Flackable Spotlight: Binh Nguyen
This week, Flackable account executive and rising Philadelphia media personality Binh Nguyen celebrates her one-year anniversary with the agency.
Born in Vietnam, Nguyen’s family immigrated to Lebanon, Pennsylvania when she was just one year old to provide her siblings and her better access to education and the foundation to pursue their passion as adults. After graduating from Lebanon High School, Nguyen targeted Temple University in Philadelphia as her next stop.
After being waitlisted – twice – this determined young woman hung a Temple flag as a backdrop and recorded a video for the admissions office explaining why she had the talent, drive and attitude to make an impact at the university. Needless to say, this got their attention, and she was promptly accepted to the school’s communications program, where she pursued a focus in public relations. “That acceptance email would not only define my next four years, but the rest of my life,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen quickly became one of the university’s most active students. She was a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America, an active member of Delta Zeta Sorority and served as vice president of external affairs for the Temple Student Government.
During her junior year in 2016, Nguyen attended a career fair hosted by Temple’s Klein College of Media and Communication, where she first met Temple alumnus and Flackable founder Brian Hart. “When she visited our booth, I didn’t feel like I was talking to an average college student,” said Hart. “I felt like I was talking to a future star. And the moment she left our booth, my colleague and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, ‘We have to get her!’”
Two months later, Nguyen accepted a summer marketing internship position working directly with Hart to support Flackable’s own public relations, digital marketing and branding initiatives. “That summer marked a major step in my professional development,” said Nguyen. “I didn’t feel like an intern. They treated me as a key member of the team, and it gave me the confidence to know I was pursuing the right career path.”
Then, during her senior year, she furthered her agency experience as an intern with Tierney, where she worked on numerous projects for clients such as Verizon and McDonalds.
Nguyen graduated from Temple University in May 2017, where she was selected from a university class of nearly 10,000 as the lone student commencement speaker, sharing the stage with former Eagles head coach and fellow commencement speaker Dick Vermeil.
We couldn't be more proud of Flackable internship alumn and #TUgrad17 student speaker @binh_4thewin today! pic.twitter.com/7DEU2o4emX
— Flackable (@flackable) May 11, 2017
After that special moment, which she worked so hard to earn, Nguyen was ready to start a new, important chapter in her life. So she took her time evaluating several offers and opportunities.
“When Binh graduated, I had just moved Flackable to Philadelphia – largely to tap into the deep creative talent pool the city had to offer,” said Hart. “We were at a point where we needed a special talent with the drive to advance and emerge as a leader with our young agency, and that’s exactly what we got.”
Nguyen joined Flackable as an account coordinator in June 2017, where she aided in executing public relations and digital marketing campaigns on behalf of the agency’s growing client base. “It was a lot to handle at first. Rather than micromanaging, which is common in the agency world, Brian’s style is to give the team a real sense of independence paired with extreme accountability,” said Nguyen. “It gives us true ownership over our work, and in my case, it allowed me to learn the business and develop at an accelerated pace.”
“One of my first accounts, an existing campaign with a financial advisor striving to become a local celebrity, was where I really felt like I was coming into my own,” said Nguyen. “We had already secured a regular retirement column with a local paper, which I helped him maintain, but I was thrilled when I took his campaign to the next level by landing him a recurring financial planning segment with an ABC affiliate.”
In October, a few months after Nguyen joined the agency, Hart took the entire account team to Boston for four days for the Forbes Under 30 Summit. “At Flackable, we do a lot of team outings – this Forbes event was my favorite,” said Nguyen. “It was my first work conference, which was very exciting. And it had a stacked roaster of influential people such as Kendrick Lamar, Karlie Kloss and Lindsey Vonn.”
Couldn't have asked for a better experience at @ForbesUnder30 Summit in Boston! pic.twitter.com/Sz2DXEo4lY
— Binh Nguyen (@Binh_4thewin) October 4, 2017
“The conference was packed with so many events and networking opportunities, but we still had time to check out city. The energy of being around tons of different celebrities, artists and creators was incomparable,” said Nguyen.
The experience got even sweeter the final night of the event when Nguyen learned she had earned a promotion to her current position.
As an account executive, Nguyen has gone on to help clients win coveted industry awards, enhance their digital footprint and routinely earn coverage in top tier outlets including Forbes, CNBC.com, CNN Money, Reuters, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, US News & World Report, Yahoo! Finance and The Wall Street Journal. “It’s such an exhilarating feeling landing powerful opportunities for clients,” said Nguyen. “I love what I do because I love helping these brands and individuals reach their potential and achieve new heights.”
Outside of Flackable, Binh is a social media influencer managing an Instagram account with over 30,000 followers (@Philly_Sushi), where her work has been featured on FOX 29 and CBS. She is also an on-camera personality with MyNewPhilly, where she covers news and social events in the Philadelphia area.
To keep up with all the amazing work Binh is doing for Flackable and Philadelphia as a whole, follow her on Twitter (@Binh_4thewin) and Instagram (@Binh_4thewin) (@Philly_Sushi).
Gabrielle Meunier is a marketing intern at Flackable, a national, full-service public relations and digital marketing agency headquartered in Philadelphia. Follow Gabrielle on Twitter at @gab_meunier.