Sit down with communication manager, LaRahia Smith

LaRahia Smith is the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication communication manager who will be wrapping up with her master's in public relations this September. More than that, she's a mentor, friend and an undeniably formidable person.

Today she's joining us to answer a few questions of how she got into the communication industry, what drives her and what she hopes to see from communications organizations in the future.


What is it about public relations that first attracted you to it?

It's definitely about the human connection part. One of my mom's really close friends when I was growing up did public relations. That's when I found out that people could do communication as a career.

And it was at a pivotal time where I was trying to figure out, "what on Earth am I going to do?" I went to a school that was a humanities focused school, and so there's always a strong emphasis on English and writing. And I enjoyed it: I enjoyed giving presentations, I enjoyed writing, and in my head, I guess it hadn't really occurred to me that I could do a career around those things. So when I started asking questions, I was like, "What is it that I want to do, and what's my future going to look like?"

At first, I was thinking more about journalism, but it didn't really excite me so much. And then I was talking to her one day and asking her about what she did. She started talking about having to write articles, but also just that public relations side of representing a particular organization. And I thought, "Oh, that sounds really cool. I think I can do that."

I do feel like I have found the thing that is within my skill set, and that speaks most to me. I'm happy that I found it early on, so I can just continue to pursue that and build upon those skills.

So when you were little, did you always have this attraction to writing and language?

Yes, I did. It's easy to look at your life in the current moment and forget you have a history with something, but when I was little I used to journal all the time. My mom got me my first journal when I was in elementary school and I carried it everywhere I went. Where all these journals are now, I have no clue.

If I didn't have a journal in my hand, I had a book. Reading has always been my favorite way of getting out of my own head and getting it to a different world.

I also went to Quest High School, which was a humanities school, so I learned how to communicate ideas concisely, but at the same time, in a way that's engaging. I also learned critical thinking, which, writing and designing things are obviously very important, but the critical thinking aspect is what separates someone from more of a technician role to that managerial strategist role.

If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

I think one would be idealistic. I look at the world and I see what I think it ought to be — I see the potential.

I think another word might be articulate, and that goes towards being able to take ideas and communicate them.

And then the last one, I would say, is curious. I'm always asking, "How does this work?" I think it's a good trait, especially for communicators, because it makes you not take things at face value. I don't think that good communicators are just parrots. I think they also interrogate the information they receive. In this society, where misinformation is rampant, I think that that skill is more important than ever.

What have been some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on in the past?

There's a couple here at Valenti.

When I first came into the job, they had a scholarships luncheon and I just said, "This could be better. We could do more and make this an entire event." So that became the Impact Awards, which we now have every year. It's really cool to see how that's grown over the years.

Then there was also the Game Changers event. I was extremely proud of that because it got so much engagement. It was this event where we brought together a group of ex-athletes and civil rights leaders around the time of the Take the Knee movement with Colin Kaepernick.

The first event was called Game Changers: from Raised Fists to Take a Knee. It was about how sports activism evolved over the years, and it was a sold out event. We had a waiting list of 300 people and it was extremely packed, so it was our most successful event.

The one I'm most proud of, though, is a series that we did in 2016 called The Big Talk Series. It was right after when Philando Castile was murdered, and I remember exactly when it was created because I try not to watch videos of these murders because they're obviously really hard to watch, but I was in my office and decided to watch it. Afterwards, I got really emotional so I got up to leave my desk, and as I was walking to the courtyard, everyone had the same aura about them. We were all just feeling it. You could tell that a lot of people had been watching it.

We also had a professor at the time, Dr. Erica Ciszek, whose research was about activism. I went to her office and was sitting there when she got out of her class, her eyes red, and she told me, "Yeah, we just had this conversation in class. It got really emotional because obviously people are talking about this, and Black Lives Matter, and just everyone's in their feelings around all of this."

A couple of her students from class who were still not feeling great had trickled in, and we just had a really candid conversation about the situation and how everyone was feeling. I left there and had the idea to create our first anti-racist, racial justice and social justice event.

After that, we created a lecture series where we brought in communicators who were having conversations around racial equity, gender equality and other topics. We took topics that are harder to tackle and brought in people who were tackling them. This was so, one, we can have those conversations and our students could be privy to conversations, but also, two, so our students could go out and be communicators who feel comfortable and equipped to have those conversations out in the world, because we need communicators who are like that.

I think we got, throughout the semester, about 700 attendees or so at those events in total. I think that event represents what I think communication should look like, where it's not just, "Oh, we want to do this thing and let's go sell it to students," but, understanding what the need is and then building programs around that.

What motivates and drives you in your work?

Connection. Obviously, I get really motivated by seeing our students and faculty, everyone succeeds, but especially with our students. We have such an awesome student body. We have such a diverse student body, and not just in terms of ethnic background, or racial background, but in terms of just experience.

We have people of different ages coming to school, so some people might be returning to finish a degree, some people are starting here as freshmen or transfer students, and we also have many people who are working to put themselves through school.

I think that UH students in general, and Valenti students in particular, are hustlers. Out there, you're not getting handouts, so you're working for it.

I also get really inspired by just seeing communication for social change. A lot of social movements, like Black Lives Matter or March for Our Lives, are really leveraging communication and social channels to get their word out.

I think it's so powerful because, thinking back even to last summer, with the Black Lives Matter movement's focus after George Floyd was murdered, it wasn't just an isolated event. It wasn't just in that city. It wasn't just the United States — It was a global movement. I think that there's a lot of forces in our world now trying to shape how it's going to be.

Basically, I get inspired when I hear stories about grassroots communication movements, and how that can be used for the people to get their voice out and make sure that they're being heard as well. That inspires me.

So we've talked a little bit about social movements and social justice, how important is that to you as a communicator?

It's so important.

So last year, there were a lot of conversations that organizations were having around social justice and also just anti-racism. It was a hard time, but it was also a beautiful moment, because so many organizations were forced to look at themselves in the mirror and ask, "Do I just talk the talk, or am I actually doing stuff as well?"

I think that as communicators, we have to look at the alignment between what our companies are saying they're doing, and what they're actually doing, because someone is going to call you out anyway at some point. So you better be ready and try and help your leadership team fix that alignment.

And so I actually proposed and got the approval from our Valenti leadership to start an anti-racism committee. I chaired that, and we created an anti-racism action plan that made recommendations for the school. One of the things that we recommended was to have a standing committee where there's a committee within Valenti of students, faculty and staff that's constantly looking within our department, producing programs and doing research to figure out how we can make sure we prepared our students for success.

That's something that I, as a communicator, have taken really seriously, because I feel like we need to make sure that anti-racism lens is being kept in our communication.

It also looks at intersectionality. Who are we showing in our posts? How do we talk about them? And intersectionality, not just in terms of race, but in ability, gender identity, all of these things. It's making sure you're showing different types of people because representation really matters.

Then on a personal level, over the last year, I was in graduate school and I focused a lot of my work on this whole concept of social justice, and how social movement organizations use communication to effect change.

I actually finished over the summer, my chapter, with Dr. Lan Ni. We wrote a chapter about how a black liberation organization builds relationships and alliances with intercultural groups. One of our findings was that just because their focus is the black community doesn't mean that they're not also working with other groups and standing in solidarity with them. I

I've also taken on some projects, like, last year I had a client who does anti-racism training. I also had two friends who were launching an activist organization, and they wanted to get help with their branding and communication. I went and spent a weekend with them a few years ago, just helping them with that work.

That's where I realized what gives me the most life and inspiration as a communicator. I thought to myself, I feel like I could do the most good with this. That's where that social justice, social movement-type lens comes in for me.

Would you in the future be interested in working with an activist organization?

Yes, of course. That's going to be my next move after Valenti. I love being here, but I'm not going to be here forever. I'm definitely thinking that the next move will be working for a nonprofit, a think tank, or just in general an advocacy organization or agency that is doing that kind of work.

One of the subsets of public relations is issues management and I think that's where I'm shifting a little bit more. So rather looking, more so, what are issues that people are trying to advance, get more attention for, or what have you?

Then there's a whole area of communication, the whole theory of communication that guides ways that as PR practitioners, or as issues managers, we can get the word out about those issues and gain exposure. It's more like alliance building and relationship management. It makes me super excited because there's a lot of strategy. So that's where I'll be in the future.

So are there any inspirations (people, organizations, think tanks) that you've looked at that inspire you as a communicator?

There's a think tank called Black Futures Lab — and I just love their branding. I love it when I find an activist organization or social movement organization that has a great cause, but at the same time, also has a beautiful brand. I know somebody's behind the scenes who understands branding and they're doing a great job.

Black Futures Lab does a lot of work, like educational events, to just empower people to create change. They also produce really compelling research, especially about the black community, and also LGBTQ voices within the black community, which can often be overlooked because it's a marginalized community within a marginalized community.

There's also one organization that I recently came across, the Center for Constitutional Rights. Their positioning statement was, "dismantle systems of oppression regardless of the risk," and I thought that was so beautiful. Especially the "regardless of the risk" phrase because a lot of times there is risk there. Unfortunately, the reality is that a lot of organizations have to think about how what they say might negatively affect their organization or their ability to make change.

I thought that was a really powerful statement. As I go through my career, dismantling systems of oppression has become a bigger focus. I want to participate in dismantling it, but I also want to work for companies that take that part seriously.

This last year I did a lot of introspection and thought, "If I'm not part of that solution, then I'm part of that problem." If I'm working for an organization that doesn't really care about that, and it's more profit-focused, then I'm perpetuating this as well.

People who are willing to be brave and courageous, and just do these things regardless of the risk because they're the right things to do — that's what and who I want to work for.

I think that part of it is, again, going back to that conversation of how things ought to be versus how they are. I do wish I was braver in these areas, but I could definitely say it's a vision statement for me. This is who I want to be as a communicator, thank you.

It's difficult to rock the boat within a company.

Sometimes I think that people mock activists, or make it like, "Oh, they're just doing this for publicity, or exposure," or whatever. Activism is hard. Activism is not something, especially if you really throw yourself into it and you're like a radical activist who says, "I'm going to say things that make people uncomfortable, that people are not going to be happy to hear me say, but that our society needs to hear."

Especially if you're an activist who does not believe in capitalism, then you're over here not really charging or getting paid. You're just out there saying stuff. You're dedicating your entire might, and there's not that return, not necessarily on investment, you know?

So I definitely don't think that activism is not a glamorous thing to be doing. I just think it's a powerful thing. And I really appreciate people who are willing to do and say the things that not all of us are brave enough to say.

And what’s your favorite part of your current job?

Mentoring students, talking to students. Honestly, you guys give me life. I'm always happy and chipper because you all make me so happy, I'm not going to lie. Sometimes over the summers, especially, it'll get a little difficult for me to push through and then I'll have an interaction with a student that makes me remember that this is why I do this thing right here at Valenti. I love mentoring students or talking to professors and hearing success stories.

What are some things that you think aspiring PR professionals should focus on?

I think that there are hard skills that communicators need to make sure that they have.

So one, make sure you know how to write. It's not rocket science or anything, just practice. It's a muscle, you have to work it out for it to get stronger.

For aspiring PR practitioners, I would say work that communication muscle. Go out and write, speak to people interpersonally, practice doing stuff on social media where you're just putting content out to be consumed and building that muscle to where it's not something that you overthink about too much.

I also would say to them, to just practice being strategic in the things that you do. I think it's easy for people to just focus on, "Oh, what content am I going to create?" And just like, "I want to make this. I want to make that." There's not really a sense of continuity between everything. It's not necessarily telling a story about you, or a story about what makes you special and your unique perspective.

So if you're going into personal branding, I would just recommend practicing being strategic in thinking, "Okay, what are things that set me apart? How do I amplify those? How do I get those in front of the people who need to see that? "

Even outside of personal branding, that strategic aspect is so important. Honestly, strategy can be a little bit hard to teach. It's not like a press release where you point at it and say, "This is a press release. It has this part, this part, and this part." Strategy can be a little bit more of an art.

Try and look whenever you see a particular communication piece, and reverse engineer it, and be like, "Okay, what are they trying to accomplish here? Why did they think this would be what works most effectively?"

Also think about being critical, and challenging some of those things, "Did it work? Did it not? If it didn't work, why not?" Be mindful of those things.

What are some lessons you've learned throughout your professional journey?

My favorite lesson is, done is better than perfect. I heard this on a podcast before. Because I'm a perfectionist, I try to live by that and really just not focus so much on that perfection, because especially as communicators, accuracy is important. Always. Nothing can undercut your credibility like sharing information that's just not true.

That said, there is a difference between accuracy and perfection, and you have to know when to draw that line, because getting stuff out in a timely manner is important. You don't want to sit on things for two weeks longer because then no one's talking about it. So that's the first lesson.

And then the second one, which is one that I'm really still trying to learn, is to not do anything, not just do one-off projects, but to tie my interest into everything I do. If you have to write a chapter, and you have a particular thing you're interested in, and say, you have a particular project that you need to deliver someone: how can you tie all three of those things together to where more of the work can just be consolidated?

I think that it's important to make sure that we stop and think about how to work smarter, not harder. How can I make sure that I'm not pulling myself in too many different directions, and everything I'm doing helps with this particular trajectory?

Then the last thing I would say too is, I've just really learned the value of being brave. I get imposter syndrome a lot and really easily, actually. And I honestly feel like the older I get, the more imposter syndrome I have.

I think it's because one, I'm a perfectionist, but also, two, because the older you get, the more you learn that you don't know. And it's just like, "Oh, my gosh. Oh, these people are doing this thing. That's so cool." And then you're just like, "Oh, well, I'm not doing this thing? Does this mean that I'm not good at this? Does this mean that I shouldn't be in this particular field?"

I think that, for me, has been a big journey of just being brave, being courageous, not second-guessing myself and also just realizing that you're always learning. You will always be learning. I know that we often say, "Okay, when you get to this point of your career, then you're an expert."

I feel like for me, my journey has been that I have to focus less on the whole question of who's an expert, who's not? And more so on what do I know? What do I need to know? What do I want to learn? And just thinking of it as a process, not a destination, the process of expertise.

How is balancing your master's degree and professional job?

Hard. It was really hard, but I have an amazing job that allows for a lot of flexibility. I can stop at 5:00 p.m. on most days and switch gears. But it has looked like me not having a lot of time outside of school and work to just have free time.

I've really been trying to focus on building a work-life balance as much as possible. For me, that looks like protecting my weekends as much as possible to just recoup with people who I haven't seen. It also looks like me prioritizing myself in some way every day. Really, it's been me making time to work out. I joined a gym and I try and go at least four times a week. I will usually go from work to working out and then to my schoolwork because I'll feel like at least I got a break and some time to really reset myself before the next push.




Can you talk a little bit about your final project and the book chapter you co-wrote?

I wrote a chapter for this book on intercultural communication, and I focus my chapter particularly on what intercultural communication is, and how activists and a specific activist organization approach it. I think it's about 30 pages in total.

I also worked on a communication plan for that activist organization. Basically, they have an event they're trying to do, and they had me working on a plan that would help drive attendance. I also did some brand positioning to get people to think of them and understand that they are this organization that also does intercultural work and has intercultural relationships, because I think that's important.

I know that a lot of identity-based movements are emerging and, obviously, they're focused on one particular identity, or group, or what have you, but I do think it's important to show solidarity. When you show that, then it's like "Oh, this is just like one group over there making a ruckus, pointing out things in our society that need to be improved." No, there's power in those numbers. We're all talking about it from a different vantage point, but, in the end, we're all talking about how our society needs to improve, and we have a shared vision for a more equitable, anti-racist society for everybody.

That's amazing. How long have you been working with them?

So it's been a year with this project. It was last summer that I started throwing around ideas, and then last semester was when things really came together and I proposed my project.

Over the winter break, I did a lot of research interviews, and this semester I worked a lot on the chapter and finalizing that. And then over the summer, I started working on the communication plan. Now that I see the insights that emerge from that chapter, I'm like, "Okay, now what are some things that need to be worked on, and how can I maybe expand on it or make it better?"

In the thick of things, I'm just like, "Oh, my God. I did not write the method section. I need to write it. Let me focus on the method section, and I need to meet this deadline." I'm excited to finish this plan because it's taken a lot of me, but I'm really excited to just be able to look back and be like, "I did this thing. I finished this thing."

Finally, what are some tips you might have for other young communications professionals?

One tip that I didn't do, and I think would have really accelerated my career more had I done it, is just really finding mentors who are where you think you might want to be. It's okay if you change your mind eventually, if you say, "Oh, I think that's not where I want to be" — but people who have some expertise, a network within the industry, that you're interested in and that you can invite them for feedback.

It could be asking them once a month. I think mentorship really sets people apart, and can help you accelerate your career because it's people who've been there, done that. That working smart, not harder? Don't try to spend all your time figuring things out by yourself if you can avoid it.

Ask people. Any of them can't be a long term mentor, just find people whose brain you can pick for one-off things as needed.