Charles Williams’ career path is as vast as the adventures he compiles every quarter for Enterprise’s digital consumer magazine: IT Support with the Johnson Space Center, photographer with the South Dakota Department of Tourism, and researcher for MSNBC, to name a few.
Those past experiences created the perfect storm for Charles to thrive in his role as Brand Publicity Content Manager, working on Pursuits with Enterprise, Enterprise’s digital travel magazine.
Charles began his Enterprise career in 2014 editing and posting travel content on the European franchisee websites. When Pursuits with Enterprise was created in 2016, he moved into the role of editor.
True to the name, magazine contributors are always pursuing something – knowledge, a personal passion or respite from the daily routine. Pursuits with Enterprise stories highlight the “why” behind a journey to connect with readers on a deep level.
Content Marketing
Charles’ work falls within an area of the business known as Content Marketing. Along with freelance contributors, he travels to destinations to photograph and write stories that highlight road trips, weekend getaways and travel inspiration. Charles then edits the stories and photos and publishes them to the online travel magazine housed on Enterprise.com.
Hidden gems
When selecting locations to highlight, Charles likes to promote areas that offer fabulous getaways but often fly under the radar, such as Palo Duro Canyon in North Texas or the Bay of Fundy in Canada.
Remote locations aren’t the only hidden gems Charles looks to highlight. He recognizes employees might not be aware that Enterprise publishes an online travel magazine, but he’s out to change that.
“When I travel, I inform branch employees about why I’m visiting,” says Charles. “Overwhelmingly, they are delighted and love the idea of encouraging customers to visit local areas they know and love.”
Personal narratives
While traveling is certainly an exciting aspect of Charles’ job, he finds his purpose in something more meaningful.
“I have an opportunity to positively affect lives through storytelling,” he says. “Being the editor of Pursuits challenges my creativity, and I love the camaraderie and collaboration with my team and the magazine’s contributors. Pursuits wouldn’t be successful without the combined effort.”
Charles has always been an explorer and believes travel has the power to transform lives physically, emotionally and spiritually.
He’s taken dozens of road trips around North America with his family, explored Australia via Greyhound bus for six months and slept on the decks of cargo ships bound for Bora Bora – and those are just a few of the stamps on his passport.
Even so, the most rewarding experiences of traveling and working on Pursuits can’t be measured by distance or time spent exploring.
“Two years after I wrote a story about hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, a reader wrote to me and said my story inspired her to do the same,” says Charles. “She said it was the toughest and most rewarding experience in her life. You can’t buy that kind of job satisfaction.”
