Rising Star: Daisy Chavez, Kansas City Star Media Account Executive

At first, Daisy Chavez wanted to be a teacher. Then, she switched to studying nursing. So how, at 28 years old, did she end up as an Automotive Account Executive with The Kansas City Star Media Company and one of News Media Alliance’s Rising Stars?

Daisy says she wanted a more personable career path than the ones she had studied during college. Daisy was drawn into news media after working for her mother while attending Park University and Concorde Career Colleges. She helped with promotions for her mother’s salon; doing everything marketing wise from social media to emails and print out.

“I had no background in it at all, but I knew what I knew,” said Daisy.

Daisy enjoyed this type of work. She was doing all digital marketing, which she decided to pursue while maintaining a sales aspect.

She took her first step to becoming a part of the industry when she applied for a job with her current company, The Kansas City Star Media Company. Her first position was with the local team, where she dealt with small businesses in the Kansas City area. Only a few months in, she was promoted to the development team, where she worked with all new businesses. A year after starting at The Kansas City Star Media Company she was promoted to Automotive Account Executive where she has remained since.

“I never finished college. It wasn’t for me – so this accomplishment is huge for me,” she says.

Daisy spends much of her time in the field. She says her daily schedule could include going into the office, checking emails and calling clients. Although more often, she can be found going from dealership to dealership meeting with her clients.

One of her favorite projects included when she first began utilizing video. On behalf of McCarthy Auto Group as a part of Middle of the Map Daisy helped with AutoPlay. This was a video series similar to Carpool Karaoke where they interviewed Grammy nominees who were a part of the music festival. To promote their brand, McCarthy Auto Group showcased their cars in the series.

Additionally, Daisy is a big fan of Facebook Live video streaming. She views it as a tool to help bring the product to the clients, a large component to what she sees necessary for the future of the news media industry.

“I definitely think a lot of what we do (in the news media industry) will go online, but the way we are going to do that will be by using video,” she says.

She talks about targeting demographics, using the Middle of the Map event as an example by targeting millennials. She believes that was a great way of merging the festival’s existing following to her client. Facebook Live and AutoPlay provided those who follow the festival’s featured artists but could not attend the event a way to still be included.

“Now, people are always on the go,” says Daisy. “The action is what will entice people.”

In her job, Daisy is a constant part of the action and always running around. Outside of her job, she enjoys doing the same. An avid gym-rat and runner, Daisy has run 15 half-marathons.

While her age may help her run those half-marathons, she doesn’t believe it has any impact on her career in the industry.

“Just keep up with the consumers and the industry and it won’t matter,” she says. “It’s all about how you present yourself.”

Her colleague, Linda Meldrum Gilchrist agrees. “Although she and I come from two different generations, we have learned a lot from each other. I find it refreshing to see someone under 30 with such an excellent work ethic. She wants to learn and grow. She wants to see this industry move forward and embraces the vast amount of digital options available within the newspaper business,” Linda says.

“We can all learn from individuals like Daisy.”

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