In a conversation led by Diana Choi (VP, Orchestra), our colleagues from BerlinRosen and Glen Echo Group came together to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month. During this chat, guests Maha Quadri (Associate, Glen Echo Group), Miranda Neil (Director, Glen Echo Group), Josie Taylor (VP, BerlinRosen), and Shachi Shah (Director, BerlinRosen) reflected on their career experience and their journeys as AAPI individuals in the communications industry.
Diana: What made you want to join BerlinRosen or Glen Echo Group?
Josie: I love that at BerlinRosen—and now Orchestra—we have so many colleagues we can look to for help, whether it’s brainstorming new ideas or getting a fresh perspective when something’s not working. Having worked in PR for over a decade, it’s exciting to still always have something to learn in this space, and I have so many opportunities to do that here.
Shachi: I joined BerlinRosen back in 2019, coming out of my grad school, Parsons. What really intrigued me was my role’s unique placement—I hadn’t heard of a lot of creative roles sitting on an internal team, as I had always worked on the agency side. This was a new challenge I was excited to take on, integrating and formalizing design processes into business development and marketing. Working at the speed of a campaign, the day-to-day work has been intense and rewarding, constantly challenging me to find efficient and optimum solutions. I also love how creative direction in one industry, say philanthropy, can easily translate to others, such as lifestyle or hospitality. This exposure to so many industries and SMEs is a big reason why I enjoy working here.
Maha: Glen Echo was my first job out of college. I came from the campaign world and did a lot of local organizing in my college town, Santa Barbara, and I knew I wanted to stay in the advocacy space after graduating. I had all these great communication skills, and tech policy sort of just found me—and I happened to love it. I’m still here a year and a half later and luckily still loving it.
Miranda: I joined Glen Echo—not my first job out of college, but very closely after that. I dipped my toe in the water with tech policy at an internship before joining Glen Echo. And then from there, I wanted to figure out how I could stay in comms and tech policy—and Glen Echo fit that niche very, very well. So that’s why I wanted to apply, and the more I learned about it throughout the interview process, the more I really wanted to join. After I joined, I realized it’s a great place, and I’ve stuck around ever since.
Diana: Can you tell us about an exciting project that you’ve worked on recently?
Shachi: I think one of my bigger accomplishments has been the Bermuda Tourism Authority business development project. We were tapping into the expertise of so many different team members—highlighting the multi-cultural dimension that every team member brings to the table. Everybody was so enthusiastic to dive into the culture, learn what’s happening and research what would make U.S. tourists visit the country. And given this wasn’t just PR, but creative and paid ads as well, you’re not just thinking about what works tactically, but what also works at the strategy level.
I really enjoyed the process of putting that one together, and then of course, winning it was another boost in itself. The perseverance and commitment from all the team members, be it on Growth or Lifestyle, to go through that process is commendable—and not just once, but time and again.
Miranda: One of my clients—the Content Moderation Working Group—is a large working group of third parties who all care about a specific free speech issue. For over a year, we worked with them to figure out how to create a useful resource for everyone—because many of the third parties just don’t have the bandwidth to speak or take action on everything they want to. Particularly with free speech issues, a lot is happening more in the states, rather than federally, and engaging in fifty states is difficult. So part of our task was figuring out how to best streamline that process, which became this massive project in which we created our own integrated dashboard that plots out legislation and press organizations or reporters who are covering this stuff in all fifty states. The dashboard also has resources and opportunities for third parties to collaborate by going in and commenting on which states they’re actively engaging in. This was a year-long process to figure out the best avenue for them to collaborate in the easiest way possible. It was a lot of trial and error, but a lot of fun to figure it out and talk with them and design it with them and for them.
Diana: How has your personal journey as an AAPI individual influenced your career path?
Maha: When reflecting on my personal and career path, I’ve been able to identify critical junctures where I needed certain types of support, and I know my experience as an AAPI woman mirrors the experience of so many others. I like to think that it really helped inform how Glen Echo designs internal measures to diversify our field, such as the Diversity in Spectrum Council. My own experience helps me add to the conversation when we think about, what are the ways to get people from diverse backgrounds involved? What are the actual resources that these people need? Companies need this information: they want to know how to best reach young people of color; they want to know how to make their initiatives more proactive. And they need to hear it from people who have experienced it before.
Across client work, the specific experiences I’ve had help me look at things from a different perspective. Coming from an advocacy perspective and having the lived experiences that I have makes it easier to have well-informed communications on really nebulous policy issues, like how to close the digital divide—that’s something that we think about a lot at Glen Echo. You can uniquely contribute to these conversations when you come from a diverse background, and it’s really helped inform a lot of advocacy work that I do.
Miranda: The subject that I work on the most is content moderation and online speech. I started working on tech policy-related issues in 2020, which was a unique time in tech policy, given COVID and everything, and in particular the backlash against Asians and Asian Americans during that time around the country. It was a very interesting moment to professionally wade into how tech platforms moderate speech online, especially as someone who was entering the field and was very green. It informed why I wanted to learn more about content moderation and online speech and free speech generally, and it put me on the path that I am on now as far as learning more, carving out time for myself to do more research, and advocating for myself within Glen Echo to be on these types of projects because it interests me.
Diana: What personal experiences have shaped your understanding of your AAPI identity, and how does that influence your work in the PR industry?
Shachi: The Growth team—which oversees new partnerships at Orchestra—is, generally speaking, very diverse, with members bringing different perspectives based on their experiences. We’re mostly on the backend, working as facilitators, helping guide the direction of how to present strategies to the client, how to win the business—and I think we bring a layer of our culture every time we are putting in our suggestions to what the client would need. Each team member’s unique understanding of the industry and internal services helps shape our approach, especially as clients prefer teams that reflect their audience. For example, when working on a project for Black-owned businesses, clients expect team diversity to capture insights and true understanding of their relevant audiences. And that has been such a big driving force for us. Internally, we’ve been having these conversations for a while now: how do we make sure that we show up to these conversations? How are we presenting ourselves? Are all the narratives being equally given a voice in the room? And if not, what are some of the ways we can uplift them?
Josie: Where I grew up and at the agencies where I started, it was very nondiverse. So as I grew in my career, a major focus became prioritizing work with clients that have diverse backgrounds. This isn’t limited to other AAPI individuals, but includes more founders with diverse backgrounds who have compelling stories to tell. Especially in the tech space, which I’ve worked in for over a decade, and which has remained predominantly white and male, I’m most passionate about highlighting diverse founder stories that can inspire a wider audience.
Diana: What advice would you give to aspiring AAPI individuals looking to pursue a career in PR or communications?
Josie: Find and build your community. Use every opportunity as a moment to network, and then once you’ve built a solid network, use your position to invite other AAPI folks into it. Especially for the younger generation that may be navigating a fully-remote or hybrid schedule where there’s less opportunity for in-person networking, I would encourage them to not be afraid to reach out to other AAPI individuals on LinkedIn. I’ve done this myself, and you never know where that initial connection might take you.
Maha: Learning how to be a good communicator starts with learning how to advocate for yourself early on in your career. Something that has genuinely assisted me the most in this field, and something I’m very proud of, is that I’ve always been a very good cheerleader for myself, and I’m very much not afraid to speak to my strengths. That will take you far no matter what career path you are in—but it’s a huge asset in a field like PR or communications, where your ability to represent yourself can be seen as a reflection of your ability to represent your clients. Don’t be afraid to speak highly about yourself and make your professional strengths known. For any young AAPI individual who ever worries that they are unqualified to do something, just remember that there is probably someone else in your office who is asking for the same opportunities, even if they don’t have your skill set. It never hurts to raise your hand!
Fast Facts
Who’s an AAPI public figure that you admire or enjoy following?
Josie Taylor: Frankie Gaw (Little Fat Boy)
Shachi Shah: Priyanka Chopra
Maha Quadri: Patsy Takemoto Mink
Miranda Neil: George Takei
Diana Choi: Bowen Yang
What is your go-to AAPI comfort-food?
Josie Taylor: My dad’s pancit noodles
Shachi Shah: Maggi noodles
Maha Quadri: My mom’s biryani
Miranda Neil: Musubi
Diana Choi: My mom’s kimchi jjigae
What is your favorite movie or show that highlights AAPI culture?
Josie Taylor: Beef
Shachi Shah: Never Have I Ever
Maha Quadri: Aaja Nachle
Miranda Neil: Turning Red or Elemental
Diana Choi: Eat Drink Man Woman