How Mike Dickerson Changed My Life

...and how he still does! Now living in Albuquerque, he is still very much in the hearts and minds of those he left behind.

BBC Broadcasters? Having fun on the BBC set in 2015, while he handed off the Global PR Study Abroad Program to me.

I am enjoying the most rewarding experience of my career, teaching college students and helping to launch their careers and lives. This was not part of any master plan, not something I'd always dreamed of, not anything I ever thought I'd do. Somehow Professor Michael Dickerson knew me better than I knew myself.

Over a decade ago, I'd contacted the professor for resumes of his best and brightest. I'd just finished a comms overhaul for a client and needed a smart, hard-working PR grad to take it over and run with it. He responded immediately, we interviewed his students, and hired one the next day. He was right: she was smart, productive and a delight.

"Why don't you visit my advertising class?" ...and then "Why don't you lead this discussion?"...and then "You should be teaching this class." I thought about it but told him I didn't qualify: I didn't have an advanced degree.

"Easy enough to solve. Go earn a master's.

A retired colonel, he was used to giving orders and used to having them obeyed. I thought about it and finally said, "Why not?" So, at age 55, I poured over the GRE prep book, asked former clients for letters of recommendation, and applied to Mason's graduate school. Trite as this is: the rest is history.

More blogs to come.