WO MEN O F AC HI E V E M E NT
LAURA K IELER CHIEF MARKETING AND CONTENT OFFICER, PBS NORTH CAROLINA
ome of Laura Kieler’s earliest memories include watching “Sesame Street” and “Reading Rainbow” on PBS with her grandmother, who often cared for her as a young child. Now, as chief marketing and content officer at PBS North Carolina, Laura aims to foster learning and engagement in our state with the audience’s perspective in mind. “I always try to start conversations with people and ask: ‘What’s your PBS North Carolina story?’” she says. “That sense of discovery, when you learn something new, is something that has stayed with me.” A native of New Jersey, Laura spent 10 years working in marketing for cable television company HBO in New York City before meeting Curtis Kieler, who lived in North Carolina, through a mutual friend. They now reside in Hillsborough with their rescue dog, Maddie. Laura landed a role as a director of marketing for UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School before joining PBS NC in 2018.
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By Elizabeth Poindexter
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chapelhillmagazine.com
May/June 2023
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I thrive when I am kind of connecting big ideas – a bold vision – with just really impeccable implementation and strategy.
No matter her position, she’s taken one thing to heart: “One piece of advice was given to me by my mom – best for the moment,” she says. “For me, whenever I approach something, I am giving it my best in that moment.” Laura applied this advice when she and her team launched a statewide rebrand initiative of PBS NC (formerly WUNCTV) in early 2021 to better share its mission. “PBS North Carolina has a single focus on telling and centering the stories of the people, places and culture of North Carolina, and we are unwavering in that commitment to centering those stories and making them available for free,” Laura says. She says her strategy centers on authenticity and storytelling – key aspects of how a decades-old public broadcast station can stay relevant as media continues to evolve. “Every piece of content we make has to have our brand and our mission as our compass,” she says. “I’m honored to contribute to that mission for North Carolina.” As one of three regional digital centers of innovation for PBS – and the third-largest PBS member station in the country – PBS NC reaches more than 1 million weekly broadcast viewers through shows like “My Home, NC” and “The Key Ingredient with Sheri Castle.” Part of Laura’s job entails overseeing content production and finding what strikes a balance between the intersection of education and entertainment, including ways to build community. And when she’s not thinking about our state at work, Laura enjoys completing puzzles, reading and hiking in Hillsborough and nearby Eno River State Park. “Being in nature has been one of the highlights of relocating to North Carolina from New York City,” she says.