day media relations, messaging and positioning for clients, all the way to fully integrated events,” said Parrish. For a client, we did a listening and education tour, a town hall, discussing new business propositions to a town, and creating new jobs.”

In 2020 and 2021, Rhythm Communications was awarded “Best Public Relations Firm in the Atlanta Metro Area” by Expertise.com.

She believes creativity is limitless in the professional world.

“Being a hard-news journalist may not be for everyone but with the ability to write, communicate, visualize, create, and cultivate, those skill sets work in just about any environment,” said Parrish. “The gift of writing has been lost along the way in a lot of areas of business. Do not hold yourself back, social media is a key piece of the future.

“The best advice I could give is to realize the skills you gain in journalism, specifically news, are transferable to other career options in the field,” continued Parrish. “Do not limit your thinking when it comes to searching for jobs and opportunities.”