Full Sail Stories

Full Sail grad CeCe Taylor is a data-driven storyteller who’s found meaning in her marketing career. As the Senior Manager of Marketing in J&J’s learning and development organization, she figures out the most effective ways to spread the word about Johnson & Johnson’s personalized employee talent development programs. Her path to Johnson & Johnson was shaped by strategic pivots, but her commitment to mastering digital marketing tools and finding purpose in her work helped her land where she is today.

CeCe originally had a very different dream for her career. She wanted to be a news anchor and radio personality, so she majored in Mass Communications at Bethune-Cookman University, worked at the campus radio and TV station, and interned at FOX 35 Orlando during her senior year. However, a marketing class that year sparked a newfound passion that altered her career trajectory.

“This was my fifth year in college, I'm on track to go into TV, it's all I've been doing. But [when I took the marketing class], I realized this was what I truly wanted to do. I went to my Mass Comms professors and I was just like, ‘Hey, so good news, bad news. Good news, I found the thing that I want to do for the rest of my life. Bad news, it is not TV or radio.’ And they were all like, ‘CeCe, are you kidding me right now?’ I'm just like, ‘I'm sorry,’” she laughs.

CeCe pursued marketing roles right after she graduated, but landed a media sales role first. Her interests didn’t match up with her job, and after a disappointing first year in sales she shifted to a Promotions Coordinator role with Manheim, a marketplace for used vehicle sales and car auctions.

She grew a lot in her job at Manheim: CeCe started teaching herself new skills, like how to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and how to use Salesforce to send emails to customers. She quickly realized that she needed more foundational knowledge in online marketing, so she signed up for Full Sail’s online Internet Marketing master’s degree (now Digital Marketing).

“I did a lot of research, and the only [digital marketing program] that worked for me at the time was Full Sail’s, because it was one year, I could work a full-time job and get it done. I could do it from home, I didn't have to be in a classroom. It just worked all around,” she says.

After she graduated, CeCe started looking at more advanced digital marketing jobs. She found a position as a CRM (Customer Relations Management) Specialist at Darden, where she zeroed in on her favorite parts of digital marketing.

“Darden is where I found my niche, which is email and CRM,” CeCe says. “I really got to dive deep into just what CRM meant, what email marketing meant, what push marketing meant, how to integrate those things, how to integrate social media, how to work across large teams. I didn't know it then, but it set the foundation for the rest of my career.”

In her next role at Spirit Airlines, she dove deeper into the data side of marketing. She learned how to extract insights from customer data to shape storytelling strategies and personalize marketing messaging for different target audiences. Understanding the intersection of data and storytelling helped prepare her for her next job at Amazon Web Services.

At AWS, CeCe was a Digital Marketing Manager in Training & Certification, a division that offered continuing education to its users.

“Our mission was to provide training and certifications that could change lives,” she explains. “I saw firsthand how people who completed our programs were securing higher-paying jobs and career advancements. Witnessing that impact gave my work deeper meaning.”

That focus on finding meaning in her work led CeCe to her current position as the Senior Manager of Marketing at Johnson & Johnson. In her role, she helps expand employees’ skills for their professional growth. CeCe applies years of marketing expertise, combining creativity with data analytics to optimize engagement. “I believe the best marketers are both analytical and creative,” she says. “While creative instincts are valuable, data often tells a different story. My favorite part of my job is using data to drive smarter marketing decisions that truly resonate.”

CeCe’s smart decisions led her to Johnson & Johnson, but getting hands-on with her education and training made the biggest difference in her career.

“[My advice to up-and-coming digital marketers is] to get hands-on,” she says. “Get your hands dirty with these tools because theoretical knowledge is great, but what makes it invaluable is the real-world experience to back it up.”