A Journey from Mountains to Palm Trees
What does Florida Gulf Coast University, psychedelic rock star Tommy James and a private college in North Carolina have in common?
They have one person in common and his name is Kyle McCurry. Right now, McCurry is the Director of Media and Public Relations at Florida Gulf Coast University. FGCU’s marketing team and McCurry are the reason why FGCU is mentioned in four to five news stories per day and at least 10 per week.
McCurry’s journey started in the mountains of Weaverville, North Carolina. His family has been in the Carolinas since the 1800’s, specifically Yancey County and the Flat Creek community. He comes from a Presbyterian family. His mother works in the library system and his father, has a “picked himself up by the bootstraps and did what he needed to do,” personality. His father first started out as a fast- food restaurant manager and is now doing big things with a major company.
McCurry is the oldest of three siblings. His little brother works for a bank and his little sister works as a teacher.
McCurry attended North Buncombe High School and graduated in 2003, worked for Best Buy and cut copper cables for am company called Fiber Link. McCurry’s title was Director of Technology, a job that he says paid him very little, despite the fancy title.
McCurry was still enrolled in high school when he was employed at Western Carolina University, designing web pages, doing videography and working at Best Buy. He ended up attending WCU where he had experiences that shaped his career today.
During his undergrad he hosted a political radio show called “Free Speech Carolinas”, where his host name was Tom Spain.
“I didn’t know anything about radio. All I did was talk to the mike. Never ran a board, never done anything like that,” McCurry said.
At Western Carolina he worked for the Western Carolina University radio station, Power 90.5. He was first a programmer and then was promoted to student General Manager. He was also the Executive Director of the Downtown Sylva Association for three months; promoting tourism and encouraging people to do business there.
His next position was Program Director, in New York city with Backyard Broadcasting, a radio broadcasting company.
“I was told by someone that I looked up to that I would never get a commercial program director position right out of college, that it would not happen,” McCurry said. “So, I was dammed and determined to get that job.”
McCurry says moving to New York was “unknown but exciting”. He had never visited the city before.
McCurry worked with Backyard Broadcasting for one year and 11 months. He worked as the Program Director for a classic rock radio station and then an afternoon host for the radio show, WiNGZ FM, 104.9.
“Kind of decided that I was tired of living on a shoestring budget and decided I wanted to go back and finish my master’s degree,” McCurry said.
He made his way back to Western Carolina where he finished his master’s degree in 2011.
McCurry’s next move was to start a radio program called the “Classic Rock Insider.” It was an interview series where he interviewed over 70 major classic rock and roll stars. Stars like Otis Williams, The Temptations and Tommy James and the Shondells.
His interview with Tommy James was one of the turning points in his career.
“After the interview was done, he said you know, you know more about me than anybody your age I’ve ever met,” McCurry said.
Tommy James passed that message along to his manager, who later called McCurry and asked him to send a proposal to start working for them.
“And that’s my first entrance into PR,” McCurry said.
And his first encounter with Rock and Roll publicist, Carol Ross, his mentor and the person who taught him everything.
“She’s worked with Elton John, Paul McCartney and was KISS’s first publicist,” said McCurry.
They first met when McCurry was working for (college radio station name Power 90.5). McCurry called Ross requesting to set-up an interview with Tommy James.
“After talking with him, I agreed to set it up. I was impressed with his knowledge and professional attitude,” Ross said.
The pair kept in touch and eventually Ross asked McCurry to work as her assistant, setting up interviews and the like. She describes McCurry as, diligent, creative and needs to not be confrontational in sticky matters.
“I am impressed with Kyle’s ability to be creative in his approach to media when it seems there is little hope to generate a story,” Ross said.
He worked with Tommy James’s PR team until 2014.
His next client was Underhill Rose, a female band of three, known for blending the music styles of Americana, R&B, country and bluegrass.
McCurry helped Underhill Rose get to #18 on the Americana charts and promoted Tommy James’s autobiography. He then worked for Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp to promote rock and roll contracts.
Stranded in a snowstorm along Route 81 in Hagerstown, Maryland, McCurry made his next move into television. He became the reporter for eight counties in a number 25 market, doing NASCAR stories, reporting from the White House and traveling to 15 states. Iowa, the farthest west, New Hampshire, the farthest north and Miami the farthest south.
McCurry was only with FOX for one year and one month. He knew he did not want to be in the TV field for a long time
“The one thing I didn’t understand was how TV worked,” McCurry said. “I had done everything I could to rearrange my schedule in college to avoid TV classes, I did not care about TV at all. I didn’t think TV was in my plan.”
After leaving the TV world, McCurry went on a cross-country soul-searching road trip. Twice, as a matter of fact. Traveling from North Carolina through Utah, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and New Mexico.
“It was excellent, most fun I’ve probably ever had,” McCurry said. “I loved every second of it.”
After getting back from his road trip, McCurry took a job at Warren Wilson College, as the interim Media Relations Director in June of 2015. He was made permanent later that year. After being at Warren Wilson for two years and taking another road trip, McCurry decided to start looking for a new job.
He applied for Director of Media Relations on higheredjobs.com, interviewed in November of 2017 and then started in January of 2018. He moved to Fort Myers on January 12, 2018 and then started at FGCU on January 16, 2018.
When McCurry worked for Warren Wilson as their PR, it was just him running the show. At FGCU, the marketing team has a variety of people who can do various tasks.
“We were a perfect match as to what FGCU needed and what I needed,” McCurry said.
President of FGCU, Mike Martin, also made McCurry take notice of the school.
“When I read about Martin, my thought was, if a guy who lead LSU (Louisiana State University) , Colorado State University system and New Mexico State and could be retired right now, has decided not to retire, to come run this school,” McCurry said. “There must be something pretty cool there.”
As director of media and public relations for the school, McCurry’s job is to make sure the university is represented positively to the community. The goal for his department is to keep FGCU in the conversation the community cares about.
“So, if that’s water if that’s homelessness if it’s health. If it’s art… education…. we want to make sure that the community is able to take advantage of it because we’re tax funded institution,” McCurry said.
McCurry does not like being a reporter, but he does like working with them. A reporter comes to FGCU to report on a story (that McCurry has pitched to them) or to interview a professor. McCurry is the middleman in that scenario. FGCU is an easy campus to get lost in if you are not familiar with its layout. McCurry helps reporters find their bearings on campus and knows which professor can answer the reporter’s questions.
“If I can make their job a little easier every day,” McCurry said. “It not only benefits them, but it also benefits the university, the university is not necessarily the easiest place in the world to come to, to tell a story.”
McCurry is proud of the work he has done here but says he cannot take all the credit. Calling himself, “a facilitator.”
“What I do doesn’t happen if the faculty and the staff and the community doesn’t support it,” McCurry said. “So, making this place as media friendly as possible. Giving reporters as quick of access to the campus and its expertise as possible. That’s what I think has been or biggest accomplishment.
When asked if there were any failures or days, he was not proud of McCurry is at a loss for words.
“I’m not gonna make it sound like its been roses, but I haven’t had a moment like that,” McCurry said.
According to McCurry, there have been times where he’s asked himself, “Did I go to the right person on this?” But nothing catastrophic. His position is built around being positive, so the chances of mishaps and meltdowns are slim.
“Knock on wood,” McCurry said.
In addition to being Director of Media and Public Relations, McCurry also teaches an IDS class called, “The Media and the Message.”
“I did it because I enjoy letting people know that you don’t have to be a PR person to understand how to work with the press,” McCurry said.
By the time McCurry was 30 he faced a predicament.
“By the time I was 30, I’d done everything that I wanted to do professionally,” said McCurry.
His office is covered in pictures that detail his life’s work. He has photos with legends like Bill Pullman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Alice Cooper. He got to report from the White House and report on NASCAR races.
When asked, if this was what he thought he would be doing when he was younger, McCurry replied with, “absolutely not.”
McCurry’s philosophy for life now and his future is to leave it to God.
“So right now, I’m kind of on this path where I’ve really kind of just live and let God, sort of perspective,” McCurry said. “I’m not saying I don’t have goals, but the goals right now are firmly grounded in FGCU’s future.
His love for FGCU does not extend to Florida’s climate.
“I’m not a fan of Florida. I never wanted to live here,” McCurry said. “It’s not because I don’t like the people and it’s not because of anything other than I hate the heat. I hate it, I hate it so much. Never thought in a million years I would live in Florida.”


