If you want to see Christina Dick serious, get her on a balance beam.
The social media marketer and blogger behind TFB Agency and Tiramisu for Breakfast is better known around town for the enthusiasm and laughter she brings to her work. But when she’s not cracking jokes and connecting with clients, the 30-year-old does what she describes as both fun but also the one thing that puts a serious look on her face: gymnastics.
“The only time I’m serious-looking is when I’m on the beam,” she said, between the occasional laughs. “That’s the only time I’m truly super-focused on something, because you have to be.
“In our industry, PR and advertising, there’s a lot of fluff. You can look at something and you don’t really know what it is,” she said. “You’ve heard about influencer marketing and all these people who have a million followers; it can be frustrating, because you don’t know what’s real, what’s not. But anything with your body and with sports, there’s no faking it. Either you can do it or you can’t.”
The Portsmouth native has been doing gymnastics most of her life, since she first took a class when she was 12. Today, she gets her fix at Gym Quest Gymnastics in Rockville, where she and a group of fellow adult gymnasts keep up their skills through classes and competitions.
While the majority of gymnasts there are more than 10 years her junior, Dick said her love for the sport hasn’t changed with age – nor, really, has her skill level, which she said is the trick.
“I never got so good that I can’t keep up with all the things I used to be able to do,” she said. “Even though I’m older and larger than I used to be when I was in high school, I can still do everything I could do then, because it’s not like I was Olympic-level.
“My skill level is not impressive at all when everyone else is doing it in high school, but now, since I’ve kept up with it, it’s kind of like the tortoise and the hare. Now it’s like: ‘Oh, that’s awesome that you can still do that,’ and I’m like, ‘This is always what I could do,’” she said, laughing. “If you just never get really good, then there’s no pressure!”
With age also has come a different dynamic with her colleagues and coaches, Dick said, referring to peers in her age group who include an area attorney, a teacher, a PR rep, and social media and brand strategists at Capital One.
“It’s funny, because now we’re adults in the gym and we’re peers with the coaches, but we’re used to being the kids and hearing, ‘Christina, stop talking. Now it’s like, ‘Christina, what do you think we should do about our marketing?’”
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Dick, second from left, with fellow Gym Quest gymnasts Morgan Lubking, Elizabeth Thomson, Emily Bayer, Rachel Bremer and Nerissa Rouzer, from left.
Others who hone their skills at Gym Quest include Nerissa Rouzer, a former state assistant attorney general who now works as assistant counsel for JMU; Capital One’s Rachel Bremer and Elizabeth Thomson, a senior brand strategist and social engagement strategist, respectively; Emily Bayer, a middle school math teacher; and Cameron MacPherson, an associate at PR firm The Hodges Partnership.
Dick said she’s been going to the gymnastics center since she was 19, soon after she moved to Richmond for VCU, which she learned didn’t have a gymnastics team or club. She and others started a group that evolved into a VCU gymnastics club, and Dick said she also taught younger gymnasts part time.
“It wasn’t anything serious. I’m not very good,” she said. “And I’m not trying to be humble. I’m not a super-good gymnast. This is a fun hobby I try to keep up with.”
Dick said she keeps up with gymnastics because it’s a fun way to work out and extends to other exercise such as yoga and barre. She said her best moves are the pistol squat, an aerial (a cartwheel with no hands) and maneuvers on the balance beam, where she said she finds a focus that can elude her outside the gym.
On the balance beam at Gym Quest.
“With gymnastics and other things with your body, it’s a natural thing and you just can’t force it,” she said. “It’s just a routine and all of a sudden you can do something, and it’s because you’ve had that consistency. That’s not a strength that I have or something I do in other areas.”
While her aerials send her spinning through air and the balance beam takes her to even greater heights, Dick said gymnastics helps keep her life grounded, the concentration she gets from the balance beam literally keeping her balanced.
With her work, Dick said, “There’s so much up and down, where I’m like, ‘Do I suck? Am I awesome? I don’t know.’ Every day is different. But in gymnastics, it’s not like that. Either your body can do it or it can’t.”
Meet @tiramisuforbreakfastagency this week on the podcast 🎙! If you’re in need of some inspiration, this is your episode! We’re chatting with Christina Dick, Founder of the Public Relations Agency and Adjunct Professor of Advertising at VCU.
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Christina’s positive energy and plethora of #truthbombs will make you feel like you can tackle everything on your to-do list 💯.
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There is so much magic to this convo like: why it’s important to “obsess over your customers and not your competitors”, that “everyone you meet knows something you don’t”, and that “you can always lose something you have, but you can never lose something you are”. 🙌🏼💓 Christina shares her down to earth approach on business and encourages us to consider our intention behind every action and interaction. Tune in now 🎧here.
This month, the craveable and delicious McRib returns for a limited time to Richmond, VA. A sandwich that has had fans clamoring for more than 35 years, the McRib is made with seasoned boneless pork and slathered in tangy, delicious barbecue sauce – it’s topped with slivered onions and tart pickles on a hoagie-style bun. The iconic sandwich last appeared in participating Richmond restaurants in November 2014. Learn more at mcribrva.com
I joined my colleagues and international guests on the panel for the International Business Forum. The topic was “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” (I talked about the good, of course)
“Looking outside of our own group is really trying to understand people who think differently than us,” she said. “[Social media provides the opportunity] to learn from other people, to talk about what you are hearing around you, what you’re putting out there and what you’re taking in.”
“A lot of people think that we have become a nation of people who are constantly staring down at our phones and not paying attention to the world around us,” Dick said. “But social media is allowing us the capability to reach people not just on the other side of America, but also to spread ideas across the globe.”
Read the full recap from VCU News and The Commonwealth Times.
“Looking outside of our own group is really trying to understand people who think differently than us. [Social media provides the opportunity] to learn from other people, to talk about what you are hearing around you, what you're putting out there and what you're taking in.”
Emily wrapped up her tenure with TFB as our senior intern. She was with us for a year and a half. She spent her last day training one of our new interns, Olivia, who you’ll meet soon!
Emily was right by my side as we won awards at PRSA, landed Richmond Dermatology, Clementine as clients and moved int our first office space.
We will miss Emily a ton but can’t wait to see where life takes her!
One of the classes I teach at VCU’s Robertson School is Professionalism in PR: The class wasn’t created until after I graduated, and when I talk about it I frequently hear things like: “I wish they’d offered that when I was in school.”
Here’s the official course description:
Study of public relations careers, including an in-depth examination of types of practice and industry choices for professionals. Includes development of job-seeking skills such as networking, resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, as well as professional skills such as impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, presentation development and effective meeting management. Focus on ethical practice and understanding of effective long-term professional development activities.
As a teacher, my hope is always that I’ve shared at least one thing with each student that they might remember/find useful.
I asked one of my former students, Yosan Mascio of Park & Morris, to share what she took from our time in class together. Here’s what she had to say:
The class encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone when applying to jobs/networking. For example, when looking for jobs, I was able to confidently tell the person interviewing me what I wanted to do and when networking I was able to see if there would be a possibility for us to connect in the future.
Here are two of her takeaways she’d share as advice to other students/recent grads:
1. You’re never being too creepy when it comes to LinkedIn and networking. People love connecting and getting a chance to give advice. Finding a common ground with someone via social media is easy and going from there is not as scary as it seems.
2. The importance of informational interviews because I learned that’s when the person is most candid about your prospective field or job you want to get into. That is the best prep you need before your actual interview somewhere.
