We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Russell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Showing clients you appreciate them is something I think most folks want to do – but it’s not always clear how to do it in a meaningful way. What’s one of the best examples of client appreciation you can share with us?

We recently had major flash-flooding in St. Louis which impacted residents all over the city. Doing damage assessments, I visited many parts of the city and traveled on foot through many neighborhoods meeting those who were affected and entering many homes. This experience helped me to better understand how individuals were impacted by the flooding, but it also let them know that there were people who worked for the city who were trying to get them help. They also became familiar with the agency I lead and what we do when there isn’t an active flood. It started many conversations and relationships that I hope to see continue in the future. I hope that it made my neighbors (city residents) feel more confident and more secure knowing that someone was trying to help recover from the damages they experienced.

Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I took my first emergency management position in February 2010. I quickly learned that this was going to be a much different role than I had previously been in and that continued learning was going to be very important. I knew that there wasn’t usually much room for advancement and the pay wasn’t what kept people doing this work. I knew about safety programs, but I wasn’t fully aware of what emergency management was until my first week on the job as I started digging into FEMA independent study courses. My first glimpse of emergency management was on 9/11 in the images that were produced at Ground Zero in New York. I saw someone wearing an OEM jacket and at the time I had no idea what that meant. A decade later, I found myself wearing a similar jacket and reviewing case studies of 9/11 and other incidents that would help me prepare for such events. Now, I am capable of talking for hours about a single part of emergency management, such as helping city residents to become prepared for any disaster. I help communicate the need for preparedness and can lead classes helping to get people started in building a disaster supply kit, making an emergency plan, developing ways to connect with their family members during a disaster, and finding ways to get trusted information from reliable sources in an emergency. One of my proudest moments was the day I was able to release information on a mass notification alerting tool that was being implemented in my city. I had worked for many years to review options and make the case for investing in this critical public safety tool. I knew how beneficial this would be and how many more people we would be able to reach with life-saving information. Three years later, I still get excited each time I tell someone new about the program or help them register to receive alerts. Disaster preparedness is not a topic that everyone loves to discuss, there are many who do, but one of the most important things I can do is to make sure, even though someone doesn’t want to talk about it when they need the information, they know someone is there standing by to help them.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is an important part of how I communicate with the public. It is important that using social media is done in a way that gets your message to the most people and accounts for those who may use assistive devices or who rely on ALT text to fully explain the message being sent. There are times when I have to send time-sensitive, critical information, and there are times when messaging is much lighter and can include humor. At the end of the day, I am a human who just so happens to work for the government and is trying to have a conversation with the public I serve. Communication is not one-way, especially on SOCIAL media. You have to listen and receive messages and that can lead to becoming a trusted source of information. I strive for this every day. My advice to anyone starting out on social media is to be a consumer as well as a producer, and put in more time following accounts than worrying about how many followers you have. If you have 5 engaged followers who may share your message or are at least engaging with your content, that is great. Keep your accounts active and relevant and engage with the accounts you follow as well, this will help you build relationships.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My actions have helped to build my reputation. I have high standards for the work I do and no task is less important than the next. Sometimes things may have to be rescheduled or delayed due to an active incident, but it’s important that people know you will get back to them and see the job through. Being dependable and accountable in emergency management is important. If someone has to call me in the middle of the night, I want them to know they can expect me to answer and to help get them what they need.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.st;louis-mo.gov/ema
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commsdom/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srussellstl/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/commsdom/