Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Lucie Fralicks on working in a modern era


By Kristin Biery


Lucie Fralicks graduated from the University of North Texas with a double major in music and psychology. In fact she wanted to be a high school band director but a bad student teaching experience altered her career path to where she is today.

Currently Mrs. Fralicks works for the Promotional Products Association International and the biggest thing they do is an annual trade show in Las Vegas. They do all of the planning, logistics, sales, etc. for the 50th largest trade show in the U.S.

“It takes one year to plan and it’s a week long event,” Mrs. Fralicks said. “The first two days are education days with seminars or certification workshops and the last three days are the actual trade show.”

On a daily basis Mrs. Fralicks contacts supplier companies and invites them to come to Las Vegas for the trade show. This past year they had over 1500 companies attend.

While she enjoys talking on the phone, there are certain drawbacks to the job that she has never adjusted to---people saying no. Mrs. Fralicks had to learn early on not to take things personal and that they were not saying no to her as an individual but her as a sales person.

Before working for Promotional Products Association International, Mrs. Fralicks worked selling advertising for Modern Bride magazine and then worked in the development office of the University of North Texas.

With the economy in it’s current state, it is not full of job opportunities so I asked Mrs. Fralicks her advice for someone graduating from college this May.

“Be open to possibilities,” Mrs. Fralicks said. “ Talking to people and networking helps too!”

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