We recently connected with Jocelyn Sandoval and have shared our conversation below.

Jocelyn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

I like to think that everyone who touches our lives leaves us with a lesson and shapes who we become, but there are a couple of people in my life who I feel have had a profound effect on who I am today both personally and professionally.

Personally, the biggest influence for me has been my parents. Watching them build a beautiful life for themselves and their family in a new country with little education and no support taught me that I truly can achieve anything I dream of as long as I put in the work.

As a young professional in the field of PR, I get a lot of inspiration from my leadership team at Sammis|Ochoa. Tanya and Mario are two of the kindest and smartest people I’ve ever met. They are deeply passionate about how they can use what they do to positively affect others and have taught me everything I know about the world of PR. They are role models for who I aspire to be as a human, a professional, and as a leader.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Jocelyn Sandoval. I am a 22-year-old account coordinator at Sammis|Ochoa Public Relations and Digital Marketing in San Antonio, TX. I work on a variety of client accounts including Ulrich Investment Consultants, Opportunity Home San Antonio, Tech Port Center + Arena, and 13th Floor Entertainment Group. I have worked for Sammis|Ochoa for over a year now. I started as an intern with absolutely no experience and little interest in public relations.

I quickly came to realize that I enjoyed the work I was doing and the relationships I was building. After I graduated with my Bachelor’s in Communication and a Minor in English from Texas A&M San Antonio, I joined the team full-time. Now I take joy in helping our clients tell their stories by putting my creative power to use through copywriting, community engagements, media relations, publicity, and digital marketing.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of PR is the opportunity to touch other people’s lives through my work. It can be easy to lose sight of it sometimes, but our work as PR professionals has the potential to reach so many people. It is our responsibility to make sure that we use that platform for good.

The impact can be as simple as overhearing someone saying they are excited to go to a show at the arena that I wrote a press release for, or hearing from someone at a community holiday toy drive I’ve helped organize tell me they wouldn’t have been able to give their family a Christmas without our help. Both are incredibly meaningful to me and give me a deep sense of fulfillment.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Your greatest assets are the people around you. Listen and learn from everyone who you have the honor of meeting and nurture the relationships that help you grow.

I received some advice from one of my mentors that I will now share with you, “Treat people like humans, not like their roles and you’ll be surprised by the doors that will open for you and the connections you can make.”

Too often in this world, we forget to be kind and understanding of each other and make relationships transactional. If you take the time to help somebody out or even just make yourself available for conversation, you can make invaluable connections.

Contact Info:

• Website: Sammisochoa.com
• Instagram: @jocelynnsan
• Facebook: @sammisochoa
• Linkedin: @jocelynsandoval
• Twitter: @sammisochoa

Image Credits
Headshot: Kody Melton