The Queen of Real-World Experience
By: Carsyn Taylor
Meeting with Debbie Wetherhead is like catching up with an old friend. Although the former professional is pleasantly enjoying her retirement, she is always willing to sacrifice her time if it means furthering someone’s education. On a cool Oct. day at Marietta Coffee Co., there she was looking at the menu sporting a University of Florida sweatshirt, and an attitude that lit up the room. An interview wasn’t the only thing I acquired from this meeting. Coffee wasn’t the only thing pouring during this interview: golden advice from a veteran or pro was also served.
During her retirement, one of the most well-loved former professors at Kennesaw makes it a point to stay in touch with students that have already graduated and those currently enrolled alike.
“She gave me a lot of confidence as her class was one of the first that helped me see myself as a PR professional,” said Vernesha Brown, the vice president of Kennesaw PRSSA, a nationally awarded chapter.
Even when some students lack belief in themselves, she has always supported them as long as they display effort.
She believes in PRSSA. The professional said that Amanda Weed, the organization’s faculty adviser had done a fantastic job of turning around a once fledgling chapter. As one of their primary advocates, she was deemed an honorary member this past Oct.
The PR agency is a class designed to simulate a practical PR environment, run by one of her first friends at KSU. Many students have found the course to be a great experience to have encountered when looking for a job. Wetherhead encouraged a large percentage of students to take the PR agency. It was her sage advice that convinced Brown to apply.
In 2020, Bruna Traffanstedt was new to the PR program and had never met a professor who had been in the industry that long. The impact the class had on her was definitely a deciding factor in her continuation as a PR major.
“Students respected her for how hard she was. Most professors didn’t give as much feedback as she did,” explained Traffanstedt. “Even professors that had negative things to say about other faculty would never say anything bad about Debbie.”
She has always been one of the best teachers before her time at the University. Even in her early agency days, Wetherhead had a crucial role in teaching clients as a media trainer. Being the personable woman that she is, Wetherhead has retained many close relationships with former clients. Some of which have been cultivated for nearly 40 years.
Dr. Pauline Howes was the Director of Public Relations at Coca-Cola around 15 years ago when they hired Wetherhead communications to help with PR efforts.
“My team and I were always very impressed with her work,” said Howes. “She brought great contacts to the table, understood our business and conveyed fresh experience really well.”
When she was a student in her Technology in Communication class, Professor Kristen Heflin was very impressed by her work and saw her as a “true leader” in the classroom to other students. Once Wetherhead graduated from grad school, she had an inexpressible impact on students that came as no surprise.
“As a grad student, she was able to take very abstract concepts and apply them to real-world experience,” said Heflin.
Her first year or two was a learning experience. Friends would say “you put too much time into it” and “you don’t have to work this hard.” Regardless of their assessment, every semester she went back and revamped her lessons, hardly catching a break.
After five and a half years of being a lecturer at Kennesaw, she explained how the profession had evolved so much in her time. Making far less than she was in her career in the private sector, Debbie couldn’t place a dollar amount on the fulfillment she has garnered from teaching.
“Nothing brings me more joy than connecting people to their job and helping get their foot in the door,” said Wetherhead. “The reason I stopped teaching is because before COVID-19 I had so much joy and so little frustration with students. After COVID-19 I had an immense amount of frustration with students not taking school seriously that it just wasn’t the same.”
Most students before COVID-19 were motivated, enthused about coming to class and worked really hard. She felt as if her career as a professor was most gratifying at this time.
“I think that the pandemic made a lot of students lose their sense of urgency,” said Traffanstedt. There seemed to be a lack of inspiration that prevented many from attending class and only striving for the bare minimum. This probably came as a frustration to many professors.
In an effort to try something new this past summer, Wetherhead applied to the University of Florida as a professor. Even though she didn’t think she would be accepted at the prestigious university, she was the school’s first choice.
It was an even greater surprise to everyone when she turned the position down. Although it was an amazing opportunity, Wetherhead knew it wasn’t right because her heart simply wasn’t in it anymore like the way it once had been.
Today, Wetherhead and her husband can be found in their home in Roswell, where her most stressful task is planning family vacations. She wants students to know that even though she is retired, she is always available to help out when needed.