Andreina Martinez grew up in Mexico City, fell in love with the idea of human connection on a Disney World ride, and never looked back. In this #IChoseIC story, she shares how a childhood fascination with communication led her to a career championing internal comms.
When I thought of "communications" growing up, I thought of a variety of different things: the radio, languages, and Disney World's Spaceship Earth.
I was born and raised in Mexico City, but lived in Florida for a couple of months before starting primary school. As a Florida resident, my family could visit Disney World at discounted prices, which, for a five-year-old, was glorious. While I've always been a thrill-seeker, the ride that kept pulling me back was Spaceship Earth. That slow-moving journey tells the story of humanity through the lens of language and communication, showing how advancements in technology and comms have shaped the future, one step at a time.
Communications, and its massive potential, have always stayed with me. It was there when I first started learning English to connect with the world around me. It guided me when choosing which university to attend. And it was front and centre when I decided to study my undergraduate degree in Communications and Digital Media.
What I never gave much thought to, though, was business communications, neither external nor internal comms. Even within my degree, these topics were barely touched upon. We discussed branding, leadership styles, audiences… but not what internal or external comms actually do, or why they're vital to organisations. It took my first full-time job to realise not only that they exist, but that they are more necessary than most people ever appreciate.
That realisation changed everything. Internal comms is the conduit that drives organisations forward, built on clear, two-way communication, engaged colleagues, and genuine connection across the board. My focus has been to connect, understand, and help create workplaces where employees feel seen, heard, valued, and inspired.
As I navigated corporate comms, working with internal and external stakeholders, Executive Leadership Teams, and senior management, one truth became clear: most people don't truly understand what internal communication does. External comms, like our sister professions in marketing and PR, tend to be more visible in their outputs and easier to measure. Internal comms, by contrast, is often treated as an afterthought; a mysterious set of rituals known only to its practitioners.
But it isn't a mystical art. Internal comms is a profession that blends data, high-level strategy, and stakeholder management with empathy, emotional intelligence, and creativity. It means looking beyond what people want to understand what they need. It means prioritising audiences, storytelling, messaging, and channels, and making sure everything and everyone is aligned. It is, at once, highly strategic and deeply human.
As we continue to advocate for the importance of IC and IC professionals, it feels more vital than ever to speak up, to educate others on what we do, the impact we have, and how they can engage with and even enter our profession.
After all, it is the development of communications and the advancement of technology that have brought us to where we are today, and it is people, working together with purpose and clarity, who will take us further. That is what drew a five-year-old in a slow-moving ride to fall in love with the idea of human connection. And it is exactly what keeps me choosing internal comms, every single day.
Bio
Andreina Martínez (she/her) is an award-winning Internal Communications and Employee Engagement Leader with 9+ years of experience advising leadership, developing Internal Communication strategies and plans, driving employee engagement and experience, and managing teams and channels. With expertise in corporate communication, branding, visual storytelling, and digital media, she thrives on crafting immersive and impactful strategies that resonate with diverse audiences across various platforms. Proudly Mexican, she is currently living in the UK.
This blog is part of our #IChoseIC Series. The #IChoseIC Campaign aims to raise awareness of internal communication as a career pathway and shift the narrative from 'I fell into IC' to 'I chose IC'.
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