Women & Work

Dominique McKay, Public Relations in D.C.

Dominique McKay

Public Relations, Former Deputy Communications Director for Senator John Thune

Dominique McKay currently serves as a director at a public relations firm in Washington D.C., developing content, advising on strategic communications efforts, and engaging with the media on behalf of the firm’s clients.

Prior to her current role, Dominique served as the Deputy Communications Director for the Office of the Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Thune on Capitol Hill. She also served as Press Secretary for Sen. Thune during his previous leadership role as the chair of the Senate Republican Conference Committee and as Deputy Press Secretary for the Committee on Education and the Workforce in the House of Representatives.

She is active in her local church as the chair of McLean Presbyterian Church’s women’s ministry board, which works alongside elders and deacons to serve the needs of the church’s congregants.

Education:
Dominique is a graduate of Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Communications, with specializations in journalism and the media.

Growing up, what kind of passions and desires did you have? Have you always been an ambitious person?

I was always passionate about learning and reading. Some of that played into how I ended up in communications. I was always an explorer and interested in different cultures and learning about the world around me. When I was younger I really gave no attention to whether or not I was achieving success. Being a kid, you just are enjoying life.

The structure of American culture and the American education system really pushed me to be more. I ended up being a lot more driven by competition. In the sixth grade, we had a competition as to who could read the most books in our accelerated reader program. And I always wanted to be the number one reader. Competitiveness in American culture definitely contributed to me wanting to be successful and work really hard.

Tell us about how and when you made the connection between your God-given desires and calling to work in communication and politics.

I got into communications because I really enjoyed reading, writing and being able to tell other people’s stories. One of the cool things about communications is being able to take complex ideas and simplify them for the public. I enjoy education and saw communications as a way to help other people be educated about complex topics.

That’s why I went into the field to begin with. But then, once I started working and was on the pathway of my career, there were some changes that I went through personally, where I realized our careers aren’t just for advancing ourselves in our field they also involve the community that we’re building in the workplace.

I started to shift my focus more toward the people. I realized that these people that I was interacting with were who God called me to minister to. I would say probably halfway through my career specifically on Capitol Hill, my perspective shifted and started focusing more on the people around me rather than just my individual success.

When I first came to Capitol Hill, my ambition was to advance in my career since I began as an intern to get a permanent placement and to eventually become a communications director or something similar. Halfway through that journey I ended up in a senator’s personal office and about two years into that job, I ended up getting a position in the communications office for the Republican party in the Senate, known as the Senate Republican Conference.

That office is one of many leadership offices on Capitol Hill. It’s really hard to get into a leadership office. A lot of people work on the Hill and never work in leadership. I had been on the Hill for five years and was able to work there. It was a very rare thing. And so for me to be offered that experience so early on in my communications career it was a great honor, but it was also when I realized my position and my purpose was for something more than simply my own advancement.

I realized it was so unusual for me to get that position that it really could only be God who is placing me in this role with these people who are so influential and with this new community of communicators, legislators and members of Congress- people that I would have never interacted with otherwise. I was being put into a position that was very different and very influential. And I realized that that could only be because I had a purpose that was beyond just advancing myself.

I think up until that point, even though I was very vocal about my faith, my thoughts, and my opinions as issues came up from a Christian perspective, I wasn’t involved in others’ day-to-day lives. I became more outwardly focused with my coworkers and making more time and space for them whether that be throughout the workday or celebrating with them when they have celebratory events.

My position and my purpose was for something more than simply my own advancement.

Especially in politics, there is quite a bit of controversy and division in our culture even amongst Christians. What advice would you give to women on how to stay positive and persevere in the midst of divisiveness and chaotic circumstances?

In politics, it’s always been divisive and chaotic. But in today’s world, there is this new kind of obsession with politics that has never really existed. Before, politics was always something that was kind of for nerdy people who were interested in that. But now, everybody is interested in politics. Everybody wants to know what’s going on to some degree. Everybody has opinions and so everyone feels the intensity of what it is to be political.

As a Christian, one of the things that I did from the start of my career was that even though I was around people who were so passionate about politics, I always identified myself with Christ first. That’s kind of a very basic statement to make, but many people do not actually do that. Many people identify with so many other things, whether it be where you grew up, your economic status, your race, your gender, all of these things even being American.

People identify with various identifiers, which are good identifiers, but all of those things are under your identity in Christ.

You have to press in and prioritize your identity in Christ first and be constantly reminding yourself of that. Because what happens when you don’t is you get into these subcultures that people feel very passionate about. But once that becomes an idol, it takes you off the path that God has for you and corrupts your thinking. You have to be intentional about identifying with Christ first and seek out communities that are identifying with Him first.

Whatever you say and do, you have to first do it with His mission in mind as the primary goal, but also trust that even in those small areas where you make a mistake or misstep, God is still doing His will and the outcome ultimately will be to His glory. This truth takes the pressure off of you to do everything perfectly.

How have your experiences shaped and prepared you for the next steps throughout your life? How has God used your giftedness in communication to encourage other women especially in spaces where they potentially are the only woman in the room or on the receiving end of discrimination?

Throughout my life, God has prepared me in various ways for my career and for the communities that I would be in- whether that be growing up in a military family and having to travel a lot or being regularly put into communities that were unfamiliar.

Eventually, when I was in college, I had jobs that were in leadership positions. All of those small leadership roles prepared me to advance into higher and higher leadership roles. Looking back, I see that God was doing that. All of those things prepared and continue to prepare me for whatever may be in my future.

Anytime life gets a little strange and you’re wondering “why am I having this really weird experience?” It’s typically a preparation for something else that is gonna happen. Not always a negative either- a lot of times people think something bad is going to happen. But there will be many times when God is preparing you for the role that he is going to be using you for in the future. And that’s always a good thing. Knowing that God is preparing you for something is a good thing and something that you should really embrace.

Women who are going into the workplace will face challenges. Women are one of the most discriminated people groups in the world. It can be a challenge to step into areas where it might be a little bit more hostile to you and where you might not be as welcomed.

It’s really important for Christian women and for men to understand that going into a secular workplace, you have a purpose there that is beyond the day-to-day things.

God has placed you in this secular environment for something that He specifically wants to be doing and you- as the Christian female in this case- you are there for a purpose and you have to use your voice. You can be selective about that depending on what’s going on, but you have a mission there and you have to be able to step into that with confidence because that’s what God’s calling you to do.

To women in the workplace: when I’m going into the workplace, ministry, or anything where I’m in a leadership position- my trust has to be in the Lord and knowing that he has a purpose for me there.

I don’t have any control over how people are receiving things that I’m saying or things that I’m doing. I have to trust that God is the one who is interpreting that for them in a way that is going to be for His will.

And that’s true, not just in the workplace, but in ministry and in evangelism too. You know, when you are speaking to people about the Lord, it’s God, that is changing hearts. And so you have to put trust in Him.

Whatever you’re saying and whatever you’re doing, you have to first do it with his mission in mind as the primary goal, but also trust that even in those small areas where you make a mistake or misstep, God is still doing His will and the outcome ultimately will be to His glory. This truth takes the pressure off of you to do everything perfectly.

It's really important for Christian women and for men to understand that going into a secular workplace, you have a purpose there that is beyond the day to day things.

What are some pointers you would give to women in the workplace?

Trust and depend on the Lord where He’s called you. God is going to take you in directions that aren’t necessarily what you imagined. It’s a continual surrendering of yourself to His will and His purpose and His desire.

Make adjustments to your expectations and accept the reality of your situation with the ability to let go of things and release some of the dreams that you have in your mind about what you should be doing and what you think you deserve.

Be honest with God about your disappointments and your expectations. You being honest with the Lord about your desires and about your disappointments is a key step toward releasing those feelings to him and that frees you to then move into the next thing. Or it frees you to remain in the thing that he is calling you to do in this time and in this moment.

There are some relationships that do not reciprocate the same level that I have invested in them. But even in that, it really is about what Christ is doing for them and for me in that relationship through pouring out love to them, regardless of whether or not they ever reciprocate that back.

Growing up in a military family and then working in D.C., you have felt the tensions of life and relationships in a transient city and culture. What are some of those challenges and how have you seen God at work around you despite them? How has God used the relationships that you have developed in challenging times for His glory and your good?

One of the biggest challenges in D.C., or any city, is the fact that so many people move in and out of the city. You’re always having to develop new relationships, meet new people, make new friends.

Once I started investing in other people and stopped focusing solely on my career, it allowed me to see the value in other individuals and in their lives. It actually helped me to develop real and deep relationships with people, whereas before, I missed out on deep friendships. This is probably the case for anybody that comes into a city and starts working because your primary mission is your job and advancing in your career. Once I stopped focusing so much on that, I shifted to focus on developing relationships and friendships – and that meant I had friendships that began to reciprocate the desire for depth.

That type of friendship can be very rare in a city like DC. It’s very rare for people to be focused on others first. You’ll find that there will be people that really desired that type of friendship but never realized it was a thing that they were missing. That realization for them would not have happened without you initiating that relationship. So I think that benefited me and rewarded me greatly.

There are some relationships that do not reciprocate the same level that I have invested in them. But even in that, it really is about what Christ is doing for them and for me in that relationship through pouring out love to them, regardless of whether or not they ever reciprocate that back.

That is a part of the Christian mission and that is what God does for us. Even in His creation of us, he is expressing His love for people, knowing that there will be people that never reciprocate that love back.

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