Get to know Erin Wall: director of marketing at North Greenville University
North Greenville University’s Marketing and Communications team consists of (front, left to right) Erin Wall, LaVerne Howell (back, left to right) Celeste Hawkins, Virginia Madison, Jennifer Lynch and Sheila Price.
Madi Estella, Graphic Designer and Contributing Writer
A graduate of North Greenville University with a vision and heart for the school, Erin Wall, the marketing director at North Greenville University is taking the school’s brand to new heights. After graduation Wall joined the admissions staff and over the years rose to her current position due to her grit and drive.
Wall was born in Greer, SC to a blue-collar family. With Wall’s gift of a distinct voice, she auditioned and received a spot with the Joyful Sound ministry. Wall admitted that if it wasn’t for that ministry her story may have been different. She was the first in her family to go to college and received an education that was like no other.
“It would have been really easy for me, to stay in my little place and do my little thing and it is cool to think of where I came from to where I am now.” Wall enthusiastically spoke about how every faculty member, peer, and person that stepped onto North Greenville’s campus helped shape her into the woman that she is today.
One influential person of hers was Dr. Linwood Hagin, currently the dean of the college of communication. Wall was an Interdisciplinary study major focusing in business and mass communication. An internship was not required for her major but Wall took it upon herself to gain the experience she needed. Wall spoke with Hagin and she found a position in a PR firm in downtown Greenville.
Wall’s internship consisted of the basics, from getting coffee and getting lunch to working with a client of the PR firm called Red Barron Frozen pizza, which is still around to this day. Wall got to take care of their press releases, planned special events and ran statistics that improved her professional portfolio.
“With the concepts, I got in the classroom, the internship I took upon myself and key mentors here, I learned to define what my talents where.” After her added work experience and she ever present work ethic she was set up for great success after graduation in any institution. However, Wall had a dream to work at the school in some capacity. So the February before her graduation she was offered a position in the administration team.
Andy Ray, director of admissions, has been at the school for 26 years and has seen Wall flourish at this institution. “Erin’s fingerprints are on so many things, our brochures, postcards and email campaigns.”
Wall actually credits her time in the admission staff for her knowledge on how to reach students effectively. This team-oriented efficiently and had a “work hard, play hard” mentality. This mentality is what has led to Wall’s great success along with the work environment she calls home.
According to Sheila Price, the graphic designer at NGU, “[Wall] loves North Greenville. She wants to see it grow, and the evidence is the work ethic.” Wall and Price work closely together to ensure that the university has professional content that accurately reflects the atmosphere here at North Greenville, especially the family-like mentality that Wall experienced.
Wall explained that as the current director she is striving “to continue the brand awareness and also continue to improve the level of marketing.”
The MAC team is still a fairly new department in comparison to other school’s marketing departments. However, Wall is using her skills and effort to reach a point where everyone recognizes North Greenville as an excellent institution because it presents itself with excellence.
Understandably, it is not a goal that can be reached overnight, but Wall explained it can be achieved with a unified and consistent presentation of the brand as an outstanding brand.
One effort towards bringing that unity is the new marketing guidelines and media releases available on the school’s website. Wall and the MAC team saw a disconnect between the content some clubs and organizations were posting. Now faculty can contact the MAC team to help with all event media coverage and production.
Wall and her team have also worked closely with the admissions department and have created plentiful amounts of content to provide information on all majors, sports teams, clubs and more for potential students. The MAC team had contributed photo slideshows, pop-ups, brochures and much more full of information students want to know.
The reason for their great ambition and success lays in the fact that, like Wall, the team consists of all NGU alumni. Their passion for the school reflects in all the work they have been able to achieve in the short period of time.
Ray said it best when he said, “We are a family here [at NGU]. We work hard and we get tired but if you’re making a difference and you’re passionate about serving the Lord, in our designated field, that kind of tired is a good tired.” Wall has devoted 18 years of service in this institution, and that same spirit has inspired her to make change happen. All in efforts to see her family at North Greenville grow.
