Mottola graduated from Western in 2005 with a Journalism major. As most young journalists at Western, Mottola started his journey working for The Western Front to fulfill requirements. As he moved through the major, Mottola said he found his place at Klipsun, where he cultivated a passion for feature writing, and covered topics such as arts, music and culture. He went on to be photo editor, and later editor-in-chief.

“I really found that visual journalism, multimedia and feature reporting was a much better space for me in terms of what my interests were, what I was good at, and what I thought I could potentially do professionally one day,” Mottola said.

After graduating from Western, Mottola started his path in the world of public relations, holding positions at a handful of different companies, including PR Web, Weber Shandwick and Eddie Bauer. As a young adult working in this field during the insurgence of social media, Mottola said he learned how to incorporate a brand into new media platforms.

This experience landed Mottola a job as a social media program manager at REI seven years ago. Despite not being a traditional news organization, Mottola said his position allowed him to pursue his interest in content and media.

“Of course, I was not letting go of my journalistic roots,” Mottola said.

Mottola managed a team responsible for the reporting, editing and storytelling processes. Over time, the content they produced became more editorial in nature, and Mottola was able to create his next position as a content strategist for the co-op.

The team that Mottola now leads tailors content to inform, entertain and market to their audience. One article published in the September issue discussed optimal ways to wear layers for different weather situations, and then goes on to recommend various down jackets that REI is offering this year. REI advocates for life outdoors and environmental stewardship through the promotion of its products. Uncommon Path tells stories from a brand, for a brand audience. 

Like many students, during his time at Western, Mottola did not exactly have a concrete plan for his professional career.

“If you can articulate in your mind where you want to go, then great. But the reality is that a career is shaped by small decisions that add up over time and through a network that you build over time,” Mottola said.

Mottola said from his perspective, the skills that students develop studying journalism can be applied to many different fields, not just working at a magazine or newspaper.

“As students think about what journalism means, it definitely means a skillset. It may mean working in the journalism industry, but there’s a lot of ways to do journalism,” Mottola said.

Looking out into the job market before graduating can be really intimidating, but more and more organizations are starting to value journalism skills, he said. Small, next step career decisions can lead you where you want to go.