Category: Alumni Stories

According to the U.S. Department of Education, almost a third of undergraduate students in associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs change their major at least once. That was the case for Clemson University alumna Lee Hilderbrand Blakely (2008), who shifted her undergraduate degree focus from chemistry to communication, before a travel and tourism minor helped her discover a passion for event planning.

Blakely has since applied the same philosophy to her career, using experiences in different jobs to find the perfect fit. Blakely organized events for the Chick-fil-A Bowl Game in Atlanta, sold linens to event planners throughout Charleston, and worked as both a wedding planner and in destination management before launching her own business last fall. Now she’s sharing what she’s learned along the way with students in the Clemson University Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM).

Students in the department’s program and events planning class learn about planning, implementing and evaluating leisure and recreation programs and events. Blakely will lead a group of students through a project that they will carry out in the Charleston community, where they will be required to assess the project’s needs, develop goals and objectives, and build and implement a comprehensive plan. They will then be asked to measure whether they achieved the goals and objectives they set out to accomplish.

Blakely said that applying lessons learned in the classroom to real-world experiences is invaluable, something she discovered during her own time as a PRTM student.

“My favorite class was with a professor who had worked in national parks, and who taught much of the class based off of his first-hand experiences on the job,” Blakely said. “It inspired me to go out and do my own thing and learn by experience. Now I’m excited to pass that on to other PRTM students.”

Sheila Backman, Ph.D., one of Blakely’s former professors, said that Blakely was a great student who has a lot of on-the-ground knowledge to share with those currently completing their degrees, so she can help students understand what skills they need to succeed in the field.

“She exhibited positive behavior as a student, came to class on time, and was prepared and engaged – all skills that can be taken for granted, but have served her well in her past employment,” Backman said. “I expect her business to be successful, and for our students to benefit greatly from her knowledge.”

Blakely said that she’s happy to give back to her alma mater.

“I have a very deep connection with Clemson, the college and with the major as well, in many different ways,” said Blakely, whose father (Van Hilderbrand, 1974), brother (Van Hilderbrand Jr., 2002) and husband (David Blakely, 2008) are also graduates. “It’s good to keep those connections going.”

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The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management is part of the University’s College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS). Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in seven disciplines – communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice – to further its mission of “building people and communities” in South Carolina and beyond.

Experience Holy City in Charleston specializes in event planning, destination management, day-of-wedding coordination and transportation for groups visiting Charleston or other parts of South Carolina. The business was founded by Lee Blakely in October 2020.

By Sam Brooks, communications intern

A wedding is a special day for people all over the world. The event represents the beginning of a new adventure that will define them for the rest of their life. This was the case for Clemson University Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) alumna Aysia Cooper; it just happened to be her sister’s wedding.

Born in Greer, South Carolina, Aysia has always had big dreams and found herself at Greer Charter High School, which gave her an opportunity to begin her college education early. After high school, she planned on becoming a dental hygienist and began her college career at Greenville Tech. Everything changed however when her sister became engaged and she was tasked with planning the event.

Whether it was picking out flowers, food or a dance playlist, Aysia immersed herself in the organization and planning process. While creating the perfect day for her sister, she found a hidden gift within herself. Aysia Cooper was made for organizing, planning, leadership and creating the perfect environment for others to enjoy. Once Cooper discovered her newfound passion she realized that that dental school was not the place for her. She turned her attention to find a place that could help develop the personal gifts that had been inside her all along. 

When deciding which field to study, she realized she needed more than just a hospitality degree. She needed a program that could fully develop all of her gifts and give her the opportunity to experience new things. Aysia found her home in the PRTM department.

“I like the chaos of everything, I like logistics, I like being in charge, handling all the moving parts and figuring out how we are all going to do an event together,” said Cooper. “Being in that chaos and taking control of a situation is what initially drew me to the program.”

She found that within the PRTM department, she could develop her event management skills, while also getting marketing experience that would help her in the professional world. 

“Clemson offers a PRTM concentration that is more than tourism and management, which is different from what a lot of other schools offer,” Cooper said. “We learned about so many different concentrations within the major that helped us understand different fields.”

Aysia recalls her classes with Bill Norman, Ph.D., a professor that is still a major influence in her life today. 

“Dr. Norman does a great job of connecting his classes to real life. He genuinely cares about you as a person,” said Cooper. “Every time I need a recommendation I give him a call and Dr. Norman still checks in on me. You can tell he really wants his students to succeed.”

Aysia’s PRTM learning also helped her put her natural abilities and knowledge gained in the classroom to the test. 

“Through one of my classes we got to plan and work the Student Affairs Gala for department donors,” Aysia said. “We planned the decoration, menu, and everything in between.”

Aysia said that her time working with Student Affairs played a significant role in her professional development.

“Student Affairs is something that is extra special to me. I worked with them for so long and it was such an important part of my Clemson experience.”

After graduating in the spring of 2020, Aysia was set to begin her dream internship with the City of Greenville in their special events department. However Aysia, like many former and current students across the country, had her internship altered due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A once paid internship became unpaid and her hours were cut down severely. 

Aysia had a choice to make. She could either make the most out of what was left of her opportunity or try to find something else. Aysia chose to maximize the opportunity she had been given. She bet on herself and the abilities the Clemson PRTM department had helped her develop. After the internship with the City of Greenville, she was able to land another internship with an architecture firm doing product marketing. This opportunity led to a full-time job with the architecture firm that continued to develop her professional skills. Aysia recently accepted a new position at Clemson University as an Event Coordinator. 

Aysia’s early success came as no surprise to her favorite professor, Bill Norman. 

“When I met Aysia she had a 4.0 GPA. When Aysia graduated she had a 4.0 GPA,” said Dr. Norman. “As her professor and advisor, I challenged her in the classroom and the profession. She surpassed my expectations at every turn. Aysia represents the best of PRTM and will do a great job as an Event Coordinator at Clemson University.”

The future for Aysia Cooper is bright and sure to be filled with exciting opportunities. She dreams of doing destination marketing for the City of Greenville full-time one day. In the meantime, she continues to believe in herself, work hard and trust the lessons she learned during her time at Clemson University. 

The Clemson University Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management department recently recognized two of its former students for their impressive contributions to the parks and recreational field throughout their careers to date. A Clemson University staff member was also recognized for her contributions to the department.

Kyle M. Woosnam, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management within the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, was recognized for his achievements in academia. Melinda Chappell, Director of the North Myrtle Beach Aquatic & Fitness Center, was recognized as an outstanding practitioner. Casey Kornegay won the department’s Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes a member of the Clemson community who has made outstanding contributions to the PRTM Department.

Interim Department Chair Jeffrey Hallo says that all three winners have focused their careers on building opportunities for other people.

“Kyle’s research track record is extensive and impressive, but he is also widely regarded as an excellent personal and professional mentor to his students,” Hallo said. “Melinda has also focused her career on serving others, with a particular focus on creating sports and recreation opportunities for persons with disabilities. Casey’s work has made a significant impact on our department and our students.”

About Kyle Woosnam

Woosnam completed his Ph.D. in 2008 and focuses his research on sustainable tourism planning and management within rural communities, both with the U.S. and abroad. He has conducted research in 27 countries, secured more than $1.25 million in grants and contracts to support his research, published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and delivered more than 130 conference presentations throughout the globe. He has also received eight teaching awards and two research awards throughout his 11 years serving as a professor, and has graduated 28 Masters students (17 chaired committees) and 16 Ph.D. students (four chaired committees).

He serves as Senior Research Fellow within the University of Surrey’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management and the University of Johannesburg’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, where he teaches courses in community tourism, cultural heritage tourism, social impacts of tourism, research methods, and protected areas management. He sits on seven editorial boards, including the Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, and Sustainability.

About Melinda Chappell

Chappell holds a BS degree in Recreation Administration with an emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation from Clemson University, and a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Carolina. A certified recreation therapist, Melinda has spent most of her career serving persons with disabilities. She co-founded Limitless Sports, Columbia S.C. and Coastal Adaptive Sports, and is a long-time member of the Southeastern Regional Wheelchair Sports Association, as well as the meet director for their annual event, the Southeastern Regional Wheelchair Games (SEWSA). She helped bring these games to Clemson University.

Originally from Irmo, South Carolina, Chappell moved to North Myrtle Beach in 2001 to work for the city, and is currently the Director of the North Myrtle Beach Aquatic & Fitness Center, a 64,000 square foot, membership-based facility that she helped build. She also teaches a course about recreation for persons with disabilities as an Adjunct Professor at Coastal Carolina University.

About Casey Kornegay

As the Senior Academic Compliance Manager in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Casey Kornegay leads and maintains Clemson’s authorization for out-of-state educational activities and learning placements, compliance with university policy and processes, and with federal, state, NC-SARA, and SACSCOC accreditation requirements. In this role, Casey enjoys working with a variety of academic programs across campus to ensure they are meeting compliance requirements and assist them with processes to enhance their efficiencies.

Casey holds an M.S.in Instructional Design and Technology from Western Illinois University. Before her career in higher education, she worked for corporations in a variety of roles from project management, event planning, training management, acquisition team lead, instructional designer, technical writer and marketing management.

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The parks, recreation and tourism management department at Clemson University is one of the largest and most well-recognized programs of its type in the nation. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in  community recreation, sport and camp management, park and conservation area management, PGA golf management, public administration, recreational therapy, travel and tourism, and youth development leadership.

Grace Graves credits a career fair, and one of her Clemson professors, for helping her find her first job in the hotel and service industry. 

Grace graduated from Clemson University in 2017 as part of the first cohort with departmental honors for her major in parks, recreation and tourism management (PRTM). Although she had a job when she graduated, it was with an employer she almost didn’t connect with at a career fair organized by the department. 

“I had done all of my research on the companies I wanted to talk to before the career fair, but when I got there, I didn’t find anything I was super excited about,” she says. “I ran into one of my professors on the way out and told him I was feeling discouraged, and he encouraged me to talk to a hotel development and management company that had been added at the last minute.” 

Grace was a bit nervous to approach an organization she hadn’t researched in advance, but when she realized their representative was based near her home in downtown Spartanburg, they fell into easy conversation. Although they didn’t have any opportunities for her at the corporate office, the company was building a new hotel in downtown Spartanburg that needed people. She was encouraged to talk to the staff on site. 

“I wasn’t sure about approaching this organization at first because I didn’t know anything about hotels, but I did it anyway,” she says. “I’m so glad I did, because that conversation turned into a job that taught me so much – and that took me through the process of building a hotel from the ground up.” 

Grace started as an operations and sales intern. After her internship was complete, they hired her as their sales coordinator and soon promoted her to sales manager. The job gave her experience working with the area’s Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and Chamber of Commerce, and helped her apply her learning in several different PRTM areas of focus, such as tourism, events, sales, community relations and management. 

Although she’s since left the organization for a job in the higher education industry, she remains on good terms with her former employer and is interested in getting back into the service and hotel industry at some point. 

Grace says that career fairs are important, because they prepare students for real world interactions in a professional setting. She encourages students to talk to their professors both before and after the event, as they have valuable advice about how to make industry connections. She also says it’s important to ask for business cards and to contact the people you met after the event is over. 

Grace’s other career fair tips include: 

• Buy an “interview” outfit before the event that feels comfortable and professional. 
• Review the list of employers that are attending and highlight your top choices. Use a different color to highlight other organizations to talk to if you still have time. 
• Research each employer that you plan to speak with. Find three facts about the organization, and write three questions in advance. You can also brainstorm a short, relevant story about yourself that relates to the company or its goals. 
• Bring your printed resume and a notepad. You can also use your phone to take notes, but make sure you ask if they’re comfortable with you taking notes first. 
• Smile and have a firm handshake. Be confident and sell yourself. 
• Follow up with either a thank you note or quick email the same day, and make sure you refer to something that you spoke about so that they will remember your name and face. 

Above all, Grace says, it’s important to be open to ideas, experiences and opportunities. Career fairs give students opportunities that simply aren’t available after they graduate, and keeping an open mind can open doors to something unplanned, but rewarding. 

“Career fairs are a real, live in-person LinkedIn,” she says. “You’ll never get that many organizations in the same place again. The connections you make may not lead to something right away, but if you continue to take advantage of these opportunities, you’ll start to see doors start to open up for you over time.”

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The CEPA/PRTM Career/Internship and Camp Job Fair is on Monday, February 17 between 9:30AM and 1:00PM on the second floor of the Hendrix Center. Read more about the career fair, including which organizations are participating.  

Lacey Hennessey believes everyone has a marketable skill.

After talking to her for a few minutes, however, you realize she has more skills than most.

Her business started when she was a student in the parks, recreation and tourism management program at Clemson University, and looking to make some extra money to help pay for her school and living expenses.

“I was able to use my artistic ability to have a little fun while earning the extra money I needed,” she says. “I made things like fraternity coolers and decorative items for people’s apartments, and kept getting new business from people telling others to ‘see if Lacey does it’.”

If she didn’t know how to do something she was asked to create, she’d look it up online and become an expert at it.

Her skills came in handy after she completed her degree and began working in a marketing firm in Greenville, where she saw an opportunity to use her creative abilities to save her employer and its clients time and money.

“My job was to manage the agency’s events, and as I was doing it, I realized I could add value by doing things like making the floral arrangements and signage myself,” she says.

Lacey worked full-time and managed her business on the side for a couple of years. One day an office consultant asked her what she’d most like to do and she responded that she wanted to paint. She also wanted more flexibility and freedom to travel.

“I loved my coworkers, my clients and the projects I worked on, but I didn’t love that two-week vacation policy,” she says. “I realized I wanted the freedom to say yes to new opportunities.”

Soon after, she set out on her own and started running her business, Hennessy in the Home, full-time. Her business provides artwork, custom gifts, home décor, and wedding and event planning services. Lacey creates everything from t-shirt designs to painting murals, most recently at Clemson’s new Tipsy Taco restaurant. She also continues to provide event planning services for her former agency.

She’s built an online presence as a blogger and on Instagram, where she posts personally as @Lacey_does and for business @hennesseyinthehome, and which she credits for being hired to paint the Tipsy Taco mural. The project was so successful that she’s been asked to paint four more murals over the next two months.

Lacey says that her training in parks, recreation and tourism management gave her the background and internship opportunities she needed to get started.

“My events planning expertise gave me the value I needed to get in the door,” she says. “My internships helped me build contacts and find my mentor.”

Her advice to current students is to think about what you do well.

“If you have a skill that can help people, you have a potential business idea,” she says. “Someone will pay you for that service.”

You can learn more about Hennessey at the Home at hennesseyinthehome.com.

Harriet Gilpin (also known as Hattie) always dreamed of running her own business.

After earning a degree in parks, recreation and tourism management at Clemson University in 2015, Hattie was working for a boutique hotel company in New York when she realized the time to pursue that dream was now.

“Although I liked my job, I realized that the best time for me to pursue my dream of going into business for myself was before I got too settled into a relationship or wanted to start a family,” she says. “Starting a business when I did freed me to focus entirely on my work without competing pressures and priorities.”

Flash forward a few months, and Hattie’s walking dogs by day and crafting high quality jewelry in her apartment by night.

“I look back on them now as some of the best days of my life so far, but I would wake up to walk my first dog at 7 am and get back to my shoebox apartment 12 hours later to start making jewelry,” she says.  “Half the time I would fall asleep doing it and wake up with little pieces of jewelry and supplies stuck to my face.”

When Hattie reached the limits of what she could accomplish on her own, she reached out to a local jeweler for advice. In exchange for social media and website support, the jeweler became a mentor to Hattie, showing her the ins and outs of the jewelry industry.

“Working with her played a big role in my success,” she says. “She gave me the tools I needed to be successful, and I was able to help her with her business as well, so it was a win-win.”

Hattie’s small, home-based business is now an elevated jewelry line in New York City called Hattie Banks, which creates sophisticated pieces that quickly became favorites among celebrities and social media influencers. Her pieces are based on her childhood memories riding horses and on the beach, and are built to withstand daily wear.

Hattie says that her experience as a Clemson PRTM student taught her the importance of being a team player, and that she now looks for that quality in her employees.

“The Clemson PRTM program let us make mistakes, and then they guided us through fixing them,” she says. “Now when I hire someone new, I need to be sure they’re comfortable working in an environment that gives them the freedom to make mistakes, because that’s the only way we’ll get bigger and better.”

She also now focuses on paying it forward, by providing similar mentorship to other women starting their own businesses.

“If someone didn’t help me, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she says. “I find it really important to give back. You have to.”

You can explore the Hattie Banks Jewelry Collection at HattieBanks.com or follow @byhattiebanks on Instagram.

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