Meet a WNC Member: Molly McGowan Gorsuch, APR

This is the first in a series of Q & A interviews with members of the PRSA WNC Chapter.

What’s one communications habit everyone should develop regardless of their job?

Listen to your people. And I don’t mean passively; be proactive about it. Depending on your job, that could be your fellow employees, or your customers, patients, voters, community members, legislators. Whatever your role, you have audiences to whom you should listen. 

 Put yourself in their shoes to anticipate questions or hangups they might have, seek out their perspective, and create communications and supports that address these. By creating feedback loops, you’re not only meeting the needs of your constituents - whether internal or external - you’re establishing a healthy culture and using qualitative data to optimize the work you do!

What’s the fastest lesson PR ever taught you?

People crave information and demand immediacy – but in the end, accuracy is most important. While PIO for the local school system, when we were in the midst of a public health emergency, a school lockdown, or some other crisis, it was often painful to have to hold off telling the worried parents and staff everything we might know at the time. You have empathy for your audiences and can see and hear their fear of the unknown – but sharing information before it’s verified and having to retract it later enrages the audiences you’re trying to mollify, and damages public trust. They thought they wanted the answers now. What they really wanted was to wait until you had the RIGHT answers.

What kind of stories do you love telling most?

I love a good profile or testimonial. It probably goes back to my roots as a feature reporter (and before that, a creative writing English major), but I enjoy finding and elevating those personal stories that drive home a key message. The human experience resonates with all, and making these connections for audiences brings me joy. 

What advice would you give to someone pursuing their APR? 

I recommend creating your ideal timeline, then work backwards before “starting the clock” (a.k.a. completing the application). Be mindful that the process is comparable to earning your master’s degree, so if you have a major life event (ie. getting married or having a baby) consider the bandwidth you’re able to devote to it. 

Once you submit the application you have one year to complete the process, so I recommend applying when you are close to being ready for your panel presentation (meaning you’ve already started studying and building your project). 

Studying for the APR is very much an individual, self-led process and everyone studies differently – so everyone’s path looks a little different. But the important building blocks are the same:

• Free APR Study Guide (get this thing bound, you’ll be flipping through it nonstop)

• A few good books (Cutlip & Center, Strategies & Tactics)

• A mentor + support network (APRs, colleagues going thru the process)

Know who you are and what your study hangups are. Procrastinator? Thrive under pressure? Need to actually block time on the family and work calendars for studying? (That last one’s me.)

My journey? I’m A-type, I like structure, I love crossing things off lists, and I have anxiety. So here’s what worked for me:

I started studying 5 months before ever submitting the application (“starting the ticking clock”). I spent 2 months familiarizing myself with the Study Guide, then 3 months in the Spring cohort of the APR Prep Online Study Course (which I’d also highly recommend). 

Keep in mind – I built an aggressive timeline (the words of my dear APR mentor, Cindy Warner, APR), but I had a specific end date in mind so I could be pinned at the next National School Public Relations Association seminar. Was it intense, and did I spend a lot of weekends studying? Yes. But it was doable!

A past chapter president, Molly McGowan Gorsuch, APR, is the strategic partnerships manager for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), and advocacy & outreach coordinator for the Henderson County Early Childhood Taskforce.

Connect with Molly

Making Connections

The warm weather we’ve had these last two weeks makes it hard to reconcile with a very frosty start to February!

One of the things that I have valued most about my time in PRSA is the connection with other professionals throughout Western North Carolina and beyond. From wise sages to those who accidentally fallen into the field of communications and PR, the pool of practitioners in this area is deep and wide. 

Earlier this month, thanks to an invite of a new chapter member (Shout out to you, Paulina), I found myself sitting in on the “WNC PIO Quarterly Meeting.” This was a hybrid meeting of very capable public information officers and communicators from several different counties, and it served as a sort of “safe space” to share ideas, make or take suggestions, and even to a little back-of-the-napkin debriefing of recent events. It was a great place to be among people with shared struggles. 

As the meeting progressed, I was struck by just how vast the talent is in this area. We are really lucky! I was also reminded of how important it is to be surrounded by colleagues, even (or maybe especially) ones in different areas of work. We are all better by that shared knowledge and experience. 

That is one major value we hope that this chapter can bring to our members. I know, I know-- it’s hard to make time for that among employer and family demands, and “networking is hard.” That’s where we come in. We have four regional directors-at-large who can help you figure out ways to connect and find options that match your comfort level, even for those of us who aren’t raging extroverts.

They are:

• Jacob Puckett - Eastern Counties/Boone Region

• Molly Justice - Greater Asheville Region

• Benjamin Rickert - Southern Counties/Hendersonville/Brevard Region  

• Shane Ryden - Western Counties/Cullowhee Region 

Reach out to them- they’d love to meet you. 

In the meantime, our chapter is growing. We’ve had four new members so far in 2026- not bad! From what I’ve seen, they are all impressive in their own right, and I bet they’d be really happy to know you too.

Want to get started on networking? It just so happens that Molly Justice, the director at large for the greater Asheville area is hosting a happy hour event at White Labs Brewing on Thursday, 2/26 at 5:30. We’d love to see you there, even if it’s just to stop by on your way home- you won’t be disappointed.

Kicking off 2026

Happy January!

I'm excited to kick off 2026 as president of PRSA WNC! You can expect a monthly email from us during the last week of each month throughout the year.

In December, our board held a virtual retreat to have frank discussions about where we are as a chapter and to cast a vision for the coming year. These discussions identified three areas of focus:

1. Membership and Outreach: We believe our organization's purpose is to cultivate a supportive community of professionals who network and support each other.

2. Programming: Our jobs are challenging, and we value opportunities to grow and learn. We have a wealth of talent and knowledge in our chapter (...that means YOU) and through our PRSA networks. We can bring value to our members by tapping into that for programming.

3. Communication: We need to consistently share opportunities, celebrate successes, and keep our community connected.

In our January board meeting, we agreed to focus on the goals and objectives outlined below. We're sharing these publicly for transparency and accountability, and so you can come alongside us in meeting them.

This is a small volunteer board with jobs, families, and busy lives—which means we do this because we believe in the value PRSA brings to our professional lives and our region. But we can't do it alone. Whether you're brand new to this chapter, have been observing from afar, or were once active and took a well-deserved step back—now's the time to get involved.

I hope you participate in some way this year, even if it's small. We are better because you are part of it, and we need your voice and your talents.

Best,

Tanner Pickett, MPA, APR

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2026 GOALS & OBJECTIVES

Goal 1 - Membership/Outreach

Create a growing, engaged, and involved community of public relations professionals.

Objectives: By the end of the year, we will

1. Increase membership by 10%

2. Contact all new members (new and renewals) within a month of renewal

3. Provide at least 6 ways for members to actively participate in the chapter

Goal 2 - Programming

Provide relevant and valuable professional development centered on the needs of our region's members.

Objectives:

1. Establish two target outreach initiatives focused on student chapters, young professionals, underrepresented groups, and other state/nearby related organizations to broaden the diversity of the membership base.

2. By February 16, 2026, distribute a survey to all current paying members for interests/needs, and ask for completion by March 2, 2026.

3. Host 4 events in 2026, in person or virtual, that provide professional development opportunities in specific areas as identified by the member survey (e.g., digital and social media, AI, crisis communication, demonstrating reputational value to senior leaders).

4. Host at least 2 regional meetings in each region in 2026.

Goal 3 - Communication

Provide consistent, reliable communication about chapter news, events, and opportunities.

Objectives:

1. Send 12 chapter emails in 2026

2. Open an Instagram account in 2026