Elizabeth Glagowski knew she wanted to work in journalism, but wasn’t sure exactly how. Studying in the Journalism Department at Southern helped her refine her skills and her goals. She is now the editor-in-chief of the Customer Strategist Journal for the customer experience company TTEC, based in Stamford, Connecticut. Glagowski got her B.S. in journalism in 1998, and her M.B.A at Southern in 2016. She also is an adjunct instructor in the Journalism Department at SCSU.
Interview by Devin Hollister, SCSU JRN ‘23. Answers were condensed and edited in 2022.
How did studying journalism help with your career?
Learning how to be a good writer was No. 1, because that can be applied to so many different types of jobs. Studying in the journalism program I got to learn about broadcast, I got to learn about PR, I got to learn about writing for business, I got to learn about interview skills, and so many of those skills have applied to everything I’ve done in my career. So, from working in a newspaper, to working in a public relations job, to now doing content marketing for a marketing company. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned and applied it, it’s been such a valuable experience.
How did you get started in your career?
My first job after school was being an editor for a internet news website. When I graduated, the internet was just starting out it was the early 2000s and I got a minor in computer science. So, I basically became a business reporter for internet companies. So, which companies are starting, which companies are falling. I was one of first people to get an eBay account to go learn about this new eBay website that existed. Same thing with Amazon; it was just selling books at the time, and there was a lot of other competitors at the time.
From there, I stayed on the business side where I started writing about company news and business writing. And then I morphed that into becoming the editor of a business magazine focusing on customer service and customer experience and I’ve been doing that for the last 20 years.
What advice would you give to journalism students?
I would say try to work on that craft as much as possible while you’re here.
Southern has so many opportunities to practice both in class, but also all of the clubs: the newspaper, the TV station, the magazine, there’s radio, there’s internships.
The Southern community and the alumni community and the fact that Connecticut is a small state, there’s so many opportunities to connect with graduates and people who are out there. So I would say just try to get practice, get involved and find a niche.
Don’t be afraid to just try and keep doing it while you’re here because that will really put you in a good advantage when you go out and once you graduate.