Growing up in Montezuma, a small rural town in central Georgia, everyone spoke with a smooth Southern drawl that oozed hospitality. A classmate of mine, Jody Beal, took a keen interest in my unique ability to switch between the drawl that contained African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and non-accented Standard American English with ease. I recall our high school hosting a college and career fair with several colleges and corporations spread across the cafeteria. I spotted a college I wanted to gain more information about and approached the representative. Instinctively, I put aside my lax vernacular and began inquiring about the college and its programs.

During a break, Jody approached me and said “I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a while and I’m finally doing it. When you’re in front of the college or company representatives, you sound like a college professor; then the next moment you’re huddling around friends and you’re the down-to-Earth and country Kera we all know and love! How are you able to do that so well?” I never noticed the shift, which I now identify as code-switching, until he pointed it out. I explained that I naturally felt equipped to adapt to my social settings and made those adjustments as I saw fit through my body language, tone, and choice of words.

As I contemplated what I had just explained to Jody, that moment fortified my journey towards truly understanding the art of communication and the abilities needed to connect with a variety of audiences and communication partners. It was also around this time that I became utterly enamored with Olivia Pope, the whip-smart crisis manager on the show Scandal. I was in awe of her powerful presence, style and razor-sharp wit. But perhaps most inspiring was seeing a confident, capable black woman like myself commanding respect in a world so often dominated by men.

This seed that was planted germinated into my passion for public relations.