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Utah gymnastics announced new creative content manager

The addition of Misty-Jade Carlson rounds out head coach Tom Farden’s 2019-20 staff.

University of Utah head gymnastics coach Tom Farden announced the addition of Misty-Jade Carlson as the Red Rock’s new creative content manager on July 3, 2019.

Carlson comes to Utah after competing for Iowa on vault and beam for the past four years while also cementing herself as a strong asset for the Hawkeyes off the competition floor. The three-time Big Ten All-Academic team selection and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar graduated from Iowa with two degrees in mass communication and graphic design in 2019.

In her position at Utah, the Portland, Oregon, native will be responsible for developing and creating graphics and videos to promote Utah gymnastics on all of their digital platforms, something she already has a proven track record with based on her academic background.

Along with her creative duties, Carlson will be in charge of athlete development while overseeing academic registration, monitoring study table and mentoring sessions, and tracking academic progress. Farden believes that filling Carlson’s role completes the hiring of his new staff to have a completely balanced program.

Carlson is also charged with increasing social media engagement and followers through the use of innovative content. With Carlson’s appointment, Farden is the first gymnastics head coach in the nation to hire a full-time creative content manager as a sport-specific, non-coaching staff member.

“We believe with the hiring of Misty that our program will continue to be one of the leaders in marketing gymnastics to the masses,” Farden said. “Her ability to produce eye-catching assets coupled with her self-starter motivation is a perfect fit for our program.”

While competing at Iowa, Carlson worked with the Daily Iowan as an illustrator, working with the creative team there to create Snapchat illustrations for the publication. She also worked as a graphic designer at William Easton Design in Iowa City, Iowa, where she designed advertising campaigns for several local businesses.