Chelsea Whittington

By Terry L. Watson

Photos Provided by Cheslea Whittington

Her name is Chelsea Whittington, and her motto is “Who You Whitt?” Chelsea has called Gary, IN, home for her entire life. She is the youngest of four children and describes herself as a late bloomer. Her father was an entrepreneur, and it was fate that she would follow in his footsteps also.

Chelsea was formally educated at Gary Westside High School and graduated as the Salutatorian. Next, she attended Howard University, an HBCU, and later received her degree in Broadcast Journalism. She received a second degree in Organizational Communication from Purdue University. Chelsea has established herself in a career in Public Relations. However, she admits this field wasn’t part of her initial plan. “I actually thought I would be a Broadcast Journalist. That was my first degree, and I wanted to be like Oprah Winfrey, but a couple of things happened that changed my mind,” she says.

Her career in Public Relations and Communications spans more than 25 years. She has worked for the Peace Corps Recruiting Office in Arlington, VA, the Office of Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), JWA Boys and Girls Club, Lake Area United Way, the Gary Community School Corporation, and Johnson Publishing Company, publisher of Ebony and Jet Magazines. In 2009, Chelsea joined the executive team at U.S. Cellular Corporation as Communications Manager. There, she managed 4 of the company’s public relations firms while promoting the brand of the nation’s sixthlargest wireless phone company.

Chelsea has also served in the administration of Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, the City of Gary’s first female mayor and the State of Indiana’s only female African-American mayor. As Director of Communications, she oversaw media relations, crisis communications, special events, branding, and marketing for her hometown of Gary.

On her birthday three years ago, Chelsea launched her business, C Whitt PR. With her company, Chelsea says she is a brand builder. In her capacity, she assists clients with making their brand visible and heard. She develops public relations and social media strategies for clients and presents workshops and training on social media and public speaking. This may involve hands-on, personalized training for TV, radio, print media interviews, and speaking engagements.

Chelsea shares that what she loves most about what she does is that no two days are the same. “Today, I was at a meeting at iHeart in Chicago, and tomorrow I will be in Gary teaching kids at the YMCA how to get on a computer,” she says. “It’s about being creative, and I don’t have any boundaries. I don’t have a clock to punch, and I love that,” she says.

Chelsea shares that her late mother has made the most significant impact on her life. “I was 29 years old when my mom passed. I had so much I needed to get from her, but I promised myself that I would make her proud. When I got the job at Ebony, I thought about her because she loved Ebony and Jet magazines. Every step I took in my career, I would benchmark it against my mama’s thoughts and how it would make her proud,” she says. She also credits her husband for being her biggest cheerleader and encouraging her to step out on faith and start her own company.

When asked if she would change anything about her journey, Chelsea says she would have become an entrepreneur sooner. “Now that I know what I know, I would have done this long ago. We are in the shadow of Chicago, and many of the businesses located in Gart need marketing services, and my company provides these,” she says.

Moving forward, Chelsea shares she would love to retire and settle into a life of teaching, lecturing, and traveling. “Even though I love what I do, I don’t want to do it forever. I would like to travel the world with my husband and see what else life has to offer,” she says. In the meantime, her focus is on building up others and creating spaces for them to thrive in her field.

To learn more about Chelsea Whittington, please visit her website.