Casey Malinowski on Working Your Way to the Top

October 1, 2018

Casey Malinowski, with his love for marketing from the moment he got exposed to it in high school, to the many firsts he experienced in Pamplin has worked his way up from his personal low to the very height of his career. Now, he spends each day putting everything into the work that he loves the most.

A 2014 VT Marketing graduate, Casey hadn’t entered the real world with the best grades on his transcript and he thought that might overshadow his chances of success but today he is exactly where he wants to be. Starting from his graduation, Casey was faced with many difficult times. Including a heartbreaking termination from his starting position after Virginia Tech. Casey said, “ It was a really challenging moment in my life but it actually turned out to be one of the most important factors in my life and in my career”. He did not let this crush him, but he picked himself up and got back out there. Starting an entry level job in Maryland, he was eager and looking to make things happen for himself! He said, “I worked crazy hours. But while I was there I worked on Conair For Men, as well as Ryan Homes, Rockefeller Center, and Hilton Hotels doing social media strategy, community management, and content marketing for them, just from a very entry level stand point. It was a really awesome experience”. Casey spent his time completely redesigning their social media presence, which was huge because it is such a big part of business today. He was nervous at first but he had the best attitude going into and it turned out amazing.

After so much success with this company, one of Casey’s co-workers moved onto a new company and decided that Casey needed to join their new team. There was just one problem, the position was across the country in LA. Casey didn’t let that scare him and he straightened his tie and went into an interview with the VP of social, who turned out to be a fellow Hokie! After being in the interview Casey realized he was there to discuss a social position for the NBC account, he was beyond ecstatic. Casey was offered a position and he said, “Honestly, I’m gonna pack myself up and I’m gonna move across the country and that’s it”, and so he did.

Today, he now works for Digital Media Management, which is based in Beverly Hills. He assumes a supervisor role and overlooks 3 community managers. He has interfaced with celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Kristen Chenoweth, and Jennifer Hudson and is currently finishing up the premiere revival season of Will and Grace, the iconic NBC comedy. Casey has also covered some big events such as the Golden Globe Awards. As he put it, “The glow-up is real!”.

Casey urges people, to always try their hardest and to never give up. He mentioned that his parents started with a similar story, beginning with little and making the most out of their lives. He expressed how much it meant to him that they always tried their hardest to make him and his 4 siblings happy, and they always did. He said one thing that helped him push through the difficult times was a saying his mom told him, “You may not always have the best ideas in the room, you may not always be the smartest, but something you can control is to be the hardest working”, that is something that has continued to stick with him throughout his career.

“I really hope that students will take away from my experience and my career that you’re gonna have failures and you need to pick yourself up and get back out there”.