Jensen Troy, SRU alumni and rising star within Pittsburgh’s PR world, has made waves as a senior executive at Mindful Kreative. A Pittsburgh-based PR firm, Mindful Kreative makes social media, advertising and public relations content for local businesses.
One of PRSSA’s rising stars, and Slippery Rock University Communications Hall of Fame inductee, Troy has blazed a path for herself from campus to her career.
Small Town Start
Lakeview High School graduate Troy has known for a while that her passion is PR. While not always a widely accepted career option, Troy insisted on rising to the top.
“I can remember in high school, my guidance counselor advised me not to go into communications. Number one, he didn’t see me as much of an outgoing person, which couldn’t be farther from the truth, and he informed me that the field was very heavily saturated, but I think the cream will rise to the top.”
Troy discussed the inspiration she gained from being doubted.
“To an extent, I mean, I’ve had a chip on my shoulder. If you tell me I’m not going to do it, I’m going to do it twice and take pictures,” she said. “As somebody that loves people, loves to be creative…there was never any doubt. From the second I stepped onto campus, I knew that was what I was supposed to do.”
Slippery Rock Star
While at SRU, Jensen Troy was an active member of PRSSA and Lamba Pi Eta, the communication department’s honors society.
Troy took the time to speak on her first experience with PRSSA.
“I remember attending a PRSSA meeting, I think it was the first of my college career, and when I sat in the room for the first meeting, they passed around a sign-up sheet for account executive,” she said. “I remember I was so scared, but I wrote my name down and was able to manage my first client at SRU.”
Troy’s first client, Dress for Success had a great turn out, and Troy still stays in contact with them to this day.
Troy recognized Dr. Allison Pietrisch, an associate communications and media studies professor, as one of her biggest influences at SRU.
“[Peitrsch] is truly the greatest mentor, advocate and honestly, friend. I know how much work she puts into the communications department,” Troy said. “I appreciate how hard she pushed us in classes to work better. I felt I could take those skills that she gave me and implement [them in] the real world and at my agency.”
Troy also gave thanks to Dr. Emily Dolan, the advisor for Lamba Pi Eta.
“I always felt like Dr. Dolan’s classes were super great, and she was just such a positive person to be around,” she said.
Besides being an active PRSSA and Lamba Pi Eta member, Troy spent some time creating content for SRU’s enrollment management department.
“I was able to run and manage Slippery Rock’s social media accounts: Instagram, TikTok and what used to be Twitter,” she said. “It was honestly the best job I could have ever asked for in college. It was absolutely amazing to create content that not only resonated with me, but my fellow peers.”
While working for the enrollment office in 2022, Troy had the opportunity to film a commercial for Slippery Rock University, a moment she won’t soon forget.
“It was extremely awesome to be a part of that and watch it come together and come to life,” she said. “[In class], I have had plenty of video production projects and things like that, so to see it in the real world with that behind-the-scenes production experience was really awesome.”
Troy also highlighted the diversified skill set required for aspiring PR professionals.
“I would say that, honestly, everything you learn in classes is truly essential to your career, especially working in an agency setting where you aren’t siloed into one role or one category of communications,” she said. “On any given day, I could be working on putting together a video, scripts, social media content. So honestly, the wide range of offerings at Slippery Rock definitely prepared me to work on many different accounts and projects.”
Before Troy finished her Master of Integrated Marketing Communications at West Virginia University, she was inducted into SRU’s Communication Hall of Fame in 2023.
Troy was also awarded the Undergraduate Excellence Award for her time at SRU, and was highlighted for her speedy hiring at Mindful Kreative right after graduation.
The Pittsburgh PR Experience
While attending WVU for her masters, Troy actively worked for Mindful Kreative, starting as an account coordinator in 2023 until her promotion to account executive last year.
Troy explained what Mindful Kreative does for Pittsburgh businesses.
“Mindful Kreative is a full service, strategic communications and advertising agency. We partner with purpose-driven organizations to engage with audiences and tell meaningful stories,” she said. “[One] of the really cool partnerships I got to work with is Guardian Storage. I’ve has the privilege to do some influencer campaigns and billboards for that and the Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books. Our agency does all of the PR marketing and advertising efforts for the event. Last but not least is the Strip District Terminal. I get to manage the Terminal’s social media, which is absolutely one of my favorite things to do. It’s awesome to create an account with local ties and really appeal to that ‘yinzer’ audience.”
Troy discussed how she loves to see her accounts grow, and how she finds it really fun to pick apart what strategies work and which ones need revision.
Earlier this year in February, Jensen Troy received yet another promotion and award when she transitioned from an account executive to a senior account executive. As a result of her consistent campaign and promotion output, she was recognized by the Public Relations Society of Pittsburgh as a PRSSA rising star.
Troy shared that a question she fields often from interns and students is “what is the PR workflow?”
“Everyone in our agency is super nimble. Our team is so diverse; we might be small but we are mighty. It’s like being a jack-of-all-trades as an account executive,” she said. “You have to move quickly; agency life is very fast-paced. So I often get asked by perspective interns, ‘what does a day in my life look like?’ And I honestly never know what to tell them, because every day is different, and that’s what I really love about this job.”
Troy holds Slippery Rock’s PR program in high regards, and believes that aspiring professionals can “absolutely” find a job right out of college.
“There is such a pipeline from Slippery Rock communications department and Pittsburgh…I think with [SRU’s] network of people and strong ties to one another advocating for SRU grads, there will be plenty of jobs for everyone,” Troy said.
Now a Pittsburgh resident, Troy explained the difficulty of going from small town life to living in a major metropolitan area.
“It is definitely a culture shock. I mean, even going from our hometown [Sandy Lake] to Slippery Rock, then to Pittsburgh,” she said. “It is a scary jump, especially when you come from a town where a lot of people just stay there…I have a house now, and I’ve planted roots, but it has been a journey to get where I am. I had to take a lot of scary risks, and I just had to bet on myself so I could ultimately pursue the career that I dreamed of.”
Troy closed her interview with some advice for aspiring PR professionals.
“I feel like it’s my slogan at this point, so if you hear me say this anywhere else I truly mean it: if it scares you, you should do it. Betting on yourself is a bet you should always take. If you have a dream and its not too big, just go pursue it.”
