Name: Casey Alexandra Miller
Class Year: 2017
Hometown: Guilford, Connecticut
Major: Masters of Professional Studies in Fashion Marketing
JH : Why did you choose LIM to complete your graduate degree?
CM: I grew up in Connecticut and would come into New York City, or as I call it “the city”, as often as I could. For me, working and living in New York was always the ultimate goal. I’ve dreamed of working in fashion and beauty, and this is where the opportunity is. While I got an amazing undergraduate education at a small liberal arts college in New Hampshire (shout out Keene State), I’m a city girl at heart. After graduating in May of 2015, I interned in public relations at a startup tech company and then found a full-time job working as the Marketing and Events Manager for a restaurant group back in Connecticut. When I decided to go back to school to get my masters, LIM College blew all of the programs out of the water. What drew me in was the structure of the degree program, emphasis of “The Business of Fashion” and of course, it was in New York. I was sold when I attended Open House and listened to a panel of professors talk about the college. All of the professors had unbelievable resumes, and I knew these were the people I wanted to learn from.
JH: You’ve had so many internships this year! Can you talk a little about how landed your previous positions and about your experiences?
CM: Absolutely! When I decided to go back to school, I told myself that I would take every opportunity to try and advance my career. That starts with interning, and this school year I’ve done three so far. My first internship was during the Fall semester at Hearst Magazines as a Beauty Intern in the editorial departments of both Redbook and Woman’s Day Magazine. I actually discovered this internship on Indeed.com and applied with my resume and cover letter. When I received an email that I had an interview, I knew I needed to stand out. I created a binder with my resume, writing samples from my blog and undergrad newspaper, and created three beauty features from scratch that fit the target market for both magazines. When I heard that I got the position, I was ecstatic. People ask me all the time if working at a magazine is like Devil Wear’s Prada, but that wasn’t my experience at all. My supervisors were amazing and they really treated me as a part of their team. I did a little bit of everything from sitting in on meetings and pitching stories and products to responding to reader emails and corresponding with publicists. Of course, maintaining the massive amounts of products in the beauty closet was crucial, but I enjoyed that because I got to know and test out new product samples myself. I honestly didn’t want to leave there and hope to go back to that industry someday because I enjoyed it so much.
Over winter break I had my second internship with luxury womenswear designer Christian Siriano, as a Public Relations Intern. I found this internship at the LIM College Fall Career Fair! The Sales Director of Christian Siriano, Thomas was interviewing students, and we really hit it off during my interview. When I told him I was looking for a winter internship, he gave me his business card and told me to follow up. I followed up with him right away and we set up an interview with the Public Relations Coordinator and LIM Alumni, Catherine Lewis. After meeting with her, she gave me the internship on the spot, and I accepted! I started at the company the week after my internship at Hearst ended, and spent six weeks there. Christian Siriano operates as an all hands on deck company; everyone has a hand in everything. So whether I was running $10,000 worth of pieces in garment bags to shoots through the streets of New York, helping pull for celebrity clients or assisting the sales team with Farfetch orders, I was touching every part of the business side of the brand. Christian was also always in the office, which I loved. I have always been a big fan of him, not only because he designs gorgeous clothing, but also his social actions. He is an advocate for body positivity and equality for all, and I find that very inspiring. I was also given the opportunity to work backstage at his show during February’s NYFW, which was an unbelievable experience.
JH: Let’s talk about your current internship! How did you get your position at ANN INC., and are you enjoying it?
For those who don’t know what ANN INC. is, it is the parent company for the brands Ann Taylor, LOFT and Lou & Grey. I’m currently the Public Relations Intern at Ann Taylor. I actually also found this internship at LIM’s Fall Career Fair! Last semester during my Cause Marketing class, I found myself gravitating towards the company because of their incredible corporate social responsibility initiatives. When I saw their table at the career fair, I made sure to mention to her that I had focused on ANN INC. for a class assignment and actually sent her the paper in my followup email. When I went into the ANN INC. building in Times Square Tower for my interview, I felt like this was a company I would be proud to work for and could fit in. At ANN INC, its all about “the fit”. They want employees to be passionate about their work as much as everything else in their life. 15 minutes after I left my interview, I got an offer email and accepted the same day. I had a gut feeling that I would learn so much from the company, and that has proven true.
One major perk is that my internship is paid. ANN INC believes in investing in and developing talent, something I really admire. I work 20 hours a week with the Public Relations Team at Ann Taylor. I’m loving what I’m doing at Ann Taylor, and similarly to Hearst, they give me a lot of responsibility. One of my responsibilities is to handle requests from magazines for features. An editor will send a request for specific products or a look or theme for the feature. My job is to go into the sample closet and get the specific pieces they ask for, or curate and style looks from our collections based on the theme of the shoot. Another side of sample trafficking is checking in new samples from production and making sure we have at least one item from each current season. I’ve also been trained on important public relations software including Cision, Vocus, and BurrellesLuce to monitor and clip press hits. ANN INC. also makes our time as interns enjoyable. They host classes where we learn about each sector of the company from employees of each brand and hold networking events where we can all get to know each other. Last Monday, we had a pizza & painting party with a designer from LOFT, which was so much fun! It’s an amazing place to work, to answer your question, yes! I’m enjoying it.
CM: You also work for the Graduate Department on-campus and run the Her Campus chapter at LIM. You seem to be so busy! How do you balance it all?
The secret is to never sleep. Just kidding! I’m very busy, but being busy works for me. I know it’s cliche, but I’m the kind of person who thrives in chaos. I get more done when I have more to do. I promised myself I’d make the most out of this year, and I’ve been taking the initiative to make that happen. I work as the Social Media Coordinator for Graduate Studies part time, where I develop strategies targeting current and prospective students, as well as industry officials. Starting the Her Campus Chapter at LIM was a project I spearheaded because I think our school and it’s students are so unique and I want to share their voices and talent. I also love to write, so starting this group was a way for me to develop another one of my passions.
JH: What do you hope to do post grad?
CM: I want what everyone wants, to get hired at a company I love in a position I’m passionate about. I’m interested in both public relations and editorial, and ideally, I want a job that would involve a little bit of both. My absolute dream job would be as a Beauty Editor for a publication such as Cosmopolitan or Seventeen Magazine. I think my experience in creating digital content would be beneficial to the changing landscape of the industry. Readers still want content, they just want it in different ways.I also need to be working for a company that supports women and has social initiatives. That’s very important to me. Which is why if I choose to pursue PR, ANN INC. would be my first choice as an employer.
JH: Do you have any advice for students hoping to break into the industry?
CM: Completing internships within this industry is very important if you want to break into it. I had a lot of transferable previous experience but none of it was in fashion before I attended LIM. Don’t settle for an internship just because it’s offered to you…try and tailor your internships towards the specific parts of the industry you want to work in. LIM College has amazing connections, so there is a lot of opportunity to network and seek out internships. The way I structured my internships was very strategic. The first semester I interned on the editorial side of the magazine industry. I’ve also seen two sides of public relations from the standpoint of a luxury brand such as Christian Siriano, to Ann Taylor, a corporate retailer. PR and editorial are working together constantly. Editors want quality content for their readers, and brands want their products featured. One hand washes the other, and I wanted to experience both sides.
JH: Should we expect to be seeing anything else from you?
I’ve mainly been focusing on school and work, and my blog, From Beginning To Trend, has become more of a side project than a side hustle. I’ve recently been tapped my Cosmopolitan Magazine for their network of social influencers, Cosmo Social Patrol. Cosmo teams up with influencers to develop partnerships with brands. As part of Cosmo Social Patrol, I create branded advertising content for my Instagram. This year, I’m going to be relaunching my blog with consistent content, high-quality photography and hopefully continuing to grow as a social influencer.