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AAPRC Weekly: Cecile Cross-Plummer

Cecile Cross-Plummer
Senior Publicist
HBO
NYC


In the beginning, Cecile Cross-Plummer simply wanted to go home to Jamaica. Her family, her parents and three sisters, relocated to New York City from Kingston when Cross-Plummer was just 16. Because the new Caribbean transplant had already finished high school (in Jamaica students finish sooner), she got a worker's permit and went to work at Citibank. Her plan was to go on to college, get training in restaurant and hotel management and go back to Jamaica to work in the tourism industry.

Sometimes, though, the plans we make at 16 don't always work out.

Cross-Plummer did indeed major in hotel and restaurant management when she started classes at New York City Tech in Brooklyn. "Then the weirdest thing happened. I realized that those people [hotel and restaurant workers] kind of work everyday, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays," Cross-Plummer says, recalling the moment her plans changed. "I was like, no, that's not going to be me."

She was almost finished with the degree that she would never use when she read an article in Essence––called "Women Who Wear the Pants"––and one of the women profiled was a publicist for the NBA. Cross-Plummer decided she "wanted to do something like that."

She went back to school, this time to Manhattan's Hunter College, majored in media studies and planned for a career in sports (she's a big sports fan). But, once again, there was a change of plans. "During my senior year I had to choose between two internships, one at the Garden and one at HBO, and I chose the one at HBO," says Cross-Plummer.

In 1995, about six months after she started that internship in HBO's media relations department, Cross-Plummer was offered a full-time position as an assistant. She accepted. That was nine years ago, and Cross-Plummer has been ensconced at the cable entertainment powerhouse ever since.

In the beginning, she admits, she just wanted a job and was relieved when the vice-president of the department made her an offer. In the early years, though, there were some speed bumps. In 1997, after the vice-president who hired her left, Cross-Plummer ended up working for a man she describes as "not really a nice guy." She moved over to work for someone else, but that person, who reported to not-really-nice guy, got themselves fired. That meant Cross-Plummer was without duties. She still had a job at HBO, but nothing to do. "I was going there everyday. They were paying me, but I didn't have a specific gig," Cross- Plummer recalls. "I would just sit at my desk."

Obviously, she was concerned. "Miraculously, this woman who was director of corporate affairs and over advertising for HBO saved me," says Cross-Plummer. "She came over to me one day and she said, 'Look, after the Thanksgiving holiday I want you to come and start working for me.'"

Under her new boss, Cross-Plummer learned about advertising and marketing and got promoted to coordinator. Then, when there was an opening for a listings editor in the media relations department, Cross-Plummer took a test and got the position. For about six months she made sure that TV channels and guides throughout the country had HBO's program schedule, then she was promoted to publicist. "I started working on all the family programs. Anything on the HBO Family Channel, I was responsible for," says Cross-Plummer."

Today, as a senior publicist, Cross-Plummer directs campaigns for "Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam" and all HBO comedy specials. A few years ago, she and a colleague were assigned to cover the acclaimed series "The Wire" (the show's huge cast of 25 regulars requires two publicists), and Cross-Plummer also assists her boss with HBO's mega-hit "The Sopranos."

In an industry where it's not uncommon for publicists to make frequent jumps from one company to another, Cross-Plummer is a bit of an anomaly. She has never left HBO and it's hard to imagine what could lure her away. Cross-Plummer loves her job and her company, and that company love, apparently, is the norm at HBO. "The woman that I work for now is the same woman I interned for," Cross-Plummer points out. "People rarely leave."

Why? Perhaps because life at HBO is not the buttoned-down-clock-punching scene so often found in corporate culture. "Especially in the media relations department that I work for, there's not one person who will look at you and say: 'You know what? It's 10:00 and you were supposed to be here at 9:30.' There's not one person who would say that. There's not one person who will say: 'Keep your lunch hours to an hour,'" Cross-Plummer says. "We are a good group of people. Some of us actually tend to hang out together…They're very supportive of everything…They totally give back to their people."

Cross-Plummer also points to the wide range of people she gets to interact with during her professional life––from comedian Chris Rock to the busboy working at Chris Rock's party––as another big plus. Once again, she says, corporate culture at HBO encourages respect and recognition for people on every level, from the CEO––whom you may spot with his tray in line at the company cafeteria––to the guy cleaning the windows.

As much as she enjoys going to work everyday, Cross-Plummer foresees a time when she'll strike out on her own. "It's not like my 10-year plan is to be vice president of my department," says Cross-Plummer frankly. "A lot of my bosses would have to leave for that to happen. I love HBO so much, but I've learned so much that I think I could do it on my own."

Because she's not yet developed a plan for the future agency, though, and because she certainly is in no rush to leave HBO, Cross-Plummer imagines another decade or more at television's most acclaimed cable network.

Outside of HBO, Cross-Plummer's other love is her husband of seven-and-a-half years. "I just have to be grateful that I have a supportive husband," she admits. "When I say to him 'Oh, honey, it's Wednesday. I'm going to Baltimore on Friday and coming back on Monday.' He's like: 'Okay.'"

The couple travels extensively, lately to the Caribbean, and for the first four years of their marriage, to Europe. Cross-Plummer also plans what she calls "girl trips" with her closest friends. When not traveling and spending time with her spouse, Cross-Plummer treasures her family, which, in addition to her mother, father and sisters, now includes a host of nephews and her stepmother.

Not surprisingly, there are no regrets about not returning to Jamaica.


AAPRC's Mission
The African-American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC) is an assemblage of professionals who provide communication conduits among clients, journalists, media and our communities. We come together as a collective because we recognize the importance of building those same conduits amongst ourselves.

A great deal of what we do is professional development––updating our skills, keeping pace with technology, refining and streamlining processes, providing a forum to tackle the issues that impact our work environment––but we believe our professional lives benefit most from the forging of effective alliances. Connected to one another, we possess the power of a nationwide body of committed, knowledgeable practitioners with an eye on the future.

As we move into the 21st century at lightning speed, mass media and its potent messages occupy an ever-larger part of our daily lives and our collective psyche. The AAPRC is focused on helping our members gain a deeper understanding of media's force and supporting their growth as powerful participants in the global communications network.

AAPRC's Contact
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