As a high school student in Kansas, Kelsey Charles ’13 was voted the student most likely to host a talk show. Her classmates knew her really well. The SMU journalism graduate is the host – and producer – of two programs for the Dallas Cowboys, “Cowboys Break” and “Writer’s Roundtable.”
“I was always destined to do something that allows me to communicate and speak my mind,” Charles says.
Program host is one aspect of her multidimensional role with the Cowboys organization. As the mobile marketing and new business development manager for the Cowboys, her mission is to keep fans engaged, even when the team is not playing. One of her newest efforts is 5 Points Blue, a website designed for female sports fan that mixes typical football fare, like stats and player interviews, with topics of wider interest.
“It targets people like me, women who can talk in-depth football with the guys, but who also have an interest in the social aspects of sports, like fitness and fashion,” she explains.
There’s never a dull moment when she’s on the clock – she has even climbed on the roof of AT&T Stadium – and that’s what the communications dynamo loves about her job.
“I’ve seen it all,” she says. “The question is: what haven’t I been able to do?”
Charles began her career with “America’s Team” as an intern while attending SMU.
Although she began her undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas, she always had an interest in SMU and soon transferred. But her academic career path was uncertain. When searching for a class to complete her schedule, she landed on Ethics in Journalism, a course taught by Tony Pederson, professor and The Belo Foundation Distinguished Chair in Journalism. And from that point on, she was hooked on everything about journalism at SMU and well on her way to fulfilling that high school career prophecy.
“My professors didn’t bring anything less than the best,” she says. “I mean it wholeheartedly that I wouldn’t be here today without them. They pushed me to be a person I did not know I could be.”
As a sports fan, SMU game days also were important to her as a student, and they still are.
“Having come from a public university in Kansas, I wasn’t prepared for SMU’s brand of tailgating,” she remembers. “I was literally in awe when I went Boulevarding for the first time.”
Charles’ equation for professional success has added together the writing, reporting, editing and digital communications knowledge she gained at SMU with her own drive to succeed.
“My professors opened the door for me, but hard work, persistence and being innovative helped get me where I am,” she says. “I really had to put myself out there.”
In terms of a five-year plan, Charles doesn’t have one. But, in view of her recent accomplishments, her future will likely unfold in interesting and exciting ways.
“Being open is a good thing in this world. I am exploring every single day,” she says. “I will be happy as long as I am learning new things and trying new things.
“It has been a wild ride so far, and there is so much more to come,” she says. “Stay tuned!”
– Leah Johnson ’15
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