Meet the Team: Natalie Dyess
Can you separate communication from relationships?
Natalie Dyess can’t.
As the career coach for the School of Communication and the Arts she might be a bit biased, but Natalie believes everything we communicate can either strengthen relationships or hinder them.
Within her career, Natalie has constantly seen the connection between communication and building relationships. She has worked within client engagement and experience, and even volunteered as a speech and debate coach. Currently, she also works as an adjunct professor at Central Virginia Community College.
Guiding Students to Career Success
In her role as a career coach, Natalie connects with students and teaches them how to communicate effectively. She believes that these communication skills lead to career success. Whether it’s working on a resume, writing a cover letter, or preparing for an interview, Natalie is ready to help students begin working toward their future.
“One thing I love about being a career coach is just interacting and engaging with people, and helping people to realize what they want to do and formulate a path to that,” Natalie shared.
For Natalie, being a career coach also means staying open-minded. A lot of students come into her office passionate about something but are unsure how to connect that passion to a career. Sometimes it takes thinking outside the box to find an opportunity that fits them.
One student that came into her office was a professional wrestler. However, he didn’t know how to connect this passion with his degree in Strategic Communications. After some research, Natalie found a job forum for open positions within the wrestling world, including communications opportunities.
“Students are putting their trust in me as a career coach and telling me their dreams,” Natalie explained. “Being able to understand the importance of that, and help them start building those dreams, is a big part of my job.”
Natalie’s Advice to Students Uncertain about their Future
For any student feeling uncertain of their career path, Natalie encourages them to pray through next steps and not over-stress about the future.
“Bottom line, It’s okay. People reinvent themselves a lot. You might have to settle on one thing for a little while, but it doesn’t mean your career is set in stone forever.”
If you need help discovering what’s next for you, you can also schedule a meeting with Natalie!
She knows that within communication and the arts, everything revolves around relationship building. If you’re ready to make those connections, the opportunities are endless.
