PapaLoDown Announces New Apprentices
PapaLoDown is so excited to introduce our newest team members, Pia and Kristen! With our new dream team PapaLoDown is ready to tackle the end of the year!
Meet our Apprentices
Kristen Soller
Kristen Soller, 2018 Apprentice (photo credit Stephan Goettlicher)
Kristen Soller is a tropical fruit native to the Sunshine State, and currently based in Miami. Following a deep curiosity about dialogue, listening and people, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology while also studying art, design and journalism at the University of Miami. With over five years of experience in project management, copywriting and graphic design, Kristen has helped clients verbally and visually tell their brand stories. Seeing the potential of audio storytelling, she currently produces Kidnapped for Dinner, a podcast about disorienting moments in the creative process. She is also always thinking about food and is easily excited about what to cook next.
Check out what Kristen is most excited for and her other projects!
1) What are you looking forward to most when working with PapaLoDown?
What initially drew me to PapaLoDown was the agency’s focus on amplifying the voices of business owners and community organizers who are underrepresented in our current social, cultural landscape. As a Filipina-American with a background in psychology, branding and marketing and who is passionate about helping others share their stories, I’m excited to see how my experience can further PapaLoDown’s efforts. Since I am based in South Florida, I am also excited about the idea of fostering relationships across the U.S.
2) What do you hope to learn from your experience with PapaLoDown?
I hope to learn more about Public Relations as a tool to help brands and organizations tell their stories. I also look forward to learning more about the socially conscious projects happening on the West Coast so that I may be able to apply the knowledge to my own community in South Florida.
3) What other projects do you have going on right now?
I host and produce a podcast called Kidnapped for Dinner, which features conversations about the vulnerable, disorienting and not-so-sexy moments in the creative process. I am also an artist currently focused on fiber art and printed matter.
Pia Cortez
Pia Cortez, 2018 Apprentice
Pia Cortez is a writer and a book blogger based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the creator and curator of the book blog Libromance, where she publishes book reviews and other literary features with a queer, Filipino immigrant perspective. She is currently a contributor for Lambda Literary, New Life Quarterly, Full Stop, Positively Filipino and Hella Pinay. When she’s not writing, reading or reviewing books, she’s working on #booklook, a project on the intersection of literature and fashion. You can also find Pia surfing in Pacifica, or somewhere in the Bay on the hunt for the next best Filipino fusion food.
Check out what PIA is most excited for and her other projects!
1) What are you looking forward to most when working with PapaLoDown?
I’m looking forward to working with clients and sharing their story in a way that makes people genuinely feel moved to take action. Being able to translate a client’s story in a compelling way, to different audiences, and through different forms of media is something I hope to accomplish.
2) What do you hope to learn from your experience with PapaLoDown?
I really want to learn the ropes of being a PR professional, especially with a team whose politics and beliefs align with my own. Much of what I’ve done around traditional/social media outreach has been self-taught, so I’m really excited to work among trusted folks in the field.
3) What other projects do you have going on right now?
I write book reviews over at libromance.com and I’m a literary contributor for Hella Pinay, Lambda Literary and New Life Quarterly among others. I’m also experimenting on the intersections of fashion & literature that I’ve lovingly termed “booklook” and you can find more on booklookbypia.com.