Flippin (’07) takes the United Way reins

Meagan Flippin (‘07) is the president and CEO of The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties. Previously, she served as the senior director for marketing, special events and community impact. She graduated from MTSU with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and received a master’s degree in strategic leadership from MTSU in ′08. Flippin is active in the community and is past president of Murfreesboro Young Professionals, past chair of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce’s Diplomat Program, and is active in the Junior League of Murfreesboro, among other activities. Aileen Bennett caught up with Flippin for an alumni spotlight:

Meagan Flippin (photo courtesy of Sherry Clagg)

Congratulations on your promotion. What motivated you to work in the nonprofit sector?

During my time at MTSU, I had an opportunity to work with various nonprofits and truly enjoyed the experience. Working in the nonprofit sector, you have an opportunity to drive social change and make an impact in the community. That is very rewarding to me.

How do you use your undergraduate public relations training in your current role with United Way? What are your tips for communicating effectively?

I call upon my public relations education on a daily basis. Our organization’s foundation is built upon trust, which is often garnered through transparency, professionalism and consistency. Therefore, we must constantly educate the community, including our many stakeholders, to achieve a certain degree of understanding – and ultimately, trust – of our work and the results we strive to produce. We focus on communicating the results as one of our four key operational strategies. This means we must be sophisticated in our data collection and analysis and communicate results in a way that resonates with the audience at hand.

As a young leader, what advice do you have for young professionals who want to develop their leadership abilities?

Identify those individuals who you consider to be successful and reach out to them and try to learn from them. You will be surprised at how often they are willing to help. Also, take every opportunity – be a “yes” person. You must be constantly working to improve yourself and constantly working to exceed expectations. Lastly, strive to be the status quo’s worst enemy.

What is some of the best advice you have received? Are there any public leaders, professors or mentors who have inspired you?

A few pieces of advice that I work to apply to my life are:

“If better is possible, then good is not enough.”

“There are two types of pain: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” – Vince Lombardi.

I’ve been very fortunate to have the ability to be mentored by many different business and community leaders. I am very thankful for their time, support and advice.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I enjoy traveling, reading, outdoor activities, college and NFL football, interior design and spending time with friends. TLE