20 Under 40 - 2002 Profile: Holly Nickell

PRESSTIME

By Presstime Magazine

First Published: November 2002

Bridge to community

Holly Nickell describes herself as a behind-the-scenes worker, but colleagues at The Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel want to bring their marketing manager into the spotlight. Last year, Nickell was named "Outstanding Employee of the Year" by her peers and managers at Pulitzer Central California Newspapers, publisher of the daily 13,828-circulation Sentinel and seven weeklies.

"Holly is the marketing department," says Sentinel Publisher Mark Daniel. "While I can't put a revenue number on her value, we would be very hard-pressed to have the success we have had without her presence."

During 2001, Nickell twice undertook leadership roles that resulted in bottom-line successes for PCCN. Her development of the Sentinel's Spanish-language newspaper, Las Noticias del Valle, brings a revenue stream to the company and provides a Spanish-language publication to the Hispanic community of the Central San Joaquin Valley. Nickell also spearheaded a Newspaper In Education golf tournament that brought together 60 business leaders as sponsors and players. The fund-raiser netted more than $2,500 for the Sentinel's NIE program.

Encouraging community members to embrace the newspaper comes naturally to Nickell, who devotes much of her free time to community organizations. She advises co-workers to do the same.

"Many people are intimidated by the media," she says. "I try to make them feel more comfortable. I encourage them to come to the newspaper and use our conference room for their meetings. It gets them in the door and breaks down those barriers. They meet the editors, they meet the ad reps, they see the press running, and it's not so intimidating anymore."

Education: 1991-92, attended California State University, Fresno.
Career: 1993-98, marketing director, Hanford Chamber of Commerce; 1998-present, advertising consultant, marketing manager, The Hanford Sentinel.
Personal: Age, 29. Born, Visalia, Calif. Married, husband Johnny.
Diversions: Scrapbooking, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Hanford Chamber of Commerce, doing bookkeeping and public relations for her husband's landscaping business.
Connections: The Hanford Sentinel, Pulitzer Central California Newspapers, 300 W. Sixth St., Hanford, Calif. 93230, (559) 582-0471, hnickell@sentinelnews.net.