Heather Khuns, an assistant professor of practice in management, brings her 25 years of experience in management and marketing and communications into the classroom.
If one were to walk by Heather Kuhns’s class on an “activity day” in Moravian’s School of Business and Economics, one might see students shouting at each other. But it’s not because of a disagreement. Instead, they’re engaged in a competitive game of Taboo—with a marketing twist—passionately yelling out clues to get their teammates to say the correct word or phrase, such as “affiliate marketing” or “loyalty program.”
As an assistant professor of practice in management, Kuhns cultivates a classroom environment where students can creatively expand and refine their expertise, particularly through their final projects.
“I 110% mean that when I say ‘however you best want to present your material’, they can dress up like the brand, do a song and dance, skit,” says Kuhns. “It’s about creating a space and allowing my students to feel comfortable.”
Kuhns’s 25 years of experience in management and marketing and communications is what helps her create opportunities like these, so when her students graduate, they can think back on the out-of-the-box moments in her class, remember what they learned, and apply it to their own careers.
“I’m trying to help students create a toolbox and provide application-driven-type projects,” she says. “You’re not going to take one class and expect to be an expert, but I’m hoping there’s some kind of connection.”
Leading Impactful Marketing in the Lehigh Valley
Kuhns graduated from Kutztown University with a bachelor’s degree in English and professional writing and immediately entered the creative field. Her career spans the nonprofit and corporate sectors, with extensive experience in the industries of healthcare, higher education, media, and advertising—all in the Lehigh Valley.
She’s been instrumental in driving high-impact marketing initiatives, managing campaigns from concept through execution for key organizations in the area, including RCN, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital, and Lehigh Carbon Community College. Kuhns is able to use the robust relationships and network she developed in the marketing and advertising fields to provide her students with insight into the specific Lehigh Valley market. And by serving on the board of directors and executive board of the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley, she’s able to bring valuable community leadership expertise to her classroom, offering her students yet another opportunity to engage in all facets of marketing.
Over the course of her career, Kuhns also earned her MBA from Moravian University and her DBA in business administration with a concentration in organizational development from Johnson & Wales University.
“Everything [in my DBA program] challenged me to think deeper and to be more critical of my own writing,” Kuhns says. “It helped me grow more as a faculty member, and I put a lot of what I learned directly into my classroom.”
“I believe being an entrepreneur and an educator—there’s no better blend.”
The Reason Behind Becoming a Professor of Practice
Since 2015, Kuhns has owned and operated her own business called zenspire communications, where she specializes in branding, social media, and communication strategy planning for various organizations. Kuhns says this not only helps her stay relevant in the field but also allows her to connect her students to the community and provide them with real-life work for their portfolios, such as conducting research for a local nonprofit’s marketing strategy.
“I believe being an entrepreneur and an educator—there’s no better blend,” Kuhns says.
While storytelling is her greatest passion, Kuhns found teaching to be equally fulfilling when she had the chance to lead a graduate-level marketing strategy course at Cedar Crest College in 2016. From that day on, she knew she was meant to be teaching and giving back to the next generation of marketing communication experts.
From the rich conversations and different perspectives between Kuhns and her students, she discovered that not only were her students learning from her, but she was learning from them.
“I just knew I had more to give to the marketing field, but in a different way,” Kuhns says.
Kuhns has been an assistant professor of practice in management at Moravian University since 2022 and previously served as an adjunct in the department. She teaches marketing, management, leadership, first-year writing, and MBA courses. In her classes, students don’t just learn the general business of marketing or management but gain specific real-world knowledge and hands-on opportunities.
Learning from a marketing plan may offer valuable insights for students, but the experience of developing one for a local nonprofit in the community or another organization brings a whole new level of understanding—and Kuhns provides that connection.