Mayor D.C. Reeves graduated from FSU in 2007 with Bachelor’s degrees in both Communication and Sport Management. He has always had a passion for journalism and started working in news rooms when he was just sixteen years old. When he discovered FSU does not have a journalism school, he chose the closest major he could, Communication. He explained the impact of this decision saying, “The end result of that was being able to learn communication in every sense of the word. I ended up learning things that were beyond just journalism. I thought I’d be in journalism forever, but, as I’ve evolved in my professional career, I’d say the things I learned while studying communication are more rewarding and pay off now more than ever. The ability to communicate transcends one medium so going that direction allowed me to now reap the benefits of the more overarching sense of communication as a mayor.”

Mayor Reeves also shared that he never planned to become mayor. He came to FSU planning to be a journalist and after he graduated, he worked in that field for almost ten years. After that, he worked in a variety of roles including business owner, chief staffer for a community developer, and now mayor of Pensacola. He shared that these things may seem to lack commonality but what connects them is that they require a strong ability to communicate. 

On what led him throughout this journey, he explained, “I’ve really just done what I thought was the next most impactful thing. I didn’t leave Florida State with a grand plan to become mayor one day. It was just more of finding what I’m passionate about, and for me that’s being able to impact people’s lives whether I write about them, hire them, or serve as the mayor. That’s kind of what I’ve become addicted to is being able to wake up and do something different everyday and impact people’s lives.”

Mayor Reeves expanded on his experience as mayor of Pensacola saying, “I tell everyone “This is a get to job, not a have to job.” I get to do this. It’s the city where I’m from, where I was born and raised. Some days are fun and rewarding and some days aren’t so easy, but I never lose sight of what an honor it is and how rewarding it is to get to lead the city where I’m from, where I grew up, and where my eight year old daughter is going to grow up. It really is a great honor for a hometown guy.”