Alumni Spotlight: Kayla Griffis

Kayla Griffis (B.A. ’20, M.A. ’21) is this week’s featured alum in our new Alumni Spotlight series for the This Week at Meadows e-newsletter. Each week, a different Meadows alum will be highlighted for their accomplishments post-graduation.

Students enrolled in Meadows’ Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) not only learn the ins and outs of advertising, they also have the opportunity to study various disciplines like coding, graphic design, and video editing. TAI alum Kayla Griffis was able to combine all of these skills to become an expert in her field after she graduated.

And though being well-versed in this combination of topics gave her a leg up in the industry, it was also the interpersonal skills she learned at Temerlin that have proven to be useful in her marketing career.

“Being able to work on group projects that not only focused on honing a craft, but the implementation of critical thinking and collaboration, has enabled me to become a better creative problem solver,” said Griffis. “Meadows and Temerlin taught me to see the why behind the numbers and that is what makes me a great marketer.”

Griffis, a Senior Strategist at the international advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi, delivers strategic marketing objectives on Toyota and the brand evolution of Toyota Prius, GR Family, Camry, and Toyota Retail.

In addition to her marketing duties, Griffis is also a member of her agency’s Cultural Sensitivity Panel, for which she reviews all agency creative to ensure cultural groups and nuances are accurately represented and respected. She assists in the creation and facilitation of DEI initiatives and works on making the company a more inclusive and psychologically safe space, an endeavor she began during her time at Meadows.

Griffis guest lecturing in advertising professor Dr. Sidharth Muralidharan’s Strategic Brand Management class.

As a graduate student, Griffis worked with advertising professor Dr. Alice Kendrick to publish a new DEI content creation model that emphasizes the importance of inclusivity called the URICA! Model. What began as a project for her Advertising Research class on the topic of Digital Blackface eventually evolved into a full-fledged model that outlines the steps companies and educational institutions need to take in order to create inclusive messaging throughout the marketing campaign process. This project, as well as working so closely with Dr. Kendrick, was one of the many learning opportunities that took Griffis beyond the classroom and provided real-world experience that prepared her for her career.

“Having professors with both agency and client-side experience allowed me to understand the inner workings of both and choose which path was best for me,” explains Griffis. “Temerlin taught me that my innate curiosity and always trying to find the ‘why’ behind people’s behaviors is a superpower and that asking the right questions will always lead to more efficient and creative solutions.”

Though she graduated with her bachelor’s in 2020 and master’s in 2021, Griffis is still very involved with Meadows. Not only is she a member of the Meadows 2050 Council, but she has been a guest lecturer for advertising professor Dr. Sidharth Muralidharan’s Strategic Brand Management class for the last two years. She discusses advertising, like what the role of a strategist is and how to find insights, and also gives general advice, encouraging students to stay curious.

“Having the desire to learn about the world and others around you will not only broaden your horizons and increase your understanding of people, it will allow you to connect the dots faster when faced with a challenge you need to solve, professional or personal.”