Name: Eve Voci
Year: Senior
Major: Marketing
Minor: Retail Management
Hometown: Grosse Pointe Park, MI
What organization/s are you a part of and what is your role in them?
I am currently a part of VIM Magazine, Corporate Retail Association, Michigan State PINK’s campus team, and College Fashionista. VIM is Michigan State’s entirely student run, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle magazine. We publish one print issue a year which is passed out to MSU students and our 200 VIM members, free of charge. I have been a member of VIM since my freshman year of college, and have worked my way from general member to co-editor in chief. I work very closely with the other co-editor in chief, Alaina Agnello, as well as our assistant, Bryn Feely, to plan all of our meetings with staff members and our general member meetings, where we hear from a wide range of fashion industry professionals. With just under 20 teams that work on producing the print issue, my role as co-EIC is to be aware of what each team is working on at all times and ensure that projects and events are carried out as efficiently as possible. As an EIC, I also attend photoshoots and help bring the vision of the print issue to life.
Since my freshman year, I have also been an active member of CRA, which is the only corporate retail organization on campus. As a general member, I attend meetings to hear from guest speakers and connect with other retail students. During my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to travel with other members to New York City for retail company tours and to attend the National Retail Federation student conference. It was an amazing experience and I recommend anyone interested in retail to join. This past semester, I had the opportunity to work on Michigan State’s PINK campus team. As the team’s “trendsetter” I helped promote PINK products to students on campus and kept them up to date on new product launches through Instagram and tik tok. Our team also hosted product giveaways on their Instagram, and collaborated with Barre Code East Lansing for a work out class!
Outside of MSU I am a member of the networking platform, College Fashionista. I use this platform to connect with other college students interested in fashion and to see if there are any upcoming fashion related conferences or events I could attend. During the summer of 2018, while in New York City for an internship with Shoptiques.com, I was able to attend networking events at the CF Clubhouse with other members. It was such an amazing experience to hear from senior executives at brands like Bumble, and to meet other college aged fashion students!
What is it like being an EIC for VIM Magazine? How would you say the creative process like when working with other students?
Being an editor in chief is first and foremost a huge responsibility! VIM has some of the most creative and talented individuals I have ever met working on our publication. Therefore, being responsible for organizing deadlines, making sure that events and photoshoots are running smoothly, and ensuring that our print file gets sent to our publisher on time is crucial in making sure that our staff’s work is able to shine brightly in the issue. Fortunately, I love VIM, and so do all of its staff members. Our publication is a huge passion project for us and the late nights, endless editing, and constant planning is always worthwhile.
How important do you think it is to have an organization like VIM Magazine at a school like MSU?
I think it is extremely important for an organization like VIM to exist at Michigan State. Unfortunately, there are not many classes at MSU that are tied to fashion. VIM tries to fill that gap by providing MSU students the chance to work on a fashion publication and attend events such as launch parties, fundraising events, and our annual spring fashion show.
Our goal this year was to make VIM a safe space for all creative individuals at MSU. While our organization still has plenty of room to grow, we want all students to know there is a place for them in our organization.
What is one thing you wish you could tell your freshman self?
Looking back, I wish I could have known how valuable time is. I spent a lot of time wishing away college and wanting to graduate early. Now that my time at Michigan State is almost up, I realize that I could have spent my time as a student more wisely. Being a student gives you direct access to other like minded peers, endless help from advisors and career counselors, and plenty of student organizations to join. Now that I have this understanding of time, I wish I could have taken advantage of more of what MSU has to offer and would have gotten at least two more internships under my belt before graduation.
Finally, tell us about your plans after graduation!
After graduation I will be spending a few weeks traveling, if possible, before I move to Boston, Massachusetts to work as an allocation analyst for the TJX companies! I look forward to growing with the company and hopefully someday becoming a TJX buyer.