riley clem
The Life of Riley
Life Experience
I am a huge believer in real world experiences. I truly believe that going to a hands-on children's museum will teach kids more about science than a year in the classroom would. This is why I decided to take a summer (2017) to travel Europe by myself.
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My experience started as Study Abroad in Grenoble, France then to Paris. I loved every second of it and wanted more adventures. I took another month to travel around Europe meeting amazing people and seeing and doing things that I never thought I would ever get to do. I learned so much about myself. For instance, I learned that I work well under pressure and that getting lost is the best way to see more.
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In 2018, I got the opportunity to travel to Guatemala to build stoves in the Highlands. The Highlands are areas of very impoverished villages and my team of 16 was attempting to build 16 stoves in three days. We were successful in our mission, and I came out with my eyes opened to a world of kindness and generosity. The women that we were building for
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One of the reasons that I think travel is so important, is because it puts a face to a news story. It instills empathy: that part of the world, those people, are ingrained in your memory and heart. It is no longer a foreign place seen only on TV, it is real. It has families. It is loved and photographed. It is cherished by many. It, and all the people wherever "it" is, have immeasurable value.
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To read more about my travels and adventures, go to my travel page
Work Experience
BrainBox Intelligent Marketing
Activation Manager
July 2019-Present
During my last week as an undergraduate college student, I got a call from BrainBox telling me that they found my resume from a career fair back in February and wanted to bring me in for an interview. Three days after I graduated, I was offered a job. The job was as a "Seasonal Activation Manager", scheduled to be from July to November with a chance to make it permanent. During my time as a Seasonal Activation Manager, I worked on a number of different projects including creating a database to streamline some company tasks, activating four Great American Rivalry Series Football Games and working on the first ever "ArmyFit Challenge". The role that I fell into in mid September was the Director of the Marine CorpsFit property. The Marines are BrainBox's biggest client and this property is the second largest financially. I manage the account and am in charge of the activation. I do most of them myself but delegate where I can. I sell the product, coordinate all logistics, activate the event, and am responsible for the after action report that gets sent to the client.
After proving myself as a Seasonal employee and showing my value, I got asked to stay on the BrainBox team. I am still doing Marine CorpsFit Activations but am helping out on other projects around the office when I get the chance.
This job has taught me about time management. Because I travel so much, I need to find time to plan for future activations. I have learned more about thinking forward and planning for future events. And I have learned about different management styles and what I respond best to in the workplace. When I am a manager, I will take my lessons learned from this job and aim to be the boss that people always look back fondly on.
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American Volleyball Coaches Association- Lexington, KY
Marketing and Communications Intern
August 2018- December 2018
This was my dream internship. I got to learn every day about Marketing from a PR view. I was writing press releases and blog posts for the AVCA website as well as managing the Pinterest account (Which has not been touched since I left, unfortunately).
The coolest thing that I was able to do with the AVCA was go to the annual convention in Minneapolis in December 2018. I was doing a lot of Instagram stories around the convention. I was also Tweeting for the @AVCAPhenom account because they were hosting the Under Armour All America match.
During the course of this internship, I met a lot of very professional people who inspired me to be the best version of me.
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Royal Lexington -- Lexington, KY
April 2018-December 2018
I truly enjoy working with people. I like getting to know people and I enjoy helping them, which is why this job was so great for me. At the Royal Lexington, I was not just the "girl in the office", but more, I was the first face someone would see when they wanted to tour the property. I was the person to give people their packages and tell them happy birthday when their dad shipped them flowers. I had the opportunity to make peoples day simply by talking to them for a couple of minutes. I loved this job and I value the experience I gained.
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H3 Sports -- Knoxville, TN
May 2016-Present
Working with H3 Sports is such an incredible opportunity. It is a relatively new brand and being able to advertise and run the social media accounts is very exciting. I also utilize the website MadMimi to send out promotional material. I have learned how to read and interpret the data that I get from MadMimi to send an email promotion at a certain time of day for optimal viewing.
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Avalon Golf and Country Club -- Knoxville, TN
May 2016-August 2017
At Avalon, I worked in the Pro Shop. Every day, I scheduled tee times, cleaned and organized the shop, and opened the daily till. This was the first job that I held full time and I enjoyed every bit of the responsibility.
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Free-Lance Photographer -- Knoxville, TN & Lexington, KY
August 2014-Present
Taking pictures brings me joy. Being in pictures brings others joy. During my senior year of high school, I began taking Senior Pictures for my classmates pro bono.
Since then, I have been commissioned to take more senior photos and commercial photos for marketing purposes.
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