Tombras School Alumna Returns to Campus to Encourage Students to Follow their Goals
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, alumna Karen Freberg (‘11) moved across the country on several occasions to chase her academic and athletic career goals.
Freberg’s mom is a professor in psychology and her dad is retired but he also was in marketing and taught marketing.
“I actually thought I would go in as a pre-med major. I love science and I always knew I wanted to be a teacher or a professor of some sort. I just didn’t know what I wanted to teach exactly. It’s kind of ironic that I ended up in PR eventually because my dad was in marketing for years before he retired, at Nestle, Mars, and KalKan pet foods,“ she said.
From Track and Field to the Classroom
Early on, Freberg’s goal was to obtain a college athletic scholarship.
“I was a track and field athlete in high school. I grew up in a really small town in California and, in order to market myself to college coaches and let them know, ‘hey, I’m here and throw a shot put pretty decently,’ I created a website. I had a newsletter and I really kind of did the early, early stages of blogging and content creation. I didn’t know that that was a field to go into until I was at the University of Florida and my athletic academic advisor saw what I was doing and she asked why I wasn’t in PR,” she explained.
Before finding her love for the public relations field at UF, Freberg began her undergraduate studies at Southern Methodist University where she studied pre-med and psychology. After a year at SMU, Freberg moved across the country to complete her undergraduate at the University of Florida on a track and field scholarship. It was while she was there that she visited UT’s campus.
Freberg said, “I actually first came to UT for the SEC Championships while I was competing for the University of Florida. I remember walking around thinking, ‘This is a really nice campus. I could see myself going here.’ Little did I know that I would eventually go there for my PhD.”
Freberg completed her masters degree in strategic public relations and her last year of eligibility in track and field at the University of Southern California. By the time she graduated with both her undergraduate and masters, Freberg was a four-time All American, two-time SEC Champion, and competed at the Olympic Trials in 2004 for shot put.
Freberg started her PhD program at UT in 2007.
She stated, “I remember coming to Tennessee that summer for PhD orientation and I was still somewhat jet lagged because I had actually done an international internship in Cape Town, South Africa, for four months. I was working in fashion and consumer PR. So I was still trying to adjust to the time zone.”
It was during her time at UT that Freberg started consulting in social media and crisis communications.
“That really kind of blossomed into what I’ve been doing now where I have been serving as a consultant. I’ve also been able to do some speaking engagements and workshops,” she said.
The Student Becomes the Teacher and Public Speaker
Freberg is now a professor of strategic communications at the University of Louisville and has been there for nearly 13 years.
As a consultant, Freberg has worked with corporations such as General Motors, Churchill Downs, GE appliances, nonprofits, and some government entities.
“I think what’s important about crisis communications is the fact that you can do a lot in preparation but you also have the due diligence of really thinking about all of the different possibilities that could happen and how you can best manage those expectations and challenges. Not one situation is going to be the same,” she explained.
Freberg currently visits various organizations talking about crisis communications, social media trends, issues, and challenges.
She said, “You have the opportunity to really make a difference and help clients be prepared, but also advise them that there are things that you don’t want to do. Don’t be a trendy topic for the wrong reasons.”
With her background in various types of communications, Freberg has been recruited on multiple occasions as an expert witness for some legal cases.
She says one of her favorite career moments has been working with Ryan Reynolds.
“Being present on social media, you just never know who you’re going to connect with. Ryan and I connected on Twitter. I followed him and he followed me back in 2019. We kind of built this relationship. I was advocating his work for his marketing efforts and his team. His team was coming to my class and he actually Zoom bombed my social media strategy class, and he ended up speaking [to the class] a few years ago. That was the pinnacle of my career. I don’t think I’ll ever get to that level again, but that is perfectly fine,” she laughed.
Freberg was recently back on UT’s campus presenting a lecture on public relations best practices, what to look for, and how to brand yourself.
She said, “It was really fun to be able to kind of walk down memory lane in the halls of the College of Communication and Information and remember spending a lot of time studying for my comprehensive exams in the hallway or passing by the room that I defended my dissertation in. It brought back wonderful memories. It was great just meeting everyone and talking with students.”
She tells students it’s important to grow your network and connect with professionals in their desired fields. She adds that it’s also important to show initiative and find things that help set them apart from the crowd.
“It’s very crowded in the marketplace where people are applying for various jobs. The economy is very competitive. Sometimes it takes extra effort to send emails and to research backgrounds on individuals who are working for a company that you want to pursue a career with,“ she said.
Tombras School Alumna Returns to Campus to Encourage Students to Follow their Goals written by Hillary Tune and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.