Sideline Stories: Brian Lee, Broadreach Public Relations Client Associate

Sideline Stories: Brian Lee, Broadreach Public Relations 

When I tell people in Maine where I’m from, I often get a similar reaction.

“You’re from Miami?” they ask, puzzled. “How’d you end up all the way up here? Most people move from Maine to Florida, not the other way around.”

I soon realized that they were right. There aren’t many former Floridians who call Maine home, save for the snowbirds who split their time between the two to take advantage of northern summers and southern winters.

My move to Maine was sparked by a weekend trip to Acadia in the fall of 2018, during my final semester as a graduate student studying journalism at Boston University. It was my first time visiting the park. The late September sun sparkled off of Jordan Pond; the trees were just starting to show shades of yellow, orange and red; and the cool blue sky didn’t have a single cloud. I had hiked a good amount in my life before then – from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, to the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina – but none surpassed the beauty of Acadia’s rocky coast. That trip was the first time I saw Maine as a place I would love to live.

After graduating that December, I moved to Portland and began my career as a public relations apprentice at WordLab before joining Broadreach Public Relations full-time in October 2019. That’s how I began working with Sheila and the Maine Sports Commission, helping out with social media content and a handful of earned media projects to promote Maine as a four-season sporting destination.

In a little more than two years living here, I’ve gotten a chance to explore almost every corner of the state. I’ve done hundreds of miles of hikes, from Evans Notch near the New Hampshire border in the Western Mountains to the Cutler Coast by the New Brunswick border. I’ve summited Katahdin and strolled along the Harpswell Cliffs. I’ve swam in, and walked on, Moosehead Lake and others nearby. I’ve experienced black fly season at its worst in the summer, and learned the hard way about the importance of micro-spikes in the winter. And, in the meantime, I’ve learned that Maine’s outdoor beauty radiates through every season – as long as you’re willing to look for it.

Half of my time in Maine has been spent during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the cancellation and postponement of countless sporting events. Yet as sports and other in-person events begin to resume safely, I’m looking forward to taking my first shot at running the Beach to Beacon 10K, flying out of the chute at the U.S. National Toboggan Championships and catching my first Sea Dogs game at Hadlock Field. But more than anything, I can’t wait to continue exploring my new home, even though I will always be considered “from away.”