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When Brooklyn Cobbs saw the job posting for the Ottawa Centaurs, she considered it. It said “social media director” along with the job’s salary and requirements. At only 22 years old, she did not feel very directorial. She simply liked making people laugh, had a good grasp on how to work all major social media platforms, and had just gotten her degree in communications at The University of Ottawa. Fortunately, she was born with the “how hard could it be” gene and sent off her resume without much thought. She heard back two weeks later and was now being led through a series of hallways at the Canadian Tire Centre by a chunky blonde guy to her interview. They enter a medium-sized office with a large window to the right of the desk and the guy, Harris, gestures for her to have a seat with a wide smile.
“So Brooklyn, like I said in the lobby, I’m Harris and I was recently promoted to senior communications director. I am looking to fill the spot my promotion left. Why don’t you tell me about yourself and why you want the job?” Harris finishes talking and smiles again. Before Brooklyn can speak, there is a loud yell in the hall and scratching at the door.
“CHIRON”, a worried male voice begins, “daddy is in an interview”. Harris chuckles and looks at Brooklyn.
“That’s my partner, Troy, and our dog, Chiron. Both are friendly, though the human is the second most awkward hockey player you can find in Ottawa.”
“Who’s the first?” Brooklyn asks before she can stop herself.
“Shane Hollander,” Harris says quickly.
Brooklyn nods sympathetically. She knew of Hollander and, by extension, his husband Ilya Rozanov from living in Ottawa. She had spent a lot of time on Twitter and Instagram getting blocked by homophobes when the couple was outed. She was hoping to both meet and work with the newly-dubbed “First Husbands of Hockey”.
“Would it be okay if Chiron came in? I can send him and Troy away if you’re afraid of dogs.” Harris asked while looking concerned. Brooklyn perks up.
“Oh, of course. I love dogs! I have two of my own.” Brooklyn whips out her phone and turns it to Harris after some scrolling. She shows Harris a photo of two standard poodles, one brown and one black.
“Oh my god. Look at those angels!! They will have to meet Chiron when we get a chance.” Harris says as he stands up to open the door. Brooklyn turns and is met with the bounding steps of a very large mountain dog mix. The dog, Chiron, is clearly unaware of his size and plops his upper half into Brooklyn’s lap.
“Chiron, down.” Harris commands with a firm snap while pointing to the floor.
“Oh, he’s okay.” Brooklyn coos while squeezing the dog’s face. She spends a few minutes praising Chiron for his many positive attributes, which include drooling on her sky blue dress shirt and getting his fur on her sapphire pants. Harris gives Chiron a “bed” command and the large baby reluctantly pulls himself out Brooklyn’s lap and flops onto a dog bed in the corner of the room.
“Sorry about that.” Harris says shyly, while passing Brooklyn a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Brooklyn waves him off while sanitizing her hands.
“Well, to answer your question, I’m 22, a Leo, and a longtime Ottawa resident. I got my degree in communications at Ottawa University this May. My personal philosophy about communication is that you are always trying to say something of value to people in a way that they can understand it. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if you can solve every major issue if your audience doesn’t understand the words you are using.”, Harris nodded along, “I also like making people laugh. Jokes and humor do a lot to push communication forward. Social media really proves that point for me. People are constantly communicating with different references, iconography, and the same word could have 12 different meanings depending on what corner of the internet you are living in.” Brooklyn finishes her ramble to make intentional eye contact. Harris looks to be considering her answer when he poses his next question.
“How do you plan to embody that philosophy in this sphere?” He asks.
“I am admittedly not the biggest hockey follower, but I want to show that the players are full people. Like the ‘Ridin with Roz’ series. It’s great, don’t get me wrong, but it could totally highlight the mechanic that he uses or a ride with Rozanov can be a giveaway item at a game. The team got the community back with a win streak. I totally think we could do more than hospital visits to keep them. I have a whole list of how to do it and several plans based on the perceived level of humili-” Brooklyn goes to grab a notebook out of her bag when Harris interrupts her rant.
“You’re hired.” He says. The man then stands up and extends his hand for Brooklyn to shake. Brooklyn matches his standing position and returns the offered handshake.
So that’s how Brooklyn Cobbs ended up as the social media director for The Ottawa Centaurs.