Margot Stephenson has not spent her career thus far searching for motivation or meaning. That would imply, ”They are sitting behind a tree or hidden under a rock,” as Neil deGrasse Tyson stated in one of Stephenson’s favorite quotes. “The most successful people in life recognize that, in life, they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation,” said deGrasse Tyson.

Stephenson has blazed her own trail in perhaps one of the most challenging and often ephemeral marketing arenas: social media. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Elon University, where she spent every summer honing her skills in a series of six unpaid internships, she had networked enough to be hired as a Marketing Coordinator for the record industry giant Interscope.

This would lead to tremendously successful positions, creating global social media marketing strategies for William Morris Endeavor, and Sonos. Creating strategies for businesses to attract likes, shares, and viral victory can lead some companies to pander to the latest fads and shiny objects, but Stephenson focused on hard work, relationship building, authenticity, and her moral compass.

Once asked what made her approach unique, she replied, “I don’t just turn facts about a business into social media strategies. I get to know the emotionality behind a brand (the feelings), and I bring that to the forefront. It takes both facts and feelings to make a social strategy great.” That unique approach drew attention in Los Angeles, where she ultimately founded her own social media marketing practice, Facts & Feelings Inc. For the past eight years, she has been crafting social media strategies and driving high-impact marketing campaigns for global brands. 

She attributes her middle and high school years at Oak Knoll to fostering her tenacity and confidence as a female voice in the room. 

“I can easily say that Oak Knoll was harder than both my college degree and my master’s degree,” Stephenson remembered. “The teachers really helped me with extra time to develop study habits and communication skills.”

In a recent conversation with a fellow alumna, Stephenson wondered why they didn’t have more women’s studies classes in high school. Her friend reminded her that it wasn’t a question of whether women had a voice at Oak Knoll. Stephenson agreed,  explaining, “We just never learned to defer to men like a lot of folks do in those years of education. I definitely went very confident into my college classrooms and beyond and was able to speak up and stand out.”

It was precisely this Oak Knoll trait that attracted her parents to enroll Stephenson and her two older sisters, Lauren Stephenson ‘01 and Nicole (Stephenson) Shapiro ‘02. The younger Stephenson remembers developing a passion for photography and the arts at Oak Knoll, which has influenced her career trajectory.

That trajectory has taken a bit of an arc in recent years as Stephenson finds herself creating a new love, manufacturing a new meaning, and generating a new motivation. DeGrasse Tyson would be proud.

As a social media consultant for the revered psychotherapist Esther Perel, Stephenson found herself admiring Perel’s wisdom and knowledge of human relationships. “After working with her for two and a half years, I thought I just wanted to do this myself,” said Stephenson.

That led to her joining a graduate program at Antioch University and obtaining a Masters in Clinical Psychology focusing on Marriage and Family Therapy. In addition to her ongoing entrepreneurship as a social media strategist, she now accepts new clients for telehealth sessions in individual, couples, and family therapy.

“This work is a deeply fulfilling and meaningful way for me to sit with people during their hardest times and create connection and comfort,” she explained. “It’s almost the antithesis of the social media career but creates a perfect balance.”

Stephenson is well aware of the recent reports regarding social media and its potential impact on young women regarding self-image and socialization. She credits Oak Knoll for incubating a sense of security when she was that age and has advice for today’s teens.

“One thing I would like to pass along to young women is that even if you’re feeling unpopular or having challenges in social worlds, which is a lot of just being a teenage girl, know that Oak Knoll is a place that really fosters your voice,” she advised. “That made Oak Knoll a really safe space for me to grow up, and I think that was really invaluable.”