A Conversation With ... Julie Short

It started in 1909 at the University of Washington in Seattle. There were seven women in the school of journalism there, and they bonded together to start a publication and it kind of grew from there. The local chapter started in 1984, (and it) has about 50 members, all women. I started as president in June, but I’ve been on the board for a long time.

One (focus) is networking with women who have a common interest in improving communications (and) networking for women to improve their careers. Also, we do a lot of mentoring (through) AWC groups … at Drury, Missouri State University, and they’re trying to get a group started up at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.

What are AWC’s typical activities?

We try to do two or three things each year to support (AWC student groups) … like going over résumés to give them mock interviews. We did a fun dinner one night to talk about business etiquette in a dining situation.

We meet monthly … and have a guest speaker each time. We do have small fundraisers. We have the Angela Gram Memorial Scholarship, an endowment through the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. It’s named for a local member who died back when AWC was just beginning (in Springfield). We give a $500 scholarship every year.

What are some of the key challenges for the organization?

Something that is an issue right now is defining communications. Communications encompasses, certainly, the tradition of journalism, of advertising, those types of things that you think of, but it’s more and more recognizing that people in so many jobs are involved with the communications aspect.

Growing membership is a challenge not only for women’s groups but all groups. It probably is harder for women, because they’re trying to balance so many (areas) at one time. It’s kind of a product of our success. The more successful women are, the harder it is to get them to join things, because they’re so busy.

What do you do as AWC president, and what goals are you pursuing?

Overseeing meetings, board meetings and coordinating activities. One of the goals that I see, because it’s my background, is with strategic planning. We’ve been doing some things, putting together operations manuals to help the transition year-to-year be a little bit smoother.

What’s your professional background, and how long have you been involved with AWC?

I started with AWC back when it (began) locally, but I was with Noble & Associates at the time, and I got to where I traveled a lot, and I dropped out. I rejoined in 2001. After Noble, I was … vice president of marketing for Reckitt Benckiser … for eight years. Now, through JP Short & Associates, founded in 1996, I do advertising, strategic planning and marketing, but only business-to-business like small manufacturers. I work with several people who do freelance … and we kind of come together as an agency.

Tell us about your family and what you do for fun.

I have four kids and one grandchild. My kids are in St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago and London – we travel a lot. My grandson, Milo Phillips, is 2, and he is in St. Louis. My kids are great, but my grandchild is the best. I love to play golf.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover. You can e-mail her with suggestions for future installments of this feature at mhoover@sbj.net.