Former Student Spotlight – Amanda Brannan

Amanda Brannan joined the US Commercial Service North Dakota (CS North Dakota) as an Export Assistant in February 2014 while a student at North Dakota State University. Brannan studied Public Relations and Advertising with minors in Marketing and Management Communications. During her time at CS North Dakota, Amanda worked on a wide breadth of projects. Her favorite aspect of the internship was the opportunity to get to meet different, inspiring leaders across many different industries. It posed itself as an opportunity to learn about the agricultural (and other industries) from an outsider’s perspective, as well as gain more insight into North Dakota and NW Minnesota as a region.

The internship had a transformative impact on Brannan’s passion for communication skills and relationship building. The experiences as a CS Export Assistant offered first-hand observations of the importance of communication in any professional and commercial setting. After completing her internship with the CS North Dakota office in November 2014, Brannan earned her undergraduate degree then went on to study Organizational Communication in graduate school. Brannan credits her CS experience with helping her land her first job after graduate school.

Brannan currently works at WEX, Inc. as a Leadership Excellence Senior Specialist. In that capacity she creates learning and development opportunities that supports leadership and career development for other company employees.

When asked what the most transferrable lesson Brannan learned during her time at CS she answered, “Take time to truly listen. There’s almost always a way to help anyone, and if you listen well, you’ll be able to provide really robust and personalized solutions for their needs. There are a hundred great things that come from being a good listener.”