THE VP | Terrie Ard

Tallahassee native Terrie Ard loves her job.

As senior vice president of Moore Consulting Group, a successful public relations firm, the 32-year-old has the opportunity to be a part of something new – a new product, a new client, a new project. She has been instrumental in getting new accounts and providing top-of-the-line strategy and counsel for all client campaigns.

“With my role as vice president, I impact the people’s lives here and a lot of the people that come to this agency,” she said.

Ard began her college life at Florida State University considering a degree leading to the fields of dentistry or nursing.

While in college, she worked 30 to 40 hours a week for the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, assisting with membership and communications when she realized she was having more fun with communications than with the chemistry to physiology classes she had already taken.

“So I reevaluated my whole first year of college that I spent time and money on,” she said, “and decided to take the communications route – and (it was) probably one of the best decisions that I made in my life.”

After graduating in 1997, Ard went to work at Moore Consulting Group as an account executive but left for a stint at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, promoting the seafood and aquaculture industry in the department’s marketing division. Four years later, she returned to Moore Consulting, where she was promoted to vice president in June 2003 and senior vice president in August 2006.

“I learned so much from Karen (Moore, president of Moore Consulting Group),” Ard said. “She’s an amazing woman, and so much of who I am has come from learning from her – having the opportunity to work with her every day and her giving me the freedom to do the things that I’ve done here.”

Recently married, Ard said she believes in working hard and playing hard.

“I try really hard to find balance, but I don’t think I am there yet,” she said.

Her office is her second home, and she looks forward every day to helping her team reach its goals. As a member of the management team, she helps provide the direction, strategy and vision for the growing firm. She also wants to share her knowledge of communications with future generations.

“I get a lot of satisfaction from (teaching) and doing it well and thinking of new ways to teach someone something that I truly love,” she said. – Erica Bailey