Roger Williams University Alumni and President of CHIKMEDIA Meghan Rothschild spoke to students on Saturday Oct. 22 at an event hosted by the Women In Business (WIB) club.
The purpose of WIB is to empower women from diverse backgrounds by providing resources, encouraging women to learn more about themselves, teaching networking skills and gaining hands-on experience. Rothschild is a female entrepreneur who said she wants to inspire young women to be successful at working their personal brand through her 3 workshops.
Rothschild graduated from RWU in 2006 with a Communications degree and a minor in Psychology. During her time at RWU, Rothschild wrote for The Hawks’ Herald, was President of the Chorus, hosted the radio show Southern Sizzler with her friend Traci Harris and held multiple on campus jobs. Meghan said student involvement was important at RWU to enhance their experience and provide opportunities for the future.
Rothschild’s life changed in the middle of her RWU career when she was diagnosed with skin cancer as a sophomore. After her diagnosis, Rothschild said she felt a calling to share her story and became the official spokesperson for Impact Melanoma.
Rothschild has been featured on numerous media platforms including WebMD, ABC World News, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, CNN, Fitness, Marie Claire, The Huffington Post and on the front cover of Newport Mercury Magazine for sharing her diagnosis of melanoma cancer and her surgical scar.
Cosmopolitan honored Rothschild the Practice Safe Sun Award for all of her public relations work with the American Skin Cancer Dermatology.
Rothschild said she continues to share her personal story regarding her past struggle with melanoma and her current diagnosis of endometriosis. Although there is no cure for endometriosis Rothschild feels much better post surgery. However, Rothschild said, “sometimes we have to change our brand” and has rebranded herself as a business woman.
While Rothschild was at RWU, she started her first business as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. She hosted Mary Kay parties and sold the company products. She credited her Mary Kay business as one of the things that helped her develop her own female run company, CHIKMEDIA, by preparing her to be “ready for sales and more comfortable presenting to groups of people. It could be considered my first form of influencer marketing.”
Rothschild began CHIKMEDIA ten years ago after she had been sexually harassed at the workplace. She was accused of being a “hooker” solely for standing tall and wearing her high heels. This incident inspired her to create her own marketing consulting company, CHIKMEDIA to “support and lift women up.”
CHIKMEDIA is a remote company that is based in Western Massachusetts, but also has a global reach. The company has done influencer marketing for corporations like Dunkin Donuts and is also focused on developing marketing campaigns and target messaging that reflects their client’s brand. CHIKMEDIA services include brand development, marketing public relations 101, training workshops in personal branding, social media management and crisis communication. During the workshop at RWU, Rothschild gave Women In Business advice bout posting social media content, networking tips and how to create a personal brand.
Rothschild’s advice for students is to be “true to yourself.”