Public Relations for World-Famous Sports Teams

Gabby Dougherty '18 is living a sports fan’s dream. Her job as an account coordinator for a public relations agency takes her behind the scenes with world-famous sports teams, including the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, and Liverpool Football Club. She recently talked with us about her exciting career and her RWU experience. 

What is your current job?

I work for a PR agency in Boston. I focus primarily on all of our sports accounts, so I do PR for the Boston Red Sox and the New England Revolution. I worked on accounts for Liverpool Football Club when they came to the United States for their stateside tour this past summer. I also work for the New England Patriots, so I help with the interviews and media relations during their game day operations. 

Is that as cool as it sounds? 

The great thing with Public Relations is no day is ever the same. There are always different things that come up. This past summer I traveled with the Liverpool soccer team. They came over from England and they did a stateside tour so they went to three of the most iconic stadiums in the US: Notre Dame, Fenway Park, and Yankee Stadium. It was really cool to get to travel with the team. I got to see the entire process of a media relations tour from start to finish.

What is the best part of your job?

Right when I started, this PR agency was coming off of the Red Sox World Series victory so it was really cool to do a lot of activation surrounding that. We brought the World Series trophies on the T throughout Boston for fans. I think that’s the best part working in the sports industry - you get to really see the excitement and feed off of fans’ excitement in your everyday work. Boston is a fun city for that. 

What at RWU most prepared you for your career? 

I think the internship opportunities that I got while at Roger have definitely helped me. I had a lot of girls in my PR program who I looked up to. They were a year or two ahead of me and they helped gear me on a track that I wanted to be on. I worked at the admissions office and I think giving tours and public speaking there really helped me in what I do every day. A lot of it is presenting and speaking with clients. You don’t realize at the time that the tours are preparing you for a career.

Do you have a favorite RWU memory?

I had so many good memories! One of my favorites is from my senior year. Our PR professor took myself and a group of 15 students to California over winter break. We toured all different PR agencies and explored California. It was so much fun to get to know everyone in my program really well and also get a glimpse into all the different aspects of the PR world. 

What did you like the most about RWU?

Roger Williams has such a great community feel and I still miss that. I love the small feel the school has where you can walk by everyone and say hello.