Stay the Course
Pink Ribbon Girls’ former marketing director, Kyle White, was the kind of mentor who knew how to leave an impression.
Sophia Markley – a former marketing intern for PRG in 2020 – knows that firsthand after working under Kyle throughout her senior year at Miami East High School in Ohio. Sophia remembers the messy bun Kyle sported most days, and how she never arrived to work without her Starbucks coffee. She remembers Kyle’s blunt personality and the way her boisterous laugh carried through the office.
Most importantly, though, Sophia remembers Kyle’s dedication to her job and to helping Sophia grow in the field of marketing. “Seeing the job firsthand, I just fell more in love with it,” Sophia said. “Kyle always pushed me to do my best. I called her my work mom.”
Kyle passed away one year ago in January of 2021 after a lengthy battle with COVID-19, but her impact on Pink Ribbon Girls and Sophia lives on. Sophia is now studying marketing and integrated strategic communications at the University of Kentucky. She was the first recipient of the Kyle E. White Memorial Scholarship, created in Kyle’s honor and awarded to a Dayton-area student pursuing post-secondary degrees in business or marketing.
On March 1, Pink Ribbon Girls will begin accepting applications for 2022 for the KEW one-time scholarship of $1,500. This year’s theme is “Stay the Course” – a phrase that became a mantra among Kyle’s loved ones as they tried to take her battle one day at a time.
“Stay the course – this is how our PRG family keeps pressing forward,” Pink Ribbon Girls CEO Heather Salazar said. “It is such a fitting phrase for our community. When you are diagnosed with cancer, you don’t immediately become this super-strong warrior. You are numb, barely functioning, not sure what to do next but, somehow, you muster up enough courage to put one foot in front of the other.”
Unisex style Heathered Navy sweatshirt highlights the “Stay the Course” mantra in honor of the late Kyle E White.
Kyle was an integral member of the Pink Ribbon Girls team. She used her creative gifts and caring heart to tell the stories of families that PRG served in a way that touched the hearts of many. She developed bonds with clients and made sure that they did not travel the road of cancer alone.
Some of the words Kyle’s coworkers used to describe her were “caring, creative, hilarious, passionate, tough, comforting, humble” and “a force.”
“My first impression of Kyle was that she scared me,” Sophia said. “She was a very direct person – very to the point. I was more shy, and I didn’t know how to express my feelings or my ideas. I think Kyle really helped me figure out what I truly wanted.”
Kyle was also a wife and a mother of three. When she got sick, her husband David sent regular updates to the PRG team about her status, ending each one with the line, “We must continue to have hope and stay the course.”
With the spirit of that message in mind, those who choose to apply for the scholarship are encouraged to submit a one-page, single-spaced essay describing why they chose to go into the business or marketing field, their career goals and examples of how they display their creative and artistic gifts. The deadline for applications is May 1, and the recipient will be selected by Kyle’s family.
Pink Ribbon Girls is also selling sweatshirts that read “Stay the Course,” with proceeds benefiting the KEW Scholarship.
Last year’s theme was “Love + Laughter” – words that summed up how Kyle lived. Sophia knew she had to apply. After all, Kyle was in large part responsible for shaping Sophia’s passion for marketing as well as her desire to use that skill set to help others the way that Kyle did.
Sophia said she had no trouble coming up with enough material for her essay.
Kyle collected cardinals in honor of her grandmother. The symbol has become part of Kyle's legacy as well.
“That was pretty easy to write because I knew exactly what I wanted to do because of Kyle’s influence,” Sophia said. “It was a no-brainer.”
Sophia was presented the inaugural KEW Scholarship by Kyle’s family in August of 2021 on the last day of her internship at PRG. She was overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude.
"For them all to come in during my last day at PRG and have this whole party for me, I just immediately started bawling," Sophia said. "The care and generosity of the whole family is just amazing. Being able to still be a part of that and live on in Kyle’s legacy is really important to me.”
If you’d like to contribute to Kyle’s scholarship fund, you can do so on our donation page (please note KEW Scholarship in the comment field).
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To purchase the sweatshirt or hat that raises money for the 2022 KEW Scholarship, please visit our store.