Riley Schroeder

Supporting a diverse portfolio of clients across CPG, education and nonprofit sectors by managing multi-channel communications, social content, community engagement and reporting. I draft social content, manage daily listening and engagement, coordinate speaking and award opportunities and develop press materials including media alerts and releases. I also contribute to earned media pitching, influencer sample coordination, event support and cross-functional project planning. My role includes producing monthly and quarterly updates, KPI trackers, social decks, workplans and Sprout reports that guide strategic decision-making for each client.

Gained valuable experience in customer service and team collaboration while working at Starbucks, where I honed my skills in creating exceptional customer experiences and managing high-paced environments. Developed a keen attention to detail and effective problem-solving abilities through daily interactions and operational routines.

After a wonderful internship at 303 Magazine, I am continuing to write stories on the restaurant scene in Denver. View my clips through the link.

As an intern at 303 Magazine, I am learning the ins-and-outs of digital magazine production. From sourcing, interviewing, writing and editing my pieces, accompanied by the advice from editors, I have gained great experience in food journalism.

In Columbia College Chicago's Global Marketing program, I traveled to Prague in June 2023 to explore the culture of the Czech Republic and their beauty brand Dermacol. Within two weeks, we created a global marketing strategy based on concert makeup that allows Dermacol to expand to the United States. I contributed the PESTC analysis, big idea, target audience, social media strategy, timeline and measurement. From this, I have a deeper understanding of how to formulate and collaborate on a marketing strategy for a brand looking to expand to a new country. ​ In addition to the program, I explored Prague and took in the music, cuisine, iconic sights and had the opportunity to attend a Cosmopolitan event.

At Echo Magazine, I learned how to collaborate on magazine production. I held roles including writer, copy-editor and Production Manager. While learning time management skills, I handled sourcing, researching, writing and copy editing my own stories, while being the production manager. In the latter, I held succinct in-person meetings that gave insight for a budget sheet on the processes for each story, including the writing, editing, photography and layout updates. After learning skills in Adobe Suite, inter-personal and management, I am proud of the final Roots issue, which can be viewed through the link.

View my published clips at Chicago Talks through the link. These stories are written about the businesses and people of Chicago who can't readily share their stories. Through stories like mine on Chicago Talks, their stories are heard.

Columbia College Chicago provided me with experience in writing, editing, sourcing, researching and more through its journalism department. Through my fashion studies minor, I gained skills in fashion history, Adobe Creative Cloud and design terminology.

After dabbling in theatre during high school, I furthered my education in stage management at Illinois Wesleyan University before continuing my journalism career at Columbia College Chicago.