Girls at work: Haley

Hi Style Stars, happy week of 4th of July! I am writing to you from the floor of Moynihan Train Station, where I am en route to work on something special for you for America 250. Yay!

I met today’s Girl at work Haley Brown at Emily Sundberg’s Feed Me party at a wine bar in Fort Green a few weeks ago. For some reason we were two of only a handful of women there so we formed a little contingent. The question “What’s your daily dopamine hit?” was passed around our table and Haley’s answer was so regal and elegant I nearly lost it: She said her fix comes from running the press campaign for Chuck Park, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 6th Congressional District (Queens). A pillar of Chuck’s campaign, which also included universal healthcare and funding families, not war!, was opposing billionaire Steve Cohen’s big creepy plans to build a casino in Queens, which Haley told me all about over focaccia sandwiches (while looking like a million bucks in a Grecian knit dress from her mom’s closet).

I made sure to grab Haley’s number and she agreed to write a diary about balancing her Samantha Jones day job with her volunteer political gig. Chuck lost against seven-term incumbent Grace Meng in the Democratic primary last week (more on his impressive run as an underdog below), but Haley inspires me so much and I’m so happy to share her life as a Girl at work/on a mission with you (Knicks gear while campaigning for Chuck, mom’s old Tory Burch for PR work dinners).

Name: Haley Brown

Age: 24

Occupation: PR Media Strategy

Hometown/where you live now: Dallas, Texas and now Brooklyn

How you find your current job(s): I work at a boutique independent PR agency which I found through a former boss. Until last week, I was also a volunteer press manager on Chuck Park’s campaign for congress in Queens, which I joined via an Instagram DM to Chuck.

What time do you wake up / go to bed? How do you get ready for work? How long does it take you? It takes me 30 minutes to get ready for anything. First I pick out my outfit and steam it in the dryer while I’m flossing/brushing/washing/makeup-ing. I’m faster at getting ready now that I’ve swapped my Anastasia BVH dip brow for their gel. Melanoma runs in my family so I always wear sunscreen. Spritz of my sister’s bridesmaids gift fragrance. My hair poofs if brushed so a bit of hair oil and I’m out the door. I often forget my keys.

What’s your commute like? In the morning I’m speed walking or sometimes literally running to the subway. I’m 2 stops from my office in Dumbo, which is a silly distance to take the train, but I am usually rushing and late. If I leave early enough, I walk to work, which is an idyllic 30 minutes through Brooklyn brownstones. And I always walk home.

On Chuck’s campaign, my commute has also included trips to Queens about twice a week so I’ve gotten familiar with the F to Forest Hills.

Talking politics at the dinner table used to be faux pas, but among my generation it’s almost worse to say nothing.

What do you usually wear? My closet is almost entirely secondhand, a lot being from my mom’s closet. Much of my work style inspo is her 2000s sales wardrobe.

I’m usually going for a corporate-chic look which I can only describe as wanting to leave people with a lasting impression that I have a good sense of style. I feel like PR is one of those fields where you’re expected to be fashionable à la Samantha Jones, but I really like this because it lets me be just as fun as I am off the clock. I always want reporters I meet to remember me. I frequently reach for my Veronica Beard magenta cargo pants from The Real Real paired with one of two cheetah print jackets I’ve thrifted.

I like something loud and bold, I’d rather people feel strongly one way or the other than not at all. My “work dinner” dress is a fabulous Tory Burch hand-me-down from mom. I always get compliments on my work bag which is also from TRR.

For Chuck events, I’d wear Knicks merch (playoffs were in full swing during the campaign’s final stretch) which always started canvassing conversations on a positive note. My boyfriend got me new Salomons for my birthday after I wore down my last pair backpacking through Southeast Asia. Those are my comfortable Chuck shoes.

What do you do after work? Is there anything you do to unwind? After wrapping up my day job I’d switch to campaign work. Doing a version of my job pro bono is kind of the opposite of unwinding, but I am a huge believer that you get back whatever you put out into the universe. Plus, having only been working in PR for 3 years, this was a learning experience for me. I’d definitely never helped reply to a request for comment on a New York Post hit piece before now.

Talking politics at the dinner table used to be faux pas, but among my generation it’s almost worse to say nothing. Our friendships and dating preferences splinter across ideological lines, myself included, but nothing annoys me more than people covering their stories with virtue-signaling infographics and then you come to find out they didn’t even vote. Working on this campaign felt so good to put that energy somewhere instead of just complaining about the state of our democracy. Even though the primary didn’t go our way, this was such a rewarding experience. Now I’m watching Love Island with the rest of America.

Any money I find myself leftover with goes into my Fidelity Go account, which is a good habit, but I have to lay things out on paper to allow myself a manicure.

What is the first thing you spend your pay check on? Dining out. I was a picky eater growing up but now will eat anything and am making up for lost time trying new things. I will always say yes to an oyster happy hour with my friends. I love a prix-fixe menu. I enjoy a quaint solo dinner date.

Then shopping. My route home includes two 2nd Streets, which is the superior secondhand chain. The one in my neighborhood is the only place I’m a “local” at. I look often and leave empty handed on most trips because I’m picky and always on the hunt for a good deal. If I had a good day at work, I will let myself make an impulse purchase in the designer section. My most recent find was an awesome pair of jacquard CDG slacks for $49.

What was your dream job as a kid? What about now? As a kid I wanted to be an actress. I grew up doing theatre and was in plays throughout college.

My sister is an architect who works on restaurants in New York and I would love to open a restaurant with her. Our favorite city in the world is Paris so it would be a French bistro.

Do you consider your job a ‘day job’? I know I used the phrase day job earlier, but no, I see it as more than just something that pays the bills. I’m entrepreneurial and love to do extra things outside of work, like this campaign, but I think of my job as a career. Sometimes that worries me because I never want to pigeonhole myself and often think about how the skill set I’m developing could apply to other things if I want to pivot. But I wake up excited to pick up where I left off the last day. It also helps that my office is genuinely fun and collaborative. Last week as a mental health day we took the ferry to Governors Island and biked around on a 4-person surrey before getting Hometown BBQ in Red Hook.

What is your favorite part of your job? That I get to publicize issues I genuinely care about. I love PR because it’s not as tied to consumerism the way traditional marketing, my college major, can be. It’s more about drawing attention to under recognized things and shifting attitudes more broadly. One of my clients is a climate nonprofit, and another is a textile decomposition research initiative, which hugely aligns with my personal feelings about fast fashion.

The first video I saw of Chuck was about the planned casino in Citi Field and how billionaire Trump donor and developer Steve Cohen has paid to lobby politicians at every level to get clearance for the project. Those “Holy fuck, why aren’t more people talking about this?” kind of moments are what energizes me.

Doing a version of my job pro bono is kind of the opposite of unwinding, but I am a huge believer that you get back whatever you put out into the universe.

What is your least favorite part of your job? That nothing is in your control. In PR, you’re really at the mercy of the media you’re working with. The most I can do is craft what I hope is a compelling narrative to pitch and prep spokespeople with interesting talking points, and then it’s up to the reporter if they want to pick it up and what kind of story they want to tell.

With Chuck, that was really, really frustrating. It felt like shouting into a void, especially with other congressional races sucking up air in the news cycle. There are only so many campaigns a reporter can cover, even more so as newsrooms shrink. Ours never got the breakthrough we were hoping for to make it as sexy as NY-7, 10, and 12.

Because it was so hard to get press attention, I just generally wanted to help however I could, so I also did a lot of canvassing and poll site flyering. Talking to voters directly ended up being the most rewarding part.

What do you usually eat during a workday? For breakfast, I have chia pudding prepped in bulk. I love cooking but have been too busy recently and fallen into the habit of buying lunch. A turkey and Swiss hero runs $8.99 at the deli around the corner from my office, so I’m not sure it’s one I’ll break.

After work, I pick up whatever produce is on special and calling my name from Mr. Beet and make myself that plus whatever frozen protein from Trader Joes I have on hand.

When I was working on the campaign, I used these trips into Queens to try new places in the neighborhoods I had never been to before. I had Korean in Bayside, Uzbeki in Rego Park, Colombian in Corona, Pakistani in Jackson Heights.

How do you approach saving? If anything I have the opposite problem. Spending gives me anxiety and I have to budget to specifically allocate myself fun money. I started investing at the beginning of my sophomore year of college after a business school class competition. Any money I find myself leftover with goes into my Fidelity Go account, which is a good habit, but I have to lay things out on paper to allow myself a manicure.

What’s something you like to spend a little bit more on or buy as a treat? Caffè Panna pints are double the cost of normal ice cream but doubly good. If there’s a new seasonal flavor in stock at my grocery store, I must try it. I love my apartment ten times over and I pay a bit more than my roommates for the biggest bedroom of anyone I know in the city.

In regard to the aforementioned manicure, I love getting an extra design. And if a bloody Mary is on a menu, I have to have it.

My route home includes two 2nd Streets, which is the superior secondhand chain. The one in my neighborhood is the only place I’m a “local” at.

What do you look forward to on days off? On a weekend with no plans, I will go on a long 10+ mile walk through Greenwood cemetery, which is the best place to walk in Brooklyn because it’s one of the only places you can truly be alone. I’ll go through Greenwood to Sunset Park, get boba at Full Up, a banh mi from Ba Xyuen, a pineapple bun from any bakery along 8th Ave, and end with a massage or head spa treatment — whatever Groupon deal I find.

I genuinely loved spending my free time on the campaign and want to figure out how I can stay politically involved through midterms. Chuck also isn’t done yet. If you’re not registered to vote yet, there’s still time and you should!