Caroline Bryant
Features Editor
It’s hard to escape the Publix identity in Polk County, especially at Florida Southern. Our field house, green and sophomore men’s dorms are named after Publix founder George W. Jenkins. The Greek suites, formally known as the Publix Charities Commons, are funded by its namesake. Students will work at their stores after classes, and their headquarters reside in the big glass building by the local airport.
Due to their philanthropic efforts and relevance in the community, it’s not a surprise that the company is the top employer of jobs in Swan City. According to the 2023 City of Lakeland Demographic Guide, 8,008 jobs were supplied to Lakelanders from Publix.
FSC alumni occupy many of these jobs. While spring 2023 graduate Paige Berberette started her position as a graphic designer almost a month ago, she has worked for the brand for about five years.
“I used to work for Publix, I worked there for five years throughout college,” Berberette said. “But then I had to resign because I started an internship for my old job, and then they just had posted this job and I was in contact with an art director there, so I managed to squeeze in.”
While Berberette hasn’t done much yet, she expects to work closely with Club Publix, designing emails, advertisements and coupons. Berberette is excited for what’s to come, as she’s wanted to work for the company since her freshman year of college. The main reason behind this wish is the dream of following in her grandfather’s footsteps. He recently retired from the company.
Growing up in Wesley Chapel, 2016 alum Bethany Gershowitz was very familiar with the brand. When looking for a corporate position, she connected with her friend from high school, who happened to stock shelves with Gershowitz’s current supervisor at Publix Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU).
Gershowitz is now two years into her title as a digital and social media strategist. Day-to-day, she tackles digital and print advertisements, as well as promotional products. She likes how fun yet challenging her job can be, as PEFCU’s marketing department is still in its infancy.
“Our marketing department is very new and very young,” Gershowitz said. “The Publix Supermarket department has been doing marketing for years, while the credit union, it’s a little bit different game. My department has only really been around for four to five years, so I’ve been there for about half of that time. It’s great because we get a lot of creativity and opportunity to try a bunch of different things to see what works.”
She also enjoys the more relaxed environment PEFCU offers compared to her years spent at advertising agencies. Neighboring credit unions often help each other rather than keeping projects secretive.
“They’re very friendly as far as relationships because it is not as competitive as the supermarket side,” Gershowitz said. “For example, our app for all of our mobile banking is built from the Suncoast app. They’re another credit union locally, and they said, ‘Oh you guys need a new app? Here’s all the code.” I was shocked. I can go to someone at another credit union in marketing and ask, “How do you guys do this?” I just found the environment to be helpful and nice.”
Berberette, who works at headquarters, enjoys her hybrid schedule. She is in the office three days a week and remote for two.
Both also know many people they graduated with who also work for Publix. Someone Berberette and Gershowitz mentioned was Danielle Douglin, who graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and Studio Art in 2020. She began as an ad production designer but is now a studio designer. According to Gershowitz, Douglin works on “a lot of internal projects” dedicated to internal emails, newsletters for associates, etc.
The two appreciate Douglin and the other FSC connections they’ve made at Publix and PEFCU. Ultimately, being surrounded by Publix’s strong identity has made it swift for alums to transition from college life to full-time jobs and local companies to corporate positions, with nice surprises along the way.
