Name: Nicole Heaney
Hometown: Wantagh, New York
Class Year: 2019
Major: Marketing; concentrating in Fashion Media
Extracurricular Activities: Student Marketing Coordinator, Social Media Coordinator, Residence Hall Council, Her Campus Undergraduate Co-Chair, Delight Ministries Leader, Orientation Leader.
Q: What made you choose LIM?
A: I choose to come to LIM for a lot of different reasons. It’s funny because up until my junior year of high school I thought I was going to go to school to be an English professor. I have always loved fashion, makeup and celebrities but I never really thought I could make a career out of any of those. One day my Mom brought it up to me as an idea and we started searching the Internet for schools that dealt with fashion. I didn’t actually visit LIM until April of my senior year, but when I did I fell in love with it. I love how we don’t have a traditional campus. Attending LIM really forces you to learn how to get around Manhattan. I never thought I would know how to take all the different subway lines and actually know where I was going! I also love the idea of completing internships while still being in school. I think it is important for us, as students, to have that hands on experience while we are still in school, so when we graduate we have more knowledge under our belts to help us break into such a competitive industry.
Q: Have you had any cool internship experiences so far?
A: So far I have only completed my retail internship, but I feel like my experience with this isn’t like a lot of other student’s retail internships. When it came time for me to find my retail internship, I was told by a friend that Victoria’s Secret was having a hiring event because they had a new location opening up on Fifth Avenue. I have always loved Victoria’s Secret, so I decided to just go for it. I went and got hired on the spot and I was extremely proud of myself. I started my internship working at Victoria’s Secret in Herald Square. That is where I learned the ropes and got trained as a sales specialist. When it came time to transition to our new store it was all hands on deck. We were all involved in a two week stock out process where we got to help open up the biggest Victoria’s Secret in the world, we’re talking three floors of merchandise and a museum. I got to help with some of the visual merchandising which I am very proud of. It was an insane experience walking into a store that was completely empty and seeing it be built from the ground up. We called it our “palace.” I am so thankful that I got this experience and it is something I will take with me forever.
Q: You are really involved in the school, how do you balance everything?
A: My goal when I came to LIM was to get as involved as I could. I didn’t want to hold back from doing things like I tended to do when I was in High School. Since we have such a small school and a lot of students commute and are extremely busy, I thought getting involved would be one of the best ways to make friends on campus. Sometimes it gets really chaotic and I feel like it’s too much but at the end of the day I am having so much fun doing everything and I have met so many people through this. My key to balancing work, school, being involved and a social life is to stay organized. My planner is my best friend. It’s color-coded and everything. This might seem silly but I know when and where I have to be and what is due at all times. It sounds crazy but it works.
Q: What are you looking to do post graduation?
A: This is such a scary question. I feel like no college student ever wants to be asked this question. As of right now, I am hoping to be working for a PR firm, or doing something in the entertainment industry. There are so many aspects of the business world that I am in love with. I love everything about social media, and not just having a pretty Instagram feed. I think all the analytics of it is so cool. I also love to write and I love cosmetics and would love to do work with that on the side if possible. I am really all over the place and at this point, I am just seeing where life takes me.