For 22 years, Sonja Cantu has tirelessly worked for the City of Fredericksburg. She began her career at Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation, and, through determination and skill, has worked as the City’s first Public Information Officer since 2019.
Beginning her career as a part-time summer employee in 1991, Cantu worked her way up, and finished her time at Parks and Recreation as a Special Events Supervisor. Her work as Public Information Officer is focused on facilitating communication, utilizing platforms such as a newsletter, social media, and other media outlets to get the word out about the happenings of Fredericksburg.
Part of Cantu’s role is focusing on the City of Fredericksburg’s brand. With a background in marketing, from promoting events for Parks and Recreation to running her own marketing firm for a few years, she wanted to put her entire professional effort into building the brand for one entity: FXBG.
Once she accepted the position of Public Information Officer, Cantu wanted to focus on not only the collective City brand, but sub-brands for all of the government departments as well, including Parks and Recreation, Public Works, and the Fredericksburg Visitor Center. She felt that there were aspects of the city that needed to be more consistently highlighted, including the Rappahannock River, tourism efforts, and art galleries.
“Once you get me talking about the city’s brand, it’s really hard to get me to stop talking about it,” Cantu said.
For people who are looking to break into a career in marketing, Cantu recommends that they take any opportunity they can to learn all aspects of the field. She believes that learning to communicate with clients, therefore determining exactly what they intend to communicate with their marketing, is key.
As a woman, having worked her way up from the ground floor of local government, Cantu felt a strong obligation to fight for her voice and career standing. She takes substantial inspiration from her daughter to stand her ground and step up into her own success.
“It’s an exciting time for women I think,” Cantu said, as she has learned from the younger generation, specifically from her daughter, how she, as a woman, is capable of striving to meet her goals.
Cantu said that the Fredericksburg City Council, and the local government, facilitates the community based on the public’s needs. She said that the local government is the body that facilitates the basic needs of local citizens, from picking up trash to economic development. For that reason, Cantu’s work, which is focused on encouraging the public to interact with the city, is an essential factor to making the government run.
“The staff at the City does care,” Cantu said. “That’s why I stayed with the City. They really do care about this community.”
Follow Cantu’s work for the Fredericksburg Government on Facebook.