Graduate finds success after UCLA

  BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Cristina
Murillo-Walters honed her writing skills while at
UCLA.

By Eugenie Mason
Daily Bruin Contributor

Like many graduating seniors, UCLA alumna Cristina
Murillo-Walters didn’t know what field she wanted to go into.
After graduation, she went home to Orange County and got an entry
level job at an ad agency.

The creativity, the people and the work environment made
advertising a job she loved and the perfect career for her, she
said.

Before finding her passion in advertising and marketing,
Murillo-Walters briefly considered going into television
broadcasting and interned at NBC her senior year ““ before
deciding it wasn’t for her. 

But her change of heart wasn’t a setback, she said,
because she immediately found work that interested her.

After graduating from UCLA in 1985 with an English degree,
Murillo-Walters worked at an ad agency.

Working in a small firm turned out to be a benefit because the
work environment was stimulating, something she said she would have
missed by starting out in a big firm.

“In a small agency, everyone does some of everything, and
I got to really learn the business,” she said.

Murillo-Walters said her English degree allowed her to hone her
writing skills, her most valuable asset, adding that writing well
is more crucial than the design aspect of advertising.

“Writing is such a lost art,” she
said. “I have clients who come to me specifically for
help with writing. Writing creates a reputation, and people
are willing to pay a lot for it.”

After graduating, Murillo-Walters said she realized she needed
marketing skills her English degree hadn’t provided her; as a
result she took marketing courses at UC Irvine.

Her experience paid off, and in 1992 she created her own ad
agency firm, C & M Communique, now in its 10th year of
operation.

Murillo-Walters attributes her success to being fortunate, and
said her drive and commitment ultimately allowed her to attain the
position she holds today.

“I’ve never had a nine-to-five mentality,” she
said. “You can’t have that if you own a
business. It requires that you make sacrifices.”

Though it takes a lot of extra time and energy to own a
business, she said she rarely has a bad day at work.

“My job is never mundane or boring, and I’m
constantly learning,” she said.

Murillo-Walters, who identifies herself as outgoing, said the
highlight of her job is establishing positive relationships with
clients.

Murillo-Walters is still establishing positive relationships at
UCLA.

As vice president of the Alumni Association, chair of the
Scholarship Campaign committee, a member of the UCLA Foundation and
a Chancellor’s Associate, Murillo-Walters considers herself a
committed Bruin for life.

She describes her own four years at UCLA as a “priceless
experience in every way.”