Ep. 5: Redesigning a Mascot: All Fun and Games?

In this episode of Breaking Silos, we're diving into the world of higher education marketing and admissions through the lens of Trinity Valley Community College's ambitious mascot redesign project. Sparked by their newfound fame from the Netflix documentary "Cheer," the college sought to capitalize on this spotlight by reimagining its mascot and logo to stand out and resonate more deeply with prospective students. Joining us are a dynamic duo from Trinity Valley, Courtney Skiles, and Joanna Fritz. Together, they navigated the challenges of altering a well-established identity and leveraged the new mascot to bolster enrollment and marketing efforts. We'll explore the strategy, collaboration, and creativity that fueled this transformation and how it's impacting the college today.Guest Names: Courtney Skiles, Director of Recruiting and AdmissionsJoanna Fritz, Director of Marketing and CommunicationsGuest Social Handles:   Find Courtney on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyskiles56/Find Joanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-fritz-iom-79382122/Guest Bios: Courtney Skiles is the Director of Recruiting and Admissions at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, TX. She found her passion for higher ed as a student at TVCC in 2016 and has relentlessly pursued her higher ed career and education ever since. She is a proud gen-z leader specializing in student engagement, creative problem-solving, and organizational change. She is less than a month away from earning her Doctor of Education in higher education leadership from Maryville University and aims to utilize her career to continuously promote higher education to underserved populations.Joanna Fritz has spent the past 30+ years in marketing and communications for companies large and small, for-profit and non-profit, and as a consultant. She has also worked in marketing for Texas A&M University Development Foundation, Western Wyoming Community College, and is currently Director of Marketing and Communications at Trinity Valley Community College, a position she held since 2022. Joanna holds a Bachelor of Science in Technical Communications from Montana Tech in Butte, Montana. She and her husband of 38 years, Clark, have one son and a beautiful daughter-in-law who are both attorneys in Wyoming.