Name: Joyce Azria
Age: 31 (or 13 if it’s opposite day)
Job Title and Description: Creative Director for BCBGeneration
College/Major: Woops, didn’t go!
Website: www.bcbgeneration.com / www.thegenerationnation.com
Her Campus: What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day?
Joyce Azria: In the fashion world, each day brings different trials and triumphs. There is everything from typical meetings, and answering emails to choosing fabrics or finalizing designs for a new collection. Every second brings something new!
HC: What is the best part of your job?
JA: The best part of my job is doing what I love with people I love! Working with my family and such an amazing team makes the creative process unbelievably fun.
HC: BCBG always does a fabulous job creating youthful and stylish collections that collegiettes love. What’s your secret?
JA: Knowing our Generation girl! Embracing and understanding her free-spirited, youthful DNA is the secret to collections she will love.
HC: What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?
JA: I was a salesgirl at my dad’s store on Rodeo and it was a mess. I was 15 and a customer walked in and criticized a top. I started crying and said, “My dad made that. If you don’t like it, leave.”
HC: What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now?
JA: I was fortunate enough to be raised around the fashion industry, so I [already had] an insider’s perspective that most people never get a chance to see.
HC: Who is one person who changed your professional life for the better?
JA: My dad, Max Azria, because he always tells it like it is. He showed me the ropes and he is always there to walk alongside me in this fashion journey.
HC: What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
JA: 1.The work of today is the result you will see in your tomorrow.
2. Plan for success!
HC: What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
JA: One mistake? Seriously, let’s say I never made one mistake—I made well over one million. What I learned? Don’t make the same mistake twice!
HC: What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
JA: Three things: connection and understanding their relationship to the consumer; length of stay in their past companies; and astrological sign (don’t tell my HR department)!
HC: What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
JA: You can’t just study fashion—WORK , WORK, WORK! Get into the industry at any level and make yourself noticed. Work hard and climb that ladder!