Do you remember when Hillary Clinton was showing off her newly-learned shoulder sweeping move? And do you recall the woman doing the cool move with her in that photo? Well, as obvious as it may be, she’s the one who came up with that idea! Social media expert Karen Civil has gotten acquainted with some big names in entertainment. The ‘brush your shoulder off’ move originated from Jay Z’s popular song “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.” Maybe it was for her contenders in the presidential race.
Karen Civil also added some more ‘21st century wit’ to Hillary’s personality. Civil borrowed some ‘swag sauce’ from hip-hop music producer and Snapchat sensation DJ Khaled. She would ask Hillary, “How’s business going.” And Hillary would humorously respond with “Booming!”
Added to Hillary's Campaign Team
When Civil gave a speech at an occasion focusing on female advocates for political change, she grabbed the attention of an influential person on Hillary’s campaign team. De’Ara Balenger, who was the director of engagement for ‘Team Hillary,’ wanted Civil to give her some feedback on Clinton’s social media existence.
Civil agreed on the ‘pantsuit aficionado’ hashtag, but also admitted that Hillary’s image needed a hint of 'swag'.
She wanted Clinton to have a little bit of fun during her presidential run so she'd win the support of the young voters who were then rooting for Bernie Sanders, a democratic candidate who dropped out of the presidential race and began endorsing Clinton. Balenger then added Civil to Clinton’s campaign team in the fall of 2015 in order to help her send the message that Clinton knows how to loosen up. Civil was the person credited for getting popular R & B artist Usher to make an appearance at a Clinton campaign she put together in Atlanta in October of 2015. The marketing pro got rapper Freeway to talk on the importance of inexpensive health care, being that he had been diagnosed with kidney failure.
Civil was able to get more well-known black music artists and personalities on Hillary’s side.
Experience working with popular companies
Civil is a native of Elizabeth, New Jersey who created a fan site online for the Backstreet Boys and put her college education on hold for an internship at Hot 97, a very popular Hip-Hop radio station. Later on, she took charge of marketing for Beats by Dre. Civil says she enjoys removing people from their comfort zones and tried to keep President Obama’s ability to gain approval from the youth of America in Clinton. She told The New Yorker that Obama makes it seem like issues such as racism don’t exist because of the way he carries himself.
Civil’s time with Hillary ended early during the beginning of 2016. SandraRose.com reported that it was because BuzzFeed dug up some of her social media mistakes, publishing some old tweets from 2009, in which she used the offensive term ‘fag’.