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Bryan University Employee Spotlight: Tina Cruz, Assistant Director of Content Marketing and Communications 

Emily Bradshaw

Published: | Last Updated:

Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications Tina Cruz joined Bryan University four years ago and, in that time, she’s helped launch numerous programs, rebuilt websites, and grown a team from scratch.  

How She Found BU

Tina Spotlight Selfie rotated

In 2022, Tina was over six years into a role at her alma mater and ready for something new. She wanted flexibility, a remote setup, and a workplace culture that actually walked the walk. Then she stumbled on a BU posting. She applied, got the confirmation email, and waited. 

A month went by and the posting disappeared from the careers page. She figured that was that until it popped back up, a second confirmation email hit her inbox, and everything progressed quickly. Her phone screen was on Monday, interview Wednesday, and by Friday she had an offer letter. “I really thought they had found another candidate and that I was out of the running, but then everything happened so quickly and I was so excited!” 

The interview itself was an hour and a half with BU’s Chief Marketing Officer Mark Evans. Tina knew almost immediately it was the right fit for her.  

“Within the first, like, five minutes of talking with Mark, it was just a breath of fresh air.”  

She admits it took a year or two of waiting for the other shoe to drop before she fully believed it.  

“He stayed very constant in his way of being a leader and manager, which I really appreciate, and just solidifies I made the right decision.” 

Sink or Swim

“I remember my second day, he was like, are you ready to put together and send a mass communications campaign? And I was like, okay, we’re diving right in.” Her first quarter included two full program launches for two different brands. “It was sink or swim, and I’m so glad I swam,” she laughed.  

She did more than just swim. She was the first full-time hire in the marketing department, outside of the CMO, and within three years she was promoted twice and built a team with two people under her.  

Her role now spans two worlds: managing communications for prospective students, alumni, and graduates on one side, and overseeing nearly every piece of content the brands produce on the other. Think everything from the website and program pages to organic social media, digital and print assets.  

Working With Friends

Ask her what she loves most about BU, and she’ll tell you it’s the people.  

“I love who I work for and who I work with, and the fact that we can all just be creative together and produce really cool products. I feel like I’m working with my friends, which is really nice.”  

She describes the team, all within about a year of each other in age, as “cusp millennials who are just doing our best in the corporate world. We’re coffee-loving, meme-loving 20-somethings, early 30-somethings, just trying.”  

But don’t let the memes fool you: “Sure we can laugh and joke during the week, but it’s amazing to see all we’re able to accomplish, together. I think balance is healthy and allows us all to be excited to log on for work each morning.” 

Press her for a favorite kind of project, though, and she lights up talking about design work. During her first year, she overhauled the graduation team’s entire web presence, writing the copy and rebuilding three outdated pages into a single streamlined resource that’s still in use today.  

“Design projects are probably, if I had to pick my favorite thing, because at the end of it, you have a really tangible asset that you’re like, I conceptualized that, I wrote it, and I helped make it come to life. And that’s just a really cool feeling.” 

Related:

The Youngest Person in the Room

What most people don’t see is how far she’s come to get here.  

“My biggest challenge was always being scared of being the youngest person in the room,” she said. “I would go into these conference rooms and be the youngest person in the room by, like, 15, 20 years easily, and that was so intimidating.”  

She started at BU at 24, and not before long, she was representing the department in rooms full of directors, vice presidents, and C-suite leaders. “I had such imposter syndrome. It has been a mental battle to allow myself to feel like I am supposed to be here. I have the capability to be here. I have the knowledge to be here. And I feel like I got there.” 

Two things got her there. One was Mark, who she credits as the biggest mentor of her career. “He is the first person in my adult life to empower me in a job. To make me feel like, ‘put me in, coach’. He’s the person who’s had the most faith in me. I don’t feel like I would be in this seat if he didn’t think that I could do it.”  

The other was a deliberate mindset shift, built on advice from Mark that she now passes down to her own team: “If it’s not on you, then don’t let it bother you. If it’s something you can control, put your all on it.” 

“The confidence boost over the last two years has been insane,” she says. “I was very introverted and very quiet, and I’m happy to not be that person anymore.”  

Know Your Worth

Tina Spotlight Wedding

If Mark shaped how she leads, her very first boss shaped what she reaches for. Janel was the public information officer at the fire department where Tina landed her first job out of college. She was often the only woman in a building full of men, coordinating fire chiefs, battalion chiefs, and captains without flinching.  

“She conducted herself so well and so strong. I wanted to be like that.” Tina said, recalling advice Janel gave her that she still carries today. “Remember what your worth and value are, and don’t take anything less than that. She taught me that you don’t have to settle for a bad workplace.”  

It’s the same spirit behind the advice Tina gives anyone starting their career: “If you don’t like your job, quit it. I always say give it a year. Honestly, give it a year and a half if you can. But if you realize maybe it’s not what you thought it was, it’s okay to leave it and try something else. There’s so much out there that you don’t even know about.” 

Her own goals haven’t gotten any smaller. “Director by 30 is my aspiration,” she said.  

Life Beyond the Inbox

Tina Spotlight Archie

Outside of work, you’ll find Tina in the kitchen; cooking, baking, and recently reverse-engineering her husband Adam’s favorite restaurant pasta dish to rave reviews.  

You might also find her out on a stroll with Adam and their dog, Archie, or hopping between wineries in her corner of Northeast Ohio. Her dream is to take a pastry masterclass in Europe someday.  

“Show me how to make a croissant. What you pay $5 for at a bakery kind of thing.” First, though, she has to conquer bread. “If I can get bread down, then I think it’s game over.”   

One fun fact she loves to share is how she met Adam. 

Tina Spotlight Spain

“I met my husband in Spain, and we went to the same small college, but I didn’t meet him until we were there.,” she said. “I had to go to a foreign country to find out about him, and the rest is history.” 

Breaking the Silence

A mission close to her heart is one she’s living: infertility awareness.  

“Being more of a voice in that space is huge, because it is such a silent battle,” she said. “They don’t think of all the doctor’s appointments, all the injections, all the money, and the strain that that puts on your mental health, and your finances, and your relationship.” 

She continued, “No one understands what you go through, I think, until you show them. You don’t get it unless you’re in it, and you can’t fault anyone for that.” 

That’s exactly why she’s chooses to speak up. It started when she watched a friend open up about her own journey.  

“All it takes is one person to kind of speak up about it. Now that I’ve spoken up, women who I would have never guessed are like, oh my god, I’m on my third medicated cycle, how did you get through it?” 

For Tina, that’s the whole point. “It is such a silent battle that I don’t think needs to be silent anymore. We’ve been in the trenches for five years now, and it’s exhausting feeling so alone, and it’s time that changed.” 

Learn more about infertility and ways to get involved through organizations like RESOLVE: The National Infertility & Family Building Association, The Hope for Fertility Foundation, and more.  

A Leap Worth Taking

As for anyone thinking about a career at BU? Tina doesn’t hesitate. “It was honestly the best jump I took. I was so scared of change; I was at a place that I knew like the back of my hand, and it was a really big risk, but it was so worth it. And it would be worth it for you, too.” 

Each month, we shine a light on one of our amazing team members through the Bryan University Employee Spotlight. Every employee is eligible. Want to join our team? Explore Careers at Bryan University! 

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