By Anna Belson, Morgan Butz, and Raegan Cohn
Hotty Toddy Interns
Heading up Hotty Toddy’s social media is Carleigh Holt Harbin, a second-year IMC graduate student from Kossuth and has created a diverse portfolio at Ole Miss.
“I decided to come to Ole Miss because of scholarships, and I loved the IMC program. It was very different compared to majors everywhere else. I thought of myself as half business and half creative.”
She started her college career in 2018 at Northeast Mississippi Community College and completed her associate’s degree in General Studies. She transferred to Ole Miss in the spring of 2020.
“I got seven weeks of Ole Miss and got sent back home to Kossuth due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is why I wanted to do graduate school since I felt like I didn’t get the full experience of in-person and hands-on learning,” Harbin admitted.
She currently works for HottyToddy.com as their social media representative, helping post on HottyToddy.com’s social media accounts such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. She boosts audience engagement among the Ole Miss community by creating graphics and photographing events around Oxford.
Harbin also wrote her own column as an intern for Hottytoddy.com in 2022, “Carleigh’s Corner,” where she dove into her experiences at Ole Miss as a senior, getting the “first-time Ole Miss student experiences.”
Harbin acquired an internship at Hotty Toddy when one of her professors, Rachel West, assigned her students to provide content for HottyToddy.com and ultimately influenced Harbin to join them.
Harbin is also the chapter president of the University of Mississippi Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). She was the social media chair for two years before becoming chapter president.
“We just went to ICON in October, which is the PRSSA national conference in Nashville. The Director of Communications for ESPN was there at the time, and other industry professionals. We got to connect with different PRSSA members across the nation too,” Harbin said.
PRSSA also is involved in community service events. Harbin said, “We partnered with Junior Auxiliary of Oxford to get costumes for little kids for Halloween this year. We also had a fundraiser that was Star Wars-themed on May 4th. I am a Star Wars nerd, so I loved that one.”
Harbin originally got involved with PRSSA in 2021 when there was a tabling event outside on Farley’s lawn.
“We had different organizations that were out there. PRSSA was brand new at the time. Dr. Bradshaw was out there trying to recruit, I joined, and now here we are,” Harbin admitted.
She achieved the PRSSA National Gold Key Award in 2023, which is the highest individual award a PRSSA member can receive.
Harbin also received the Dean’s Award at the School of Journalism and New Media in 2022. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest multidisciplinary honor society as well.
Not only does Harbin work for Hotty Toddy and PRSSA, but she also works for The Grove Report—Sports Illustrated at Ole Miss.
Harbin has been working with The Grove Report for three years now as their photographer and filming their press conferences. She has a column called “Through the Lens,” where she talks about her experiences as a photographer on the field.
She also has a freelance side photography/videography business called CFH Films, while doing senior photos, filming weddings, taking photos for organizations such as Invitation Oxford and the Ole Miss Women’s Council.
Her passion for photography struck when her dad handed her a digital camera when she was younger to take pictures at her brother’s Little League games when she was about 8 years old.
Harbin’s favorite event that she has taken pictures at was, “when Eli Manning came in 2021 and we did the retirement of his number. I was on the field for that, which was super cool. I got to see him walk down the Walk of Champions and take pictures.”
Regarding the future, Harbin is still skeptical about what she ultimately wants to do.
“I know I like graphic design, photography, and marketing; it is just narrowing it down to a job title,” she said. “That is my problem at the moment because I like so much about IMC.”
Her advice to students who want to get more involved and find a position similar to hers would be to, “reach out on LinkedIn. It doesn’t always work, but it is worth it. Ole Miss alumni come to speak about their professional jobs on campus all the time. Actually talk to them after the seminars rather than just leaving right away.”
Harbin said she is most proud of a photo she took this past weekend at the Ole Miss and Texas A&M game.
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