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speech. She had postgraduate writing courses in
creative, feature and non-fiction
genres, and had done a brief stint at a Dallas
advertising agency. She felt ready to take
on the world. McMullen started out as an
actress. She showcased in little theater pro-
ductions, then graduated to spokesperson in a
long-running television commercial
series for a local nursing school, and finally
appeared in an American Film Institute
production. Eventually, she grew tired of the
"struggling" part of being a "struggling
actress." When faced with the choice between
waiting tables and a job offer at BMI,
she chose the latter. As assistant to a
department head, she faked her way through
many of her duties. "I had no training in
dictation, but I had been memorizing
scripts for plays. So when my boss dictated
letters, I would pretend to be writing it
down in shorthand, but I would memorize them.
Of course it didn't always work; I
could never remember the important figures he
gave me, but because I was a writer,
his letters were always beautifully composed."
After a year on the job, her boss retired
and McMullen became assistant to the directors
of writer relations, where she learned
about the business of songwriting and
publishing. After three years at BMI, she was
recommended for an assistant's job at Planet
Records, which proved to be short-lived.
Out of work when her boss was let go,
McMullen's business contacts rallied to
help her find a job. One of the interviews they
secured for her was in the publicity
department at RSO Records. On the strength of
her friends' glowing recommenda-
tions, and the college writing portfolio she
brought along, she was hired as assistant
to the vice president of publicity. She learned
her craft publicizing the label's monster
sound track album
Saturday Night Fever and the subsequent career
relaunch of the
Bee Gees. After being promoted to director of
public relations, she found herself out
of work once again, when the label closed in
1979. This time, it was her boss that rec-
ommended her for a job in the music division of
publicists Rogers and Cohen.
Now the account executive over more sedate
corporate and theatrical events, she
was surprised when rock acts like Wham and Rod
Stewart began requesting her ser-
vices. In 1983, she took on her biggest project
to date as publicist for Elton John.
Encouraged by the managers of artists she had
worked for, McMullen went out on
her own in 1985, but when the dust settled, she
was left with Elton John
as her sole client. Once again, a business
contact stepped forward to help. While the
two were planning a strategy over lunch, the
contact introduced her to an attorney
who had worked with Wham. He recommended client
Roy Orbison and set up a
meeting for that afternoon. Borrowing the
contact's office, and quickly making it
appear she had been in business there for
years, McMullen signed her second client,
and landed two more the following
week.
For the next few years, McMullen devoted
herself to re-establishing Orbison's
career; mounting a successful Grammy Award
campaign for Jefferson Starship that
won album and song of the year honors;
publicizing the ongoing career of Elton
John, and taking on special fundraising events
for clients from her days at Rogers and
Cohen. In 1990, McMullen began producing the
fundraising events for the Elton John
AIDS Foundation, the first year in conjunction
with World Team Tennis, and the
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