IQnewswire
Patricia Nelson has built her career around one central theme, empowerment through knowledge. For more than a decade she has moved fluidly between the worlds of marketing, entertainment, politics, and teaching. Along the way she has influenced graduate students, corporate clients, TV audiences, and voters. Now, as co-founder of Hey Victor, she has distilled those experiences into a platform designed to empower candidates at the local level.
Her story illustrates how the art of a teacher and the spirit of an entrepreneur come together to develop a business that makes the complex simple, reduces barriers, and makes success accessible.
Educating the next generation
Nelson’s work as an adjunct professor is a linchpin of her career. She instructed graduate students in the principles of social media strategy for more than six years. Students entered her classrooms with interest but minimal practical experience. They appreciated the role digital platforms played in contemporary communication but lacked exposure in how to use them strategically.
Nelson addressed that challenge by mixing theory and practice. She would present case studies from her own work, instances of how data helped hone messaging for a large brand or how fan engagement was built for a TV franchise. Students appreciated these concrete examples because they weren’t hypothetical. They could see how analytics drove decisions, how creative content was tested and honed, and how strategy changed due to audience behavior.
Instruction forced Nelson to hone her skill at simplifying. She had to explain difficult systems in plain terms without sacrificing subtlety. That skill has transferred to her entrepreneurial endeavors, where usability is everything.
A career became curriculum
What made Nelson a good teacher was the depth of her professional experience. She wasn’t instructing from textbooks only; she was leveraging decades of practice.
There, she had represented home brands Campbell’s, V8, and Pepperidge Farm Milano. She had also worked with campaigns of the New York Jets and Fox Entertainment to promote Glee and American Idol. With each project came lessons in consumer behavior, digital channels, and marriage of data with creativity.
Later, at Bravo, she oversaw social strategy for brands such as Top Chef and Real Housewives. Here, she discovered the art of building long-term interaction with passionate fan bases. These campaigns turned into case studies in loyalty, narrative control, and the value of analytics for staying in touch with culture.
In politics, she used those same abilities for Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign, in her Hey Victor bio, as Creative and Social Media Director and then as Digital Director. Political campaign urgency, where every message counts and every dollar counts, gave her yet more grist for her teaching.
Her students gained from this mix of insights. They weren’t merely learning how platforms functioned; they were learning how strategies failed or succeeded in the real world.
Founding Hey Victor
In 2023, Nelson co-founded Hey Victor with fellow strategist Giovanna Salucci. Together, they aimed to build a platform that reduced barriers for political candidates, particularly those in down-ballot elections.
Hey Victor describes itself as female-founded and queer-led. Its mission statement is explicit: “We’re on a mission to elect more Democrats to office at every level.” The company provides websites that “practically build themselves,” allowing candidates to launch professional digital infrastructure in minutes.
For Nelson, this business is an extension of her educator’s worldview. Just as she had made social media accessible for students, she and her co-founder have democratized campaign technology for candidates. Functions such as fundraising integration, event promotion, and analytics are integrated into the platform, so that users can spend their time engaging with voters instead of struggling with technology.
Teaching by building
Hey Victor not only offers a product. It also offers implicit instruction. By using the site, candidates learn about digital campaigning. They get to observe how analytics mirror voter behavior. They learn how design drives interaction. In this regard, Nelson’s pedagogy persists — just now her students are not graduate students but candidates.
The firm also continues her commitment to equity. In an open letter, Salucci and Nelson promised discounted access to women who are thinking about running for office. For Nelson, this is part of the same mission she brought into the classroom: to empower those who would otherwise not have access.
Entrepreneurial instincts
Though learning informed her methodology, Nelson’s business acumen propelled her into action. She realized that holes in political tech wouldn’t self-fill. The big vendors played to high-priced contests, and the local candidates fell through the cracks. Nelson noticed both the opportunity and the issue.
Starting Hey Victor demanded the same competencies she teaches: knowing an audience, knowing their needs, and bringing solutions to them that speak. But it also demanded risk-taking, resourcefulness, and the capability to perform under pressure. In this regard, her entrepreneurial experience reflected the campaigns she advocates for.
A legacy of empowerment
Patricia Nelson’s simultaneous careers as educator and entrepreneur have established a legacy that extends far beyond her accomplishments. Her students take her teachings into markets all over the globe. Her corporate clients were made better off by her tactics. Campaigns she worked on received exposure through her use of digital media. And now, through Hey Victor, thousands of candidates will receive access to technology that allows them to compete.
Her journey shows that entrepreneurship and teaching are not divergent routes. They are complementary. Teaching sharpened her mind; entrepreneurship provided it size. They collectively chart a career of empowerment.
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