From UTSA to arctic Canada, alumna
has had a busy life post-graduation: gaining life experience, taking on new challenges, adventuring the world and having fun. She has written for notable publications like The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance and the San Antonio Express-News.
“Each of my past work experiences has taught me lessons that I carry with me to this day,” she says.
A 2003 graduate of UTSA, Meena is currently the global head of audience engagement at Bloomberg, a media platform bringing together technology, news, markets, politics and more.
Meena began her journey at UTSA in 1999 earning a bachelor’s in communication. She went on to earn her master’s in media strategy and leadership at Northwestern University. Meena also had to juggle priorities and her interests, while she figured out what to do with her life. She faced, and conquered, the most challenging task of all, learning how to become an adult.
As a UTSA student, she learned about a job she grew to love through her involvement in a student organization. Meena was features editor and then editor-in-chief of The Paisano independent student newspaper serving the UTSA community. Joining the organization, she wondered, like many students do, what she was to do with the rest of her life.
She describes The Paisano as a place where she found hidden talents, gained experience for a competitive industry and met a group of friends who continue to encourage her professionally and personally. The experiences she gained while working for The Paisano helped her cultivate a portfolio that propelled her to where she is today. Meena admits that she knew she needed to continue evolving professionally to keep working in her industry.
After graduating, Meena worked at the San Antonio Express-News as a business reporter.
“There have been many gratifying times in my career, but one was telling stories in San Antonio for the Express-News, a city I started to call home when I started at UTSA. Being part of that community from the perspective of a reporter is humbling.”
Once outside of San Antonio, she became a journalist for notable publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, Yahoo Finance, The Salt Lake City Tribune, The Denver Post and the Houston Chronicle. Over the past 10 years she covered finance, economics, politics, travel and crime. For many, writing is intimidating and difficult, but Meena is the one intimidating the writing. With a decade of experience in journalism, she continues to publish and write about the topics she loves. Her determination and work ethic helped propel her into the position she holds today.
Meena oversees audience development and social media strategy for Bloomberg, Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Live. She manages a small team of six people in her position. “Using what I’ve learned over the years to help them (her team) carry out their daily assignments, as well as work toward their larger professional and life goals is more rewarding than I could have imagined,” she says.
Before she was the global head of audience engagement, she worked for Business Insider, Insider and Tech Insider overseeing social media strategy and editorial audience development. While there, she was able to increase social media followers for different platforms including Facebook and Instagram. She also worked with multiple U.S. and overseas editors on social media-related jobs.
At Yahoo Finance, she also helped drive up social media followings and launched new pages for Yahoo on social media. She helped edit content and conduct on-camera interviews. She’s appeared on television, been a radio talk show guest and done voice-over work.
Meena’s work has left her five states away from seeing all of the U.S. and one continent short of visiting every continent.
“It’s amazing—a dream come true. I love the adventure of exploring something new.” What places had captured her heart? “Portugal, Tasmania and arctic Canada are particularly special to me. I also loved Montana, Hawaii and Alaska,” she says.
Meena would like to complete her tour of the world by visiting the five states she has missed and Antarctica. Her love for travel will never diminish, nor her love for writing. Though she is focusing on social media strategies and editing content, the saying once a writer always a writer is true for Meena.
“There are many paths to achieving your goals —there isn’t just one route. Sometimes the distractions you find along the way may ultimately be what you needed most,” she advises.
