Bridget Folliard

After graduating from Lewis with a Bachelor of Art degree in Radio/TV Broadcasting, Bridget Folliard ’12 has continued to make great strides in her professional career. As the Social Media and Digital Content Specialist for the Public, Practice, and Scientific Affairs department of the American Academy of Periodontology, she began working on a consumer awareness campaign called “Love the Gums You’re With,” among several other responsibilities. 

Recently, Bridget received the Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for her contributions to the “Love the Gums You’re With” campaign. This campaign’s purpose was to educate the public about gum disease and make them aware of periodontist’s responsibility to treat this disease.

“Winning a Silver Anvil was something I had never imagined,” says Bridget. “There was a lot of hard work put into this campaign, and ultimately it paid off, but most importantly, it has helped our members.”

After graduation, Bridget landed an internship for the Public, Practice, and Scientific Affairs department of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP.) Her key responsibilities included writing press releases, managing the social media pages, writing story boards and scripts for short videos and assisting with other media related projects. Near the end of her internship, she was hired as the coordinator of that same department, and in this position, she began her work on the “Love the Gums You’re With” campaign.

“Our goal was to at least reach 75 million people in the first year through Public Relations tactics such as a Satellite Media Tour with our celebrity spokesperson, Chris Harrison, distributing a national press release, and social media promotion,” says Bridget. “We ended up succeeding that goal by reaching a total of 143 million people!”

This accomplishment helped Bridget, and her company, win the Silver Anvil.  According to the PRSA, the Silver Anvil is awarded annually to organizations reaching the very highest levels of professional achievement. As a result of her hard work, she has recently been promoted to the Members Communication Manager.

Heavily involved in campus activities like producing sports broadcasts, hosting radio shows and participating in “To Kill a DJ,” she also worked on campus in the Health and Counseling Center for over two years. 

“I found that Lewis University provided me with a general understanding of the diverse field I chose to go into,” Bridget comments.  “Even though I majored in Broadcasting, most of my classes were communications, marketing, and public relations based which helped me gain a general knowledge of all of those fields. Ultimately, that helped me succeed because I was able to venture into a slightly different field than what I had intended.”

Bridget encourages students at Lewis to explore their options and dip their toes into anything that interests them. “There are endless amounts of opportunities that are just waiting for you out in the world and students should be able to explore those in college,” Bridget says.

After switching majors three times, Bridget finally found a field she loved. Her passion, hard work and dedication are evident in all that she has accomplished in her personal and professional career thus far.

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