{"id":17683,"date":"2022-11-29T22:41:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T22:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/?p=17683"},"modified":"2022-12-01T18:08:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T18:08:16","slug":"alumni-spotlight-waleed-kahlil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/blog\/2022\/11\/29\/alumni-spotlight-waleed-kahlil\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight: Waleed Kahlil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Carolina University May of 2021 graduate Waleed Kahlil majored in communication with a concentration in public relations and minored in computer information systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI chose communication as a major because I wanted to bring people together through a common mission and help facilitate the spread of art and culture,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kahlil works at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in Durham, N.C., as their Premium Seats and Group Services Manager.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was led to the job with DPAC while at a Durham Bulls baseball game after seeing the facility with a sign of their Broadway lineup. Kahlil was intrigued and visited DPAC\u2019s website, where he found the job posting, and immediately took advantage of the opportunity to share the arts with the people of the Durham community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDPAC has a very fast-paced work culture, where we take pride in \u201cDPAC spirit,\u201d holding a standard of excellence that is the \u201cDPAC way,\u201d and valuing everyone\u2019s work,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his role, Kahlil oversees the tickets, finances, and operations of DPAC\u2019s President\u2019s Club and Group Services. He also answers emails and phone calls to manage the membership of 950 VIPs, DPAC sponsors, and other partners in the community. When a show is happening at the center, \u201cI am also playing a hospitality role by being the point of contact in our VIP lounge and meeting my clients in person,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

During his time with DPAC, Kahlil is very proud to have attended high-profile conferences, spoken at Rotary Club meetings, and surpassed sales goals in his first year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy network has grown by overseeing DPAC\u2019s President\u2019s Club. The President\u2019s Club is DPAC\u2019s VIP Season Seat holders, where Durham\u2019s highest paying ticket buyers sit,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Helping him in his role today, Kahlil learned from his time at Western Carolina University how important it is to deliver understandable and valuable information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doing this \u201chas benefited my networking skills, collaborative skills, and professional writing,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Entering this industry post-graduation, the standards of excellence were what Kahlil thought they would be like; however, he points out that it is vital always to remember that one is hired to provide value and solutions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven when I have an issue, I am counted on to be able to use what I know to open the door towards progress,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Managing a staff of six people, Kahlil was first challenged with consistently delivering updates, hosting meetings, and helping them to be the best. However, he overcame this by structuring how he provided information and became mindful of his staff\u2019s needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kahlil advises students in the communication department that if they do not know the answer to something, to have confidence that they can get started on figuring out the solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have questions about getting the answer, this is the best time to tap into your resources, like upper management,\u201d said Kahlil.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also wants to remind students that \u201cwhen you graduate, your professional development journey is not close to being over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking towards the future, Kahlil would like to enter public administration work. He hopes to eventually become a town manager or work for the United Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, Kahlil mentions, “if you are ever in Durham, NC, please come to the DPAC and see a show!\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Connect with Kahlil on his <\/span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Western Carolina University May of 2021 graduate Waleed Kahlil majored in communication with a concentration in public relations and minored in computer information systems. \u201cI chose communication as a major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3261,"featured_media":9648,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94,1],"tags":[108,114,132,347,316,159,162],"class_list":["post-17683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-uncategorized","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-spotlight","tag-career","tag-professional-development","tag-wcu","tag-western-north-carolina","tag-wnc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17683"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17716,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683\/revisions\/17716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/comm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}