What is your name and what are your credentials?
Carrie Hunnicutt, MA
Please give us a brief description of your background.
I was born and raised in a small town in Connecticut and graduated from Western Connecticut State University’s Ancel School of Business in the early 1990’s. The day after graduation I moved to Tucson Arizona, and received my Masters in Counseling in 1995. Having successfully avoided a “real job” for five years after college, I jumped into the workforce as an educator and volunteer coordinator at Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation. Shortly thereafter, I landed a job at Sierra Tucson, introducing me to a career of a lifetime. I was able to be a part of and witness what healing and recovery looked like, I had access to and support of incredible professional teachers and mentors. In 2000, I moved back to Connecticut and worked at Renfrew Center for a few years, which exposed me to a facility dedicated to treating women with eating disorders. I found myself back at Sierra Tucson by 2004, this time focusing on relationship development with clinical professionals in the NYC Metropolitan area, and stayed until mid-2013. Mid-career, I took a leap – quit my job and did some consulting; one company was Oliver-Pyatt Centers. I came on fulltime as the Director of Marketing, and can’t believe my good fortune to be in this dream job.
What does a typical day look like for you at Oliver-Pyatt Centers?
I typically begin my work day early, by 7:30 a.m., by checking email that has come in overnight while having my coffee. Usually by 9:00 a.m. I begin phone meetings, which range from supervision to planning for upcoming initiatives or events. My role touches on many aspects of our business, from supervising and supporting the Social Media Marketing Manager and Alumni Program Manager, Corporate and Event sponsorships, some event planning, budgeting, supporting the Outreach Managers in helping them determine areas of focus in their territories based on data analysis and trends, project management, sales operations, communications, and more. Occasionally I travel to a conference or down to Oliver-Pyatt Centers. One nice part of my job is the proximity to many people I work closely with; three or four of them are within an hour of my house, so getting together for a meeting or a lunch is always a possibility. I am often walking around my office with my old school headset if I’m not at my computer working on a project.
In your own words, please describe the philosophy of Oliver-Pyatt Centers.
Since I am in Marketing, I could easily rattle off the philosophy at OPC! Yet in my own words, it would be even simpler. Love. When I began consulting, I asked one of the pillars of OPC, Director of Business Relations Liz Mershon, what made it so special. She said, “We love our girls until they can love themselves. And then we love them some more.” Every person at OPC comes from a place of love of what they do, who they do it for, and who they do it with. I’ve never seen anything like it and I am blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of it.
How does the marketing and outreach team work together? How do your roles overlap and differ?
We work very closely together. It is really like a venn diagram with many areas of overlap and a lot of “dotted lines.” I am fortunate to work closely with my friend and colleague Director of Outreach Ibbits Newhall; she and I work in tandem on a daily basis. While in the Marketing Department our roles are very different, we interact regularly and work collaboratively on projects. It’s a real team approach and as we like to say, we all have skin in the game.
What is your favorite thing about Oliver-Pyatt Centers?
I love and admire the boldness, nimbleness and creativity that is embedded into the culture. It is a work culture of taking measured risk and empowering each other, which demands constantly being thoughtful in all ways. And on a very simple level, I love OPC’s aesthetic. Everything is beautiful, from the website, to the way a meal is served, to the collaterals, to the furnishings in the casas. And it feels really nurturing and caring and good.
What are three facts about you that people do not know?
I once asked Greg Kinnear out on a date (which he did not accept). I was born on Easter Sunday and they put bunny ears on me in the hospital. In 1993 I took an impromptu 8-hour train ride to Madrid, Spain to see a sold out U2 show in a stadium that seated 60,000 people. Pretty amazing!!
Is there any additional information you want to share with our readers?
I like the idea of ending with a quote. “Someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say “What have you done with your life?” and though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say, I was one of us.” – Brian Andreas