From Auburn to NYC and back

When she arrived at Auburn her freshman year, Marianne McCarley loved math. 

She enrolled in the College of Science and Mathematics and was looking to eventually find a job in that field.

But when her involvement in WEGL and Eagle Eye TV cultivated a love for media studies, she switched majors. 

“That’s where my passion was, and that’s where I just fell in love with the culture within the College of Liberal Arts,” McCarley said. “So I stayed.”

McCarley said it was in the media studies program where she found her strength in collaborating with creative people, an attribute that would eventually lead her to working with renowned directors like the Coen brothers, Julie Taymor and Darren Aronofsky. 

The Coen brothers directed acclaimed films like “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski” and “No Country for Old Men;” Julie Taymor is most known for directing “Frida” and “Across the Universe” and Darren Aronofsky was most recently praised for producing “Mother!”

Before she would find her way on to film and commercial sets, though, she had to create a path to get there. Her senior year at Auburn, she looked to move where the film industry was booming, New York City.

Over her final spring break, she went to the city for an informational session on the media industry. Her parents paid for her trip, and she knew she needed to leave with something to show for it.

“I scrambled to get in an interview with any company I could get,” McCarley said. “Two companies came through — HBO and Showtime.” 

She had a 4 p.m. flight back home that day, and the pressure was on to come home with an internship locked down for the summer. Eager to impress, she went to the Showtime interview. They were a no-show.

With no time to waste, she headed to her HBO interview. When she arrived, she befriended the receptionist.

“She gave me so much information about the internship director I was about to interview with that it helped to structure my conversation in my interview,” McCarley said. “The interview went very well because within two weeks, the person from HBO called, and they offered me the internship.”

A few weeks later, McCarley packed up her things and moved north. 

“I started fresh,” she said. “And it was just meeting people and reinventing myself, and I was always a proud Auburn grad.”

She ended up staying in the city for 20 years. 

She started her own commercial representation and public relations firm, and her clients have won prestigious awards from Cannes Gold Lions to Emmys.

Eventually, though, she found her way back to her alma mater to get her master’s in communication. Now, she works as a career services specialist within the College of Liberal Arts and teaches freelancing for the School of Communication and Journalism.

McCarley said one of her passions is giving back to younger people whose goal is to break into a creative field.

She emphasized the importance of mentorship. Through the University, she said she’s been able to do just that — offer students insight into how to create a fulfilling career.

While she forged a wildly successful career in media, McCarley certainly faced her fair share of adversity, some of which because she is a woman.

“There is definitely what they call the ‘old boys club,’ where it was just a thing that a lot of business deals and a lot of business in general was done on these golf outings on Fridays or these meetings that I didn’t always feel a part of,” she said. “I didn’t always feel a part of that conversation.”

She felt there were people in the industry that didn’t take her seriously specifically when she started her own representation firm, McCarley Reps. There was one head of production for a major ad agency who would belittle her any time he saw her. 

He would walk up to her, pinch her cheeks and ask, “Hey sweetie, how are you?”

“I never felt he took me seriously when he would do little things like that to minimize my role,” McCarley said. “I was a business owner, and I represented these incredible directors and incredible production people.”

Although there was a learning curve for her to figure out how she, as a woman, should navigate situations like these, she said she learned how to adapt and how to earn respect from the men in her male-dominated field.

McCarley thrives in her position advising CLA students because of challenges like this. She was presented a problem and found a solution.

When McCarley came back to Auburn to get her master’s degree, she said she laughed about the full circle she’s made. 

“When I was here at Auburn, I did everything I possibly could to get away and go to New York where I could start my career, and then after 20 years, all I wanted to do was come back here so that then I could get an internship and stay here. Life is funny that way,” McCarley said.

McCarley needed to get an internship for her master’s program, which just so happened to be with the College of Liberal Arts.

There is something wonderful about feeling apart of the Auburn Family, McCarley said. 

She now gets to connect with student who are just like she was — struggling to find where they fit into the career world — and helping them, she said, is a source of immense joy.