Expert crisis communicator Judy Smith, who has represented clients including Kobe Bryant, Monica Lewinsky and Michael Vick, spoke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Thursday, as part of the Black Law Students Association’s Black History Month celebration.
Smith received her law degree from the American University Washington College of Law and was the first African-American woman to work as the editor of the American University Law Review before starting her career in crisis communication. Smith has since founded her own crisis communication agency, Smith & Company, which has represented clients from athletes and actors to foreign nations.
In her speech, Smith advised students to be ready at any time for opportunities. She proved the need for this by describing when the Press Secretary for former U.S. President George H. W. Bush saw her on a television interview and contacted her to replace him, which led to Smith’s job at the White House.
Smith emphasized the need for students to be true to themselves no matter what challenges or opportunities come their way. She also talked about working hard and letting students’ work speak for itself.
“I am a big, big fan of letting your work speak for itself,” Smith said. “Just make sure to stay true to yourself.”
Additionally, Smith said while there will always be challenges to being an African-American woman in her line of work, she feels empowered by her identity. She shared a time when she was interviewing and the interviewer thought the girl next to her was Smith because he assumed an African-American would not have her credentials. Smith said she left before being interviewed because she is proud of who she is.
BLSA President Ashley Davis said the group’s Black History Month events were created to “celebrate the past and seize the future,” and Smith’s lecture emphasized the latter aspect.
“Judy Smith exemplifies that example of a black woman who is using her law degree to accomplish a lot of things and also seize the opportunities that have been placed in front of her,” Davis said.
