Finding your best fit

Grad Shannon Morton

By Shoneez Munshi, Class of 2009

On the surface, Shannon Morton had it all. She had earned a degree in English literature from Queen’s University in 2001 and found success working at IBM in dispute resolution. But she had an itch to do more. She wasn’t satisfied; she didn’t feel challenged and she knew she could achieve more.

She heard from friends about the Corporate Communications and Public Relations program at Centennial College. She decided to take the risk and leave IBM. So in 2003, she cashed in her stocks and decided to go for it.

“Because I had just come out of the workforce, I didn’t take the experience of going back to school for granted,” says Morton.  She threw herself into her classes with fervour and relished being back at school. As a result of her hard work, Morton received IABC’s Kay Staib Memorial Award for earning the highest marks in her class.

After completing the program in April 2004, she then when on to do her internship at High Road Communications, an agency that deals with technology and lifestyle companies. Morton originally hoped to gain a position out of her internship, but, when it was over, there were no openings. She knew it wasn’t meant to be.

Within a few weeks of leaving High Road, Morton learned of an opening at Apex Public Relations.  “As soon as I walked in, I felt like I was coming home,” says Morton.  Right away, Morton ‘fell in love’ with her firm’s president Pat McNamara, and account director, Erin Hardy.

“I got a warm, fuzzy feeling about Apex,” says Morton.  She knew she had finally found her best fit.

She works with clients such as UPS, Bank of Montreal, George Brown College and Toronto Hydro.  Morton loves her job and has been with Apex Public Relations for almost five years. She was recently promoted to the position of senior consultant.