Alumni Spotlight: Bill Lessard

For over 20 years, Bill Lessard has run his own boutique technology PR agency, with a focus on early-stage and enterprise companies. As a proud generalist, he has developed a broad base of industry knowledge, leading to roles at emerging companies and positions within internet divisions of corporations such as Time Warner and UBS. He also worked as a reporter, contributing to NPR and Wired, and co-authored the book NetSlaves, for which he was profiled in The New York Times.

How has your learning been applicable in your current role?

The best thing I got out of this program was that it helped me get over the stumbling block of talking and thinking about AI. “Use AI to teach you about AI” was probably one of the best suggestions I received during the course. A lot of people will just use AI as a search engine or a way to generate ads and visuals, but through the program, I learned it can also be used for procedural purposes. For example, if you say, “Company X is an early-stage company with this kind of revenue - please suggest an agile marketing plan for them” — boom, it'll generate something you can actually work with.

What motivated you to pursue this program?

Our current social situation is complicated, and it's certainly not like it was in the late 90s. First of all, there are fewer outlets to features stories and engage in storytelling. Second, there are fewer companies and startups. Young people of a certain skill set once wanted to form companies, but these days it seems many would rather be influencers, essentially running their own zero-capital businesses. Because today’s culture is different and media isn’t valued the way it used to be, people experience technology in their own particular ways. People have been conditioned by technology to look for point solutions. You can't just come up to someone anymore and say, “Hey, I’m a publicist with more than 30 years of experience, and I’ll be the one to get your story out there,” because the person just won’t hear you. You need to start with either the results that they’re looking for or their particular pain point. For all of those reasons, and because it had gotten harder to make a living and harder to sell my basic value proposition, I realized I needed to dig in and see what else I needed to learn. To do this, I decided to see what kind of executive training programs were available. Rutgers was the only place that proved timely and personal, answering all of my questions, making me confident that I had chosen the right program.

What was your biggest personal or professional gain from taking this program?

My biggest gain was that I essentially learned how to learn, and also how to use data to justify strategy and creative ideas. Taking this course was like getting a software update. I filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge and started to get a handle on the newer technology out there. Now I’m able to come to clients with a more data-driven set of ideas, pulling data together to identify exactly what their gap is, and how we plan to fill it. Ultimately, the program provided me with a broader set of tools and allowed me to be more empirical with my suggestions.

What does the term “reinvent” mean to you?

To reinvent is to figure out a better and more effective way to accomplish your goals. It's about transforming how you do business and how you conduct yourself. I think there are a lot of people who are currently unemployed or underemployed, and their self-image isn’t what it used to be - they might feel like capitalism doesn’t want them anymore. There's nothing like learning something new and then using that knowledge for good to remind you that you still have a lot to contribute. I see that as reinventing at its most positive.

What does the term “lifelong learning” mean to you?

As you grow older, you decide to either learn things from the people around you or become that stubborn grump who's set in their ways. It becomes a choice. I think if you're a lifelong learner, you're always curious and able to recognize that each individual has their own life experience, and they will always have something to teach you. It doesn’t even matter who it is, really. It could be someone you know or even someone you run into at the grocery store one day – it makes no difference. There’s always someone who can teach you something, and if you're open to learning, it will make your life a lot more interesting.

In looking back on your program experiences, what stands out to you?

What really stood out to me was how personal it felt, which is funny, since I took the all-virtual program. Even that format still felt personalized with the way the modules and discussions were set up. As I watched the lessons, I felt like I was absorbing the information a lot better than if I had to be there early in the morning, half asleep. I also appreciated how effective the weekly Zoom calls were, specifically due to the instructors’ accessibility and how generous they were with their time. Summed up, I found it to be very personalized, very personal, and very personable.

What advice would you give to fellow professionals or colleagues that might not have considered this type of program?

I 100% would absolutely recommend it. If you find yourself in a rut, I think you would really benefit from taking this course – you’ll end up with a lot of new things to offer. Also, I think you'll find very quickly that Rutgers is genuinely interested in having you as a student. Of all the programs I contacted, Rutgers was the only one that had a real person answering my questions, and in a very timely fashion. You really gain a lot from a program like this, one that values you as an individual and genuinely wants to teach you something meaningful.