Annelise Wolfe was named a Joseph Miniotas Communication Scholar for her excellence in writing, presentation skills, participation, and peer interaction both in and out of the classroom. It’s easy to see why.
She’s got a natural openness and an irrepressible joy when she talks about what she loves. And what she is enamored with encompasses quite a bit.
“I can’t pick one thing. I love everything,” she says, talking about where her various interests lie. “It’s really hard for me to find something I don’t love.”
For example, she’s a lifelong artist who is as excited by drawing and painting as she is about songwriting and performing locally with her older sister, Ashlyn Wolfe, who graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2021 and records music on the side. Annelise even designed the cover art for her sister’s 2022 single, “Van Gogh,” and sings harmony on Ashlyn’s most recent ballad, “Half of My Heart.”
While it may have been her sibling’s time on Grounds that led Wolfe to consider UVA for herself, she felt the choice was a natural fit. “I thought it was a great school, and I’m really happy with my decision,” she says.
Unlike many of her McIntire peers, however, she didn’t arrive on Grounds entirely set on pursuing Commerce. “While I was technically pre-Comm and fulfilling all the prereqs,” she recalls, “I was also considering graduating early with a different major.” She credits her parents and an event at McIntire for her decision to stay. Attending events such Days at McIntire, as one offered to prospective women students, introduced her to inspiring professors and students, solidifying her desire to be part of the community. McIntire’s supportive environment and the opportunities the School provides for networking and personal growth resonated with her. “Now that I’ve made it through third year, I’m really grateful I chose McIntire.”
Yet Wolfe wouldn’t completely let go of her earliest talents when she moved to Charlottesville and chose to concentrate in Marketing and IT. To fuel her creative fire, she decided to minor in Studio Art and join the Promotions class at McIntire, where she and her classmates will compete in the next National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC).
She’s also taken that fine art talent and ventured into entrepreneurship, launching her digital design collection on RedBubble in 2021, selling print-on-demand products. The popularity of her designs led her to open an Etsy shop in 2023, where she sells her designs as stickers.
Wolfe’s popular sticker features a cartoon amphibian dressed in a pink sparkly cowboy hat and boots to match, paired with a Taylor Swift lyric.
“I love music, and I also love Taylor Swift–because so does every girl in their 20s,” she admits. “So I thought it would be great to make something silly that Taylor Swift fans would definitely buy.” She reveals a collection of cartoon frogs, posed like mannequins, each dressed in a different outfit and paired with a Taylor Swift lyric. “Here’s my most popular one,” Wolfe says, pointing out the cartoon amphibian dressed in a pink sparkly cowboy hat and boots to match, “It says, ‘You’re a cowboy like me,’ which is one of her lyrics.”
Speaking of business opportunities, she’s embraced the chance to learn at McIntire, particularly valuing the development of the public speaking and presentation skills for which she’s been recognized. Along with all of the other valuable lessons she’s been benefiting from at McIntire, the skills she’s refining and adding to have already helped support her on-the-job learning at her summer internship at Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC, where she worked in organizational transformation and change management consulting.
“A lot of things were unexpected about being in McIntire. I didn’t know the ways that it would push me and the ways that I would grow. But I can say that I have grown a lot,” she says. “So far, it’s very applicable to my internship this summer. I definitely feel like I have a leg up.”
Wolfe’s multifaceted interests have made her a standout student at the Comm School. Her positive demeanor and self-acknowledged expressiveness in class have not gone unnoticed. Professor Marcia Pentz, her Block 2 Management Communication professor, once remarked that her facial reactions served as a barometer for teaching effectiveness. The feedback underscores her impact as a communicator and someone who naturally engages and motivates those around her.
A team player, she found the Integrated Core curriculum at McIntire to be particularly transformative. Working with a corporate sponsor like CarMax and immersive collaboration sessions with others challenged her in new ways. “One day we spent 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. in the same room together, working on one of these projects,” she recounts. The experience honed her teamwork and project management abilities and prepared her for real-world business.
Looking ahead, Wolfe is open to exploring various career paths, aspiring to find a role that allows her to leverage her wide-ranging abilities in industries like management consulting, advertising, or design. “I definitely hope that I’m in a career where I get to use the full range of my creativity and work with inspiring people,” she says, reflecting her desire to integrate her artistic talents with her business acumen.
With opportunity on the horizon, she expressed excitement about continuing to hone her communication skills and remembers the moment she found out she was selected as a Miniotas Scholar.
“When a classmate told me at the end of ICE that I was selected for an award, I actually fell out of my chair,” Wolfe recounts, smiling, “I was truly so honored to be recognized, especially when public speaking has been such a big fear of mine. But I think challenging myself is the best way to grow, and I have grown so much. I am just so grateful for the opportunity to be here.”
