Diligent, creative, sociable and communicative: everything you would want from a leader. That and more is what Southern Illinois University’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has found in their president, Kiara “Kiki” Hartmann.
Hartmann grew up in Elgin, Illinois, with a love for math and a drive to be an engineer, a plan highly encouraged by her older brother. After realizing that she was questioning her career path of being an engineer while she was in high school, Kiki was recommended to pursue public relations by a career placement test, and that’s where her journey into the world of public relations began. Kiki is about to graduate this spring with a major in communication studies, specializing in public relations, and double minoring in political science and advertisement.
When elections for the board of PRSSA came up, Kiki decided to run for the role of president after watching the previous presidents and finding their jobs fascinating. The behind the scenes of everything happening appealed to her and she wound up where she is today: president. Kiki has always loved leadership positions, which is exemplified by her standing as president of PRSSA, sorority Sigma Alpha, and registered student organization, Love Your Melon.
Along with being a public relations rep, Kiki has many aspirations in life, especially when it comes to career paths. For fun she would love to work for Google, in the food industry (for the free food) or in sports PR for her love of the Cubs. Holistically, Kiki would love to work with children struggling with illnesses or in the adoption system for a nonprofit organization, as she adores kids.
In between her busy schedule, you could find Kiki watching New Girl or Lucifer while facetiming her cat Calvin and planning her next excursion. After Kiki’s trip to Jamaica, she has been anxious to get back to travelling and exploring the world. She would especially love to visit Greece and Aruba to see the animals and the culture of the countries.
SIU’s PRSSA is extremely lucky to have such a bodacious, passionate and uplifting president such as Kiki and will miss her when she graduates. Through her time as president, however, she will undoubtedly lead PRSSA through this unpredictable semester with the pride of a Saluki!