Merry Michael Smith, director of media at Birmingham-based Big Communications, has been recognized as one of the top women in her profession by Ragan Communications.

Smith was named to Ragan’s 2022 Top Women in Communications Awards List in the Mentor category, which is an annual national program that honors female communications professionals for their excellence and career achievements.

According to a release, Smith’s leadership in establishing and overseeing Big’s mentorship program landed her a spot on the list.

Big Growth, the company’s cross-departmental mentorship program, is currently in its fourth cycle of operation.

Smith was selected from a large pool of communications professionals and was recognized for her accomplishments in a special write-up on Ragan’s internationally-read news websites.

In a statement celebrating Smith’s recognition, Big CEO and founder John Montgomery praised the media director for her dedication to the company’s success.

“Merry Michael not only shows leadership daily for the media and analytics team, but she also shows her commitment to the entire agency through Big Growth,” stated Montgomery. “We are proud of her well-deserved, nationally recognized accomplishment.”

Big Growth is designed to cultivate one-to-one mentor relationships among staff members that may not interact on a daily basis, according to the company.

During the program’s pairing stage, staff members are placed with a mentor/mentee based on responses to a personality survey. Once mentors and mentees are paired, they are asked to meet once a month to learn more about one another and encourage personal growth and professional development.

To foster meaningful discourse, Smith led alignment with Big’s creative team to create conversation cards that ensure dialogue is impactful to both mentor and mentee participants.