Well—how did I get here? Meghan Fitzpatrick – The Martin Group

This is the third installment of our new regular blog feature, “Well—how did I get here?” featuring first-person stories of our team members and their interesting journeys to The Martin Group. Next up: Senior Account Manager Meghan Fitzpatrick. Take it away, Meghan. 

One of my favorite phrases is, “There’s no growth in your comfort zone, and no comfort in your growth zone.” As a self-declared introverted extrovert, I live for comfort and familiarity. However, some of the biggest periods of growth in my life have been a direct result of stepping out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to try new things. 

In high school, I earned the senior superlative of “class clown.” What this really meant was I consistently had comments on my report cards like, “A pleasure to have in class, but needs to spend more time studying for tests.” But how could I possibly tear myself away from the family computer to study boring things like trigonometry or chemistry when there were AIM messages to reply to and updates to be made to my MySpace Top 10?

However, while “class clown” did not equal “academic achiever,” I knew what my biggest strengths were, so decided to pursue a major in communications. 

I left the comfort zone of my high school and ventured off to Albany, New York to attend The College of Saint Rose (RIP). Starting over in a new place was terrifying. I found that a lot of my classmates in the Communications program had similar backgrounds as I did (all math haters, of course), so naturally, I started to feel like I was back in my comfort zone again.

The thing I loved most about college was the ability to test drive different things, without fully committing to a career path. I took classes in areas like broadcasting, radio/video production, and journalism. While I liked aspects of all of them, I didn’t feel like any were the perfect fit. That was until I took a class on advertising and public relations and completed an internship at EMA (now known as Mower).

Immediately, it felt like things started to click for me. Yes, I was binge-watching Mad Men at the time, but the internship was also a culmination of all things I really enjoyed like writing, strategy, creative, brainstorming, and problem solving—and of course, talking. The best was collaborating with other classmates and interacting with real clients on projects. I appreciated leaning on classmates who had different strengths than I did, and I loved being able to help clients in meaningful ways. 

After college, I was once again removed from my comfort zone and started fresh back home in Rochester, NY. I landed my first real job working in the Alumni Relations office at the University of Rochester. In my six years there, I bopped around to other departments like Advancement Communications and Annual Giving, learning along the way from some incredible colleagues and mentors. At one point, I took some classes towards earning an MBA, but quickly learned that path was not for me. This left me disappointed in myself for not being able to push through.

Then, in the aftermath of this feeling, my manager at the time left a note on my desk after my last class that said, “You’re done. Finished. Box checked. On to the next big dream!” She reframed that entire experience for me. You don’t have to use each experience as a way of only trying to figure out what you want to do. Instead, use it as an opportunity to also understand what it is that you don’t want to do. Genius. 

With that mindset shift, I eventually moved on to new experiences outside of the U of R and landed at Creative Communication Associates (CCA), a higher-ed focused agency. This not only leaned into my existing higher-ed experience but also brought into play the agency element that I had loved so much in college. I discovered in that role that, in many ways, client service was at the core of all my previous roles, and is something that I felt I was both good at and enjoyed. 

When I eventually decided to step out of my higher-ed comfort zone and join The Martin Group—where I would have clients in all different industries—it was a risk. I wasn’t so sure that I was going to like it—but there’s no other way to find out except to try, right?

I’ve now been a Senior Account Manager here for a little over a year, and I couldn’t be happier. This role has allowed me to grow in ways I never imagined and has given me the ability to lean into the pieces of client service that I love the most, none of which involves any math. So how did I get here? From class clown to senior account manager, it has been the perfect combination of taking chances, stepping outside of my comfort zone, and using each move to evaluate and understand what to bring with me—and what to leave behind.

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