‘The Queen of Comm’: From Marist Red Fox to Pr Queen

Paisley Haddad on Celebrating Women in Communications

Paisley Haddad strives to provide tips and tricks for young women entering the communications world. Source: Source: Paisley Haddad

Paisley Haddad never stopped being a go-getter once she graduated from Marist College in 2021. 

At Marist, Haddad was the firm director for North Road Communications, Marketing Director of The Marist Circle, a member of Lambda Pi Eta and part of the dance ensemble. Now as an alumni, Haddad works a nine-to-five in the public relations industry while also hosting her own podcast “The Queen of Comm.” 

On Jan. 13, “The Queen of Comm” celebrated its first year – with a year full of stories from women in communications fields. For Haddad, “The podcast is all about sharing the remarkable stories of women in communication as well as communications students who are doing amazing things. To be able to share tips and advice for the next generation and since starting the podcast I have had over 40 women come on to share their stories.”

The idea of the podcast came to fruition in December of 2020. “I just got rejected from a big internship that I was going for. I went through three rounds of interviews…ultimately I was not the one chosen.” Haddad knew she had to find another way to spend her time, and this time, she wanted it to be something that could help women just like herself. “So I came up with the idea for ‘The Queen of Comm’ podcast as a way to share these networking calls with my fellow students who had the same type of questions as me as well as those from other schools.” Haddad sought to share information with her fellow communication students on how to handle such a cutthroat industry. By featuring working professionals in all realms of communications, Haddad has been able to provide those little tips and tricks that can help students succeed. “I am glad to say that I have gotten feedback from different students that they used different tips in their resumes.”

When Haddad first started the podcast, she thought it was going to be mainly targeted towards college students. However, upon entering the working world, Haddad soon realized that it was important to share the information about the working world that she was learning along the way. She notes that it is important to be sponge; she absorbs new information and experiences everyday to share with her podcast listeners. “I really feel like people are on a journey with me, from listening when I was a college student to now a recent college graduate and figuring things out. I feel like the podcast has just grown with me and really expanded my audience.”

Marist College alumn who have been featured on "The Queen of Comm." Source: Paisley Haddad

For Haddad, her biggest goal with “The Queen of Comm,” is to break that fear of reaching out to someone you admire for advice, despite how intimidating it may seem. “I was not the best at networking when I first started out at Marist because I was so afraid to reach out…but I really think that it is so important for older professionals in the industry to realize that our generation is bringing so much more to the industry.”

Along with her main goal, Haddad believes it is also important to hear stories from those who work in communications. “As communicators it’s our job to be telling our clients stories, but we never really sit down and tell our story. So that is my big goal with the podcast.” 

“The Queen of Comm” is run entirely by Haddad; she hosts, edits the episodes, comes up with interview questions and researches about the guests, constantly sending out calls to people to be guests on the show, as well as creating all the social media content. Just like with her listeners, Haddad is learning from the process constantly – becoming better and better at podcast making as each episode comes out. Due to her hard work on the podcast, “The Queen of Comm” caught the attention of PR Week, where she got to be part of a PR Decoded conference with leaders from industries such as Patagonia. 

One of Haddad’s favorite episodes is one she did with Sabrina Sanchez, where they highlighted Gen Z in PR. Sanchez is a former reporter at PR Week and the two discussed how Gen Z is shaping the new working world. “Sabrina’s work with PR Week was being a Gen Z reporter. So she was in the field…it was really interesting to talk to her as someone who is also working in the industry.”

With weeks of guests and episodes already mapped out, this “Queen of Comm” is nowhere near short of slowing down. As her passion for the industry continues to grow, so does her drive for the podcast and providing valuable advice for women in PR.