Alumni Personal & Career Development Center

Maddie Faria (‘23) is a Strategist at the female-founded agency Corner Table Creative in 📍New York City. There, she blends logic with storytelling to build brands like Starbucks and Lobos 1707, tackling a new dimension of creative work every day. Maddie found her creative voice in the Comm department, and she now shapes brand strategies alongside her team. Check out her story in today’s our Deacon Spotlight!

Here are some fun facts about Maddie:

🎾 Before moving to NYC post-grad, Maddie worked at a Pickleball club for a year.

🧵She recently started a Craft Club with her friends!

📚Maddie is very passionate about her yearly Goodreads reading goal

We’ll leave you with some advice from Maddie about focusing on your own journey:
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“It’s easier said than done, but stop looking at what everyone else is doing as you figure it all out. I often went wrong by measuring my progress against everyone else in my class, and kicking myself for not being in the same place as my friends. No one has the exact same experiences or path as you, so it does so much more harm than good.”

Read more of our Q&A with Maddie at the link in our profile or stories! Plus, you can always check out our past alumni spotlights in the “Deacon Spotlight” highlight reel in our profile.

https://alumni.opcd.wfu.edu/deacon-spotlight/deacon-spotlight-maddie-faria/ …

Jane Beasley Duncan (‘07) has returned to Winston-Salem, bringing lots of energy and exciting projects to the community. Namely, she is the founder of JBD Insights, a fractional marketing leadership practice. As a part of her work, she is also the Marketing Director for Front Street Capital. Jane has been orchestrating marketing for The Grounds – find out more about her cool projects in our latest Deacon Spotlight! 🎩

Here are some fun facts about Jane:

🏀 For her 11th birthday party, Tony Rutland (a guard on the Wake basketball team in the mid-90s) came to her house and shot hoops with Jane and her friends. They were STARSTRUCK. 🤩

💤 This is incredibly unlike Jane, but she slept through her very first freshman seminar class — a study on Thomas Jefferson with Dr. Michelle Gillespie. It still makes Jane sweat to think about, but she ran straight to her office (in pajamas) and she was so gracious, and ended up — for so many reasons — being one of Jane’s very favorite professors.

🧀 Jane has a killer pimento cheese recipe, and she makes about 50 pounds of it every Christmas for gifts for friends and neighbors. Low on the mayo, heavy on the jalapenos!

We’ll leave you with some advice from Jane about planting seeds for your future self:
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“Not everything has to be perfect (although our Wake Forest mindsets might make us drift that way), but I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is to try to do favors to your future self. That means being intentional, making decisions with some degree of purpose and recognizing that purpose, and also respecting the fact that that future self will have achieved things you don’t even think about yet!”

Read more of our Q&A with Jane at the link in our profile or stories! Plus, you can always check out our past alumni spotlights in the “Deacon Spotlight” highlight reel in our profile.

https://alumni.opcd.wfu.edu/deacon-spotlight/deacon-spotlight-jane-beasley-duncan …

You’re invited! ALUMNI WEBINAR: Wednesday, March 25, 12-12:30pm ET on Zoom 🗓️📍

No matter your career stage, AI can be a powerful tool for career development. Join our team members Lauren Beam (‘07) and Sabrina Broderick (MSM ‘25) as we show you how to use specific prompts to guide your career exploration and level up your personal reflection and decision-making skills using AI!

You’ll walk away with practical strategies you can apply to gain clarity, confidence, and momentum in your next career steps. This session will help you make more intentional, informed choices. Plus, you’ll probably realize that AI can be an awesome professional career coach!

🎬 Behind the Scenes: We created an AI persona named “Salem Reynolds” who will be our sample WFU alum for walking through this demo of AI prompts to use in any career stage. “Salem” is the ultimate Demon Deacon. 🎩 You don’t want to miss this fun, interactive webinar!

Register at the link in our bio or stories to save your spot.

https://wakenetwork.wfu.edu/events/online-03-25-2026-0012788 …

As a Client Relationship Manager, Cole Sonner (‘21) simplifies the complex world of commercial banking at IBISWorld. Based in 📍New York, Cole partners with financial institutions across North America to streamline risk analysis and underwriting. Whether he’s navigating new challenges or managing hundreds of unique client relationships, his career is defined by his consistent intentionality. Check out his story in our latest Deacon Spotlight!

Here are some fun facts about Cole:

🤩 Cole worked at the Welcome Center for his four years at Wake Forest, and got to meet a few celebrities bringing their kids in for tours!

🌍 He studied abroad in Barcelona during his Junior year.

👊Cole was part of the CHARGE Leadership Program during his time at Wake.

[BONUS Fun Fact: 🎩 Cole is one of our newest Alumni Career Advisers! Go reach out to him for a career conversation!]

We’ll leave you with some advice from Cole about the benefits of trying out different roles after graduation:
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“The years after graduation are key in identifying what you love and what aspects of your role you excel at – I was lucky enough to have had jobs that exposed me to plenty of responsibilities and opportunities. It is okay to be thrown into the fire and to take on the challenge of wearing different hats. Finding the highlight of your day or role, and translating that into a resume is what has helped find opportunities.”

Read more of our Q&A with Cole at the link in our profile or stories! Plus, you can always check out our past alumni spotlights in the “Deacon Spotlight” highlight reel in our profile.

https://alumni.opcd.wfu.edu/deacon-spotlight/deacon-spotlight-cole-sonner/ …