Kristin (Kennedy) Pierce

In the early 2000s, Kristin Kennedy Pierce was working a dream job at a marketing firm in Austin.

As a recent graduate of Texas A&M, this was the job she had trained for — but she didn’t feel fulfilled.

What she chose to do next has defined the rest of her life, and set her on the path she feels she is meant to follow.

Pierce graduated from Dublin High School in 2000, and went on to A&M that fall to study rhetoric English with a minor in linguistics. “I’d describe rhetoric English as persuasive communications,” she said.

The field naturally lent itself to marketing jobs, and when Pierce was still in school she took an internship with an agricultural marketing company in Dublin called McDonald’s Marketing Communications.

There, she contributed to marketing strategies for a seed crop business, and helped develop effective websites and marketing materials for people in the community.

“That position was great because it connected me to a couple of bigger activities in the community,” she said. “During that time, I was able to be a part of the grand opening of the rodeo museum, and then I actually interned there one summer as an office manager; I gave tours and created video marketing materials for them.”

Besides the introduction to other community activities, the job at McDonald Marketing helped Pierce realize that marketing was a career path she could pursue. “That was my first awareness of how persuasive communications link perfectly with marketing,” she said.

When she graduated from A&M in 2004, Pierce took her first job in Austin, Texas, at a marketing company called Persidea.

She worked as a copy editor and writer, sales support, and customer care.

“We’d take on any kind of client that’s looking to take either their idea or their business and move it forward,” she said. “One was an Italian restaurant in central Austin; one was a property group of malls, and we helped several technology companies.”

In her free time, Pierce became active in a church in Cedar Park, Texas, right outside of North Austin.

Through her church, she had the opportunity to go on a mission to the village of La Luz in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

At first, she didn’t speak the language and wasn’t sure how she could help. “I felt like I was supposed to be a part of this, but I didn’t know what I was going to do, because I couldn’t speak fluently.”

Slowly, however, she recalled some Spanish vocabulary, and was able to lead craft projects in Spanish. “ Before I knew it, I had led a class through our craft, and shared the hope of Jesus in their own language, which I didn’t speak. It showed me that barriers can be overcome to reach people, and I should always approach the barrier because people matter — not shy away because I feel unequipped. That’s when my heart changed and I knew I wanted to use my life and career to make a difference in the life and world of others.”

When she came home, Pierce saw her old life differently. “[The trip] was a life-changing experience, because I got to see people who have real life needs versus our very prosperous American culture,” she said. “It changed my heart, and so when I came back to my marketing position, I was like, ‘I don’t really like feeding the whole materialism thing anymore.’”

Pierce prayed about it, asking God what she should do and where she could be the most helpful to her community. Then one day, she was approached by a church staff member and asked if she might have time to take on a part-time job in the church office.

“I thought that it could be an open door because my heart had changed so much from what I was doing, and so I pursued that,” she said. “They ended up offering me the position as a full time position, and I have been working at that same place for 13 years now.”

Pierce’s job has changed since her first position as Publications Secretary. She is now the Communications Director at New Hope First Baptist Church. “I do vocational ministry as a communications director in the Cedar Park area, which is a part of the greater Austin area,” she said. “Our reach goes into Austin, Georgetown, Liberty Hill and Leander.”

The job is perfect for Pierce’s background. “I spend a lot of time doing graphic design and visual communications; one of the classes I took at A&M really equipped me for this position,” she said.

She also manages communications/marketing strategies, the church website and social media, and develops external advertising to reach people with ministry opportunities.

When things at work get repetitive, Pierce likes to spice things up by planning new initiatives and service opportunities. For example, on the 150th anniversary of the church, she spearheaded a yearlong celebration project, which included coordinating a series of monthly community service “gifts” from New Hope to their community. These included donation drives for unexpected mothers, adopting a police station and cleaning city parks.

When she’s not working, Pierce enjoys playing the piano, reading, volunteering, and raising her two sons, Levi, 9 and Caleb, 10. “They keep me pretty busy,” she said.

Both boys play baseball, and most of the year is filled with games and practices. Pierce has enjoyed seeing organized sports from the parent’s side.

“My personality is very analytical, so I’m always looking at something and trying to connect it to something bigger,” she said. “It’s really neat to observe what my boys are learning through sports: teamwork, failure, success, getting along with difficult people. I look for ways I can take their experiences and show them how it connects to a bigger life lesson.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Pierce’s greatest source of inspiration is her faith. “Even as a child, my grandparents and parents created a foundation of faith,” she said. “Growing up, I was active in First Baptist Church Dublin.”

Throughout her life she has tried to give back to the community through her church and in other ways — whether helping out a sick neighbor or volunteering with support groups like Celebrate Recovery.

Pierce’s advice to Dublin graduates is to seek out the place that they feel they are meant to be — whether that is in Dublin or elsewhere. She remembers her senior year of high school, she was planning on going to Tarleton and staying in the area, but one of her friends encouraged her to apply at A&M.

“I thought, ‘There’s no way I’ll get in there,’ but I did,” Pierce said. “And that experience there opened me up to so much more and set me on such a different path than the one I had originally dreamed of. So don’t be afraid to dream big. If someone had not dreamed big for me I probably never would have reached for it.”

“Growing up in a small town, it is really easy to have small dreams — and I do not knock that because I believe that small dreams are beautiful and meaningful — but do not ever be afraid to dream bigger,” she said. “A small town can feel limiting, but it really is not. There’s an exact place that you and all that you are, all your experiences, all your skills and everything, is a perfect fit for. Don’t be afraid to pursue that.”

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other graduates, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.