Minutes before Spotify’s Chief Public Affairs Officer Dustee Jenkins took the stage on Thursday, November 14, about a hundred eager students quickly filled the seats in the Annenberg forum.
As Jenkins sat down alongside USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay on stage, the audience quieted down, ready to hear the conversation between the two.
“It’s really important for us to leverage our network and to be able to connect the academy to the industry, and to be able to provide access to industry experts like Dustee Jenkins,” Bay said in an interview with Annenberg Media.
Jenkins, whose work has helped Spotify adapt to today’s trends and technological landscape, was recently named one of PRWeek’s most influential professionals in the PR industry. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence and the recent popularity of podcasts, she has helped Spotify become the global platform that it is. In fact, Jenkins said she encourages the use of AI in her team.
“Any time, especially in a tech company, you approach something from a place of fear, the tech people at the company immediately look at you with skepticism that you are unwilling to embrace technology unless it benefits you,” Jenkins said during her talk. “I think it’s critical that my team is one of the first to say, ‘We’d love to try that,’ because if we’re not afraid, we will look really good at what we do.”
Bay said she appreciated this approach from both Jenkins and her team.
“What I took away from it is the way Dustee and her team lean into change and lean into risk,” Bay said. “While they are deliberate and intentional, they’re not fearful or risk averse.”
Jenkins’s career had humble beginnings. “I grew up in a tiny town in Texas with four stoplights,” she said. “I never, ever thought that I would be in a job like this one.”
She urged students, especially in the communications and media industry, to seize any opportunity they are presented with, something she knows about firsthand. It was a chance encounter that led her to become the press secretary for former Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, according to an interview she did with her alma mater, the University of North Texas.
“Any opportunity is what you do with it,” Jenkins said. “I think a lot of it comes down to your preparation, your willingness to put your hand in the air, how you show up, what you do with the opportunity you’ve been given.”
Kaylen Simmons, a graduate student in the communications management program and event attendee, said she admired Jenkins’s ability to take risks in the industry.
“When we’re in entry-level positions, we have opportunities to be in the space, taking advantage of everything they have to offer,” she said.
Bay echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of attending events like these.
“I hope students appreciate the unique opportunity that they have here at USC Annenberg to engage and hear from people like Dustee Jenkins,” Bay said. “It’s an opportunity to come together as a community, to sit alongside each other, to share in this experience of learning and listening, and also to be able to ask questions and engage with leaders across our industries.”
Next to Bay and Jenkins was panel co-moderator Jack Hallinan, a senior studying journalism and economics. Hallinan said working the event was a “really special experience.”
“I think it really speaks to the way Annenberg tries to involve students in all of its programming, from top to bottom,” he said. “I just felt really honored to be included since, as a podcast creator and a fan of podcasts, being able to ask someone deeply involved in that initiative was just an incredible opportunity.”
Even though he moderated the panel, Hallinan still found inspiration in what Jenkins had to say.
“As a senior myself, stuff like this is what inspires me to keep going in my studies,” he said. “Seeing people who’ve had real success across various communications verticals is what makes me want to engage more deeply and chase after this, so I think it’s really inspiring.”
As a creator herself, junior communications student Jade Bahng was especially interested in hearing about Spotify’s role in bridging culture, technology and entertainment as a major tech brand. Every time she has the opportunity to interact with industry professionals, Bahng said she is eager to learn about their experiences.
“That’s a huge takeaway for me as someone who wants to be in their position some day,” she said.
Jenkins’ talk even helped Bahng reframe her perspective on her career goals.
“I came into the communications major very much focused on building a career in marketing,” Bahng said. “But hearing about Dustee talk about all of her many roles and all the different teams that she gets to work with, as someone who works in communications, it really opened my mind up once again.”
Bahng said she appreciated the energetic and curious atmosphere of the event and was impressed by the variety of questions that students asked.
“I loved that so many people had questions to ask from so many different perspectives,” Bahng said. “It’s so amazing to see that Annenberg can foster all of those people in one place.”