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June 2013 – Present | Kearney, NE
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Digital Media Producer, Adjunct Lecturer
From Super Bowl commercials to documentary films to the social feeds students scroll every day, I've spent more than a decade helping tell UNK's story across an ever-expanding set of platforms.
Staying fluent across all of it has become as much a part of the job as the storytelling itself. What began as a video production role has evolved into something much broader: digital strategy, team leadership, and now, teaching the next generation of storytellers.
Role & Responsibilities
Digital Media Producer
Create high-quality video for TV, web, social media, and digital signage in support of university communications, marketing, and recruitment goals
Lead the Social Media Coordinator and Herd Life Creative student team in strategic planning, content creation, digital ad campaign management, and performance analysis
Manage the university's video archive and provide media assets to campus clients, press outlets, institutional partners, and third-party creators
Capture aerial footage as an FAA Part 107 certified drone pilot
Adjunct Lecturer
Teach JMC 230: Integrated Marketing Communications (online) and JMC 304: Interactive Media Design (in-person) in the Department of Communication
Co-instruct LOPR 101: The Power of Social Media, a first-year General Studies seminar
Serve as faculty advisor for the Ad/PR Club
Notable Achievements
Received the University of Nebraska KUDOS Award (the university's highest staff honor) for exceptional dedication, innovative video storytelling, and service to UNK
Produced a broadcast commercial that aired during the 2024 Super Bowl on local CBS affiliates, alongside a full suite of promotional videos for web and social media, as part of UNK's new branding campaign launch
Launched Chancellor Karaoke, a creative project that garnered over 94,000 views and earned attention from James Corden's Late Late Show
Shifted UNK's social strategy toward vertical shorts and reels, resulting in videos regularly reaching 10,000–22,000 views on Instagram and YouTube
Produced Becoming UNK: Reflections & History, a documentary celebrating UNK's 25th anniversary as part of the University of Nebraska system, premiered at the historic World Theatre
Led hiring searches for the Social Media Coordinator position and the four-person Herd Life Creative student team after stepping into an expanded role during a hiring freeze to manage UNK's primary social media channels (@unkearney) end-to-end, on top of usual duties.
Project Portfolio
A selection of work spanning broadcast, documentary, social media, live production, and motion design.
Brand Campaigns
Broadcast & Digital Ads
From Super Bowl TV campaigns to in-stream and OTT, these spots show UNK's brand at its most polished, designed to introduce or communicate brand identities and key information.
'Power of the Herd' Brand Campaign
This 30-second commercial debuted during the 2024 Super Bowl on regional CBS affiliates, marking the public launch of UNK's "Power of the Herd" campaign.
As a member of the creative team, I contributed to the campaign's inception and helped guide its execution from concept to completion. I also filmed the majority of the footage used in the ads as well as editing them.
More about this campaign can be found at unk.edu/herd, with successive ads I created below.
Be Blue. Be Gold. Be Bold. Campaign Launch
I filmed and edited the video to the right, which served as the cornerstone for UNK's 2019 marketing campaign launch, highlighting the slogan, "Be Blue. Be Gold. Be BOLD."
More about the campaign can be found here, with examples of more ads I created for the campaign below.
Feature Storytelling
Longer narratives that go beyond promotion to tell stories worth sitting with about current students, programs, or alumni. These projects draw on the full range of production skills, from research and scripting to cinematography and post-production.
I scripted, filmed, and edited this piece to give prospective students more than just a look at the buildings, but also a window into what actually happens in those spaces, so they can begin to picture themselves at UNK.
Used by the Admissions department in an email campaign and embedded on a campus tours webpage, the video reached students at multiple touchpoints in their decision-making process. I also cut a vertical reel for Instagram, to post organically to get new freshmen excited about arriving for the fall semester.
Social Trends & Short-Form
These pieces were written for specific platforms and audiences. Flagship @UNKearney channel content is built around students, reflecting campus life, engaging with trends, and mixing entertainment with useful information.
Note: When possible, I've embedded a copy of videos hosted on YouTube for easy viewing from this page, but clicking the titles or the links below the embed will take you to the original Instagram posts, which have higher engagement and include the post captions that provide more context.
When the Barbie film dropped in summer 2023, one scene in particular caught my attention as a creative opportunity. During a "Kenergy" meltdown, where Ken tosses Barbie's wardrobe off a balcony, each piece pauses mid-air while historically accurate Mattel costume details appear on screen. It was too good a format not to borrow for a Loper Spirit Shop promotion for their new fall merchandise.
To execute the concept, I brought in a fishing pole, hooking the nearly invisible line to clothing hangers to lift items off the rack while filming. In post-production, I then removed any visible pole tip or hook from the frame, then reversed the footage so what was actually items being lifted off the rack became student workers tossing merchandise onto it, with each piece freezing mid-air just long enough for product details to appear, mirroring the film's style. A timely, trend-driven concept executed with a low-tech but innovative solution.
This summer 2025 short-form series, created as paid ads for Instagram and Facebook reels to reach prospective students and their parents, and inclusion in email campaigns sent to incoming freshman to the community of Kearney before they arrived at their new home. The primary message was that the extended community around UNK has more to offer than they might expect, with the goal of getting them excited about what was waiting ahead.
I developed the campaign concept, filmed and edited the majority of the videos, with student workers contributing additional footage. The series ran across the summer, giving both incoming and returning students something to look forward to and giving the broader Kearney community something to celebrate. Tagging local businesses, the Kearney Chamber of Commerce, Parks & Recreation, and other community organizations along the way also earned shares and engagement that extended the content's reach beyond UNK's own channels.
What supervisors have said:
Whether in a production suite or a classroom, I try to bring the same care and intentionality to everything I do. Here's what some of the people I've worked with have shared.
"Steph plays a major role in telling our story and building a positive perception for UNK. She's innovative, progressive, and incredibly hardworking — one of the best, if not the best, video producers in this region... She is patient, honest, and caring. She wants what's best for UNK and that shows in the way she approaches her work. Our clients have reported how much they appreciate working with her."
— Kyle Means, Director of Communications & Marketing, UNK (2025)
"As UNK’s only full-time video professional, she works tirelessly, filming concerts, games, lectures, and interviewing and editing, packaging and creating graphics... The volume and quality of her work speaks for itself, but Steph also uses her leadership and skills to mentor students, who are thriving under her direction."
— Kelly Bartling, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Communications & Community Relations, UNK (2019)
What students have said:
Teaching is an extension of the same work I do as a communicator, helping people understand ideas and apply them practically. Here's what some of my students across my courses at UNK have shared in anonymous end-of-semester instructor evaluations.
"Assignments mirrored real-world campaign planning, requiring research, strategy, creative execution, and evaluation. The integrated approach helped me understand how different communication tools work together rather than in isolation."
— JMC 230 student (Fall 2025)
"She actually cared about my work and gave constructive feedback. I was able to actually apply that feedback to the rest of my work."
— JMC 230 student (Fall 2025)
"She was very swift responding to questions/emails and getting graded assignments back to students."
— LOPR 101 student (Fall 2025)
"The best organization in any class I've taken!"
— JMC 304 student (Spring 2026)
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