Meet the 3 New 3Pointers
There have been a number of new faces at 3Points already this summer, but last month we had the biggest growth spurt in company history. On June 10th, we had three (of course it was three) new full time hires all begin on the same day.
Some of you may remember Chris Brendza from last year, when, as a 3Points summer intern, he showed a natural ability for writing content, collaborating on teams, and throwing down nasty dunks. Chris continued to help us out on social media while finishing up his senior year at Notre Dame, and we were thrilled when he accepted our offer to rejoin us full-time as an account coordinator after his graduation.
Nicole Hopkins is another Chicago-area native, and joined us as an account manager. Since graduating from Illinois State in 2016, she has worked in a variety of public relations roles, bringing with her agency experience and an expansive skillset in both PR and account management.
Rounding out the trio is Delilah Bennett, who also steps into an account manager position with us. Delilah grew up in Austin, TX, and graduated from Vanderbilt in 2017. (Fun fact: she came personally recommended by three-time 3Points intern Meredith Brumfield.) Delilah spent the past two years working in different marketing roles at EAB, an education research firm in Washington D.C.
Chris, Nicole, and Delilah are already making a big impact for 3Points and our clients. Now that they’ve settled in, we set up a short Q&A with the three of them to help you get to know the newest 3Pointers a bit better.
What are you most excited about working on at 3Points?
Chris: I’ll answer with a non-answer: I’m excited to work across our breadth of clients. We retain some really interesting companies with diverse business models in varying industries, and it makes every day new and interesting. It’s not one specific thing that has me excited, but the wide range of possible work.
Delilah: The combination of learning the ins and outs of PR and learning more about the fintech, crypto, and Chicago tech spaces is really exciting to me.
Nicole: I’m excited to dive deep into the fintech industry and garner some great coverage for our clients!
How did you get interested in PR and communications?
Chris: I felt communications was a great combination of not only my skills but my passions as well. I majored in marketing and English in college — initially choosing marketing as a career path well-suited for my skills and English as a passion project — until I realized PR and communications had the perfect blend of what I liked and was adept at from each discipline.
Delilah: My dad always recognized my creativity and communications skills and recommended that I look into fields like marketing, advertising, PR, and sales. I became intrigued by these areas of the business world and ended up focusing on them throughout my studies at Vanderbilt, internships, and first job. After gaining all of that experience, I realized that PR is the right place for me, my strengths, and my interests.
Nicole: I actually always thought I was going to be a teacher, until my great-aunt brought up public relations to me when I was in my first year of college. Several of my mom’s cousins are in PR and love it, and since I’m an outgoing people-person, she thought I should look into it. I’ve always found writing and communicating to be two of my strengths, so it ended up being a perfect fit!
As you may remember from our interview process, we always ask, “What are three words your friends would use to describe you?” What are your three?
Chris: Passionate, considerate, creative
Delilah: People-person, positive, hard-worker
Nicole: Compassionate, organized, diligent
Since you’ve been here for about a month now, what’s your favorite thing you’ve worked on at 3Points so far?
Chris: Getting our relationship with a startup stock exchange we’re working with up and running is something I’ve really enjoyed working on so far. It’s a young firm with a purpose-driven mission — to improve our market system by increasing competition among U.S. equities exchanges — and getting in on the ground floor and really being able to guide the growth of the brand has been exciting.
Delilah: I’ve loved taking the lead on managing the CMT Digital account and our relationship with its CEO, Colleen Sullivan. Colleen is such a powerful woman in the space, and I have really enjoyed learning more about the industry from her. In the short time that I have been here, I have already generated speaking engagements for Colleen, worked on owned media pieces, and managed CMTD’s social media accounts. I thought it was really unique that I got to gain so much responsibility and work on such a variety of projects from Day One.
Nicole: I’ve loved getting to share my media relations tactics and strategies with the team. Coming up with creative hooks and new ways to capture the attention of reporters provides a challenge, and it’s great getting to see how everyone tackles it differently. I’ve also enjoyed developing new strategies for the team to stay organized for internal processes, managing client social media, tracking placements, etc.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Chris: Recently I’ve been spending much of my free time golfing — I can’t say I was stellar to begin with, but I’ve grown really rusty since high school. Among my other hobbies, I’m an avid reader who is currently flying through The Devil in the White City (to which I know I’m late); I recently developed a taste for cooking; I’m an avid consumer of all things Chicago sports; and I enjoy losing years off my lifespan by stressing over Notre Dame football.
Delilah: I love to travel, do yoga, bake, try new restaurants, and spend time with my dog.
Nicole: I love to exercise, spend time with my friends and family, travel, read, watch movies, and get outside as much as possible!
What are you most looking forward to doing during this Chicago summer?
Chris: Honestly, I’m looking forward to just being outside as much as possible. It’s a cliche at this point to talk about how amazing Chicago is in the summer — from street fests, to baseball games, to the beaches — but every Midwest winter makes me grateful for how good we get it in the summer. And this winter really decided to drive that point home…
Delilah: I’m looking forward to soaking up every minute of sunshine and checking out the Chicago restaurant scene!
Nicole: I plan to go for walks/runs along the lakefront trail, check out some Chicago rooftop bars/restaurants, and spend as much time at the beach as possible.
