This week’s Campus Celebrity is a bit different – because she isn’t actually on campus! Alumna Liana Gergely, Her Campus Barnard’s last EIC, graduated this past May with a double major in English and dance. Now, in her fourth month in the “real world,” Liana works for HerCampus Media, the national HerCampus office in Boston, MA!
THE DIFFERENCE: At the national HerCampus Media office, Liana works on the sales and marketing team. She doesn’t write like she did as EIC at Barnard, but instead she works with a ton of clients to promote brands and products to college audiences. HerCampus has 3.5 million readers, and Liana gets to decide the best way to market brands through editorials, events, advertisements, social media and more. Her job is really different every day because there are always so many campaigns going on at once. She also handles a lot of brands – some that Liana is working with now are TRESemmé, bareMinerals, Lord & Taylor, Microsoft and People Style Watch. Liana says that one of the best things about her office is all the HC spirit that everyone has. And because HC is still relatively new (it just turned 5!) the staff is small and there are a lot of bonding opportunities in the office!
LIANA’S HC HISTORY: Liana joined Her Campus Barnard after applying for the open EIC position when she returned to NYC after studying abroad in India. Because HC was so new – only in its second year – Liana invested a lot of time into helping get the online publication off the ground. But because EIC didn’t stop her from writing – one of her favorite article was called “Campus-Inspired Style…Literally.” For this memorable piece, Liana created collages of fashion inspired by different places around campus: an orange and clear modern girly “Diana Center” collage, an eclectic edgy zig-zag “Lerner” collage and a disheveled splatter print and ripped jeans 2AM “Koronets” collage. (We bet she misses those nights!) But the inner EIC stays with her even in the national office, where she gets to interact with EICs on campuses all over the world.
The “Diana Center”
The “Lerner”
LA/NYC/BOSTON PRO: Liana, a Beverly Hills native and obviously schooled in NYC, is now adding Boston to her repertoire of city knowledge. Although she loves the beachy summer feel of her hometown and misses NYC’s theater district, Vine, and everything open 24/7, her recent relocation to Boston has brought its own amazing experiences. She’s only lived there for a short time and even though there are fewer places to get sushi at 3AM, Liana loves how natural and peaceful Boston is. She lives on a tree-lined street right across from a park and works ten minutes from Harvard Square, the center of Cambridge.
LIANA ON YUMMIES: When Liana is home in LA, she has to go to Urth Caffé. Urth is an organic café two blocks from her house and is her favorite place to grab a meal. When she visits Barnard friends in NYC, she always goes back to Vine for a trip down memory lane and for her favorite spicy tuna sandwich. Liana even took her new HC colleagues to Vine when they were in NYC for a conference this summer! But Boston has treats of its own – so far, Liana likes JP Licks’ ice cream and frozen yogurt.
FINAL ADVICE: At the end of the day, Liana says that it’s just important to figure out what you like to do and how you like to spend your time. There’s less free time after graduation, and she thinks that limited time should be spent doing what makes you happy. With only evenings free after work, you need to know your priorities. She’s found happiness in yoga and sculpting classes, classes at the new Soul Cycle in Chestnut Hill, and meditation classes. She also likes to just come home and make dinner and take a long bath and relax. And one other thing that makes her happy…Sephora’s Fresh Tinted Sugar chap sticks in every color!