International Women’s Day

06 Mar International Women’s Day

For International Women’s Day 2020, we wanted to give the bullhorn to the amazing and creative women here at Say It Loud! and share their inspiring journeys on how they found their passion for advertising:

Cortney Smith
Account Executive
Cortney originally started out on a different career path. She initially pursued Business/Marketing at the University of South Florida, but soon found that finance and business calculus classes were not her thing. So, she switched gears to something more creative and became a Mass Communications/Advertising major and landed an internship at SIL during her last semester. At SIL, she tested her skills in all departments and developed a talent for account services. We were eagerly waiting for her to graduate so we could bring her on as a full-time Account Coordinator. Six years later, she’s now our lead Account Executive and her ability to quickly establish and maintain healthy client relationships makes her an invaluable part of the agency. 

Alex Chiles
Art Director
Alex is approaching her 5-year anniversary as one of our Art Directors, but she initially had her sights on becoming an engineer while at the University of Central Florida. After realizing engineering wasn’t for her, she transferred to Valencia College’s Graphic Design program to pursue what she really loved. While still in school, she scored an internship with Laughing Samurai, an advertising agency that was sharing studio space with SIL at the time. We quickly took notice of her skills and offered her a position as a Graphic Designer halfway through her internship (with Laughing Samurai’s blessing, of course!). Her artistry and passion bring out the best in our work.

Julia Hawkins
Art Director/Producer
Julia knew exactly what she wanted her career to look like. Her passion for graphic design started in high school and from that point on she worked to carve out a career in the advertising world – first by earning an A.S. in Graphic Design from Valencia College. She quickly got a job as a Production Artist at a local advertising agency, worked her way up to Associate Art Director, and got more hands-on experience with clients and campaigns. She continued to build her skills, and grow her network as a full-time freelancer. Lucky for us, we ended up as one of her clients. Now she’s an Art Director as well as a Producer for SIL. With this being her first hybrid role, she’s excited to have the ability to expand her versatility and knowledge of the industry. Her attention to detail and love for design makes her an MVP here at SIL.

Annie Rein
Copywriter/Account Coordinator
Annie is the newest addition to our SIL family, and her journey here was definitely a unique one. Graduating from Florida State University with B.S. in Psychology, she found herself moving to cities like San Francisco, CA and Dallas, TX to figure out what she really wanted to do. After exploring jobs such as Office Coordinator and Paralegal, she knew she needed to do something more creative, she just didn’t know what. It wasn’t until she moved back to Florida that she pursued advertising. She enrolled in the University of Central Florida’s Advertising/Public Relations program and earned her second bachelor’s degree while completing several internships. While she may be new to advertising, her work ethic, willingness to learn, and different points of view help bring fresh perspectives to SIL.