Almost exactly one year ago, the University of Texas at San Antonio announced that the popular brand aimed towards collegiate women, Victoria’s Secret PINK, would debut a line for our school. UTSA, just under 50 years old, is often overlooked as a Division I school simply because we aren’t a Texas “brand name” university like UT Austin or TCU and our presence in our city and the entire state is still growing. Our young football team plays in the Conference USA division (the what?) and we don’t have our Roadrunner apparel sold in every Walmart across the state. All this aside though, we are still #rowdy enough to be one of the 99 schools across the country with a PINK Campus Representative program, and I was fortunate enough to play guinea pig with my co-rep, Michelle, as the program launched on campus this past fall.
Being the UTSA PINK Rep, however, is much more than getting freebies and posting great Instagram pictures. The perks are dually noted by everyone: free PINK bras, online surveys about top-secret PINK products, planning fun events on campus, hosting giveaways, running multiple high-traffic social media pages, and creating content for a company adored and worn by millions. I can assure you though that the behind-the-scenes are not as glamorous as what everyone else sees. My roommates have taken note as I’ve spent countless nights staying up and planning events, running off to meetings with our UTSA PINK Street Team, or lamenting about people’s rude comments on social media. Although being a rep is extremely rewarding and fun, it’s no joke. You shouldn’t even consider applying if you don’t have thick skin, time management skills, passion for the brand, and aren’t an extroverted leader-type. Here’s a list of things to know about being the PINK Rep if you were ever interested in applying!
1. You have obligations to the company.Getting freebies is like Christmas, but you can’t assume you will just get boxes of free merch at your doorstep and do with them what you please. You will be sent products and apparel to review and answer online surveys about, and to giveaway. You must also create Powerpoints after big events showing how you utilized social media, what the campus’ reaction was, etc.
2. There’s always a survey.No seriously. Every week we take multiple surveys about anything, from what’s trending on campus to ranking pictures of possible future apparel. I love that the company values our opinion and we get to represent almost 30,000 students at UTSA… I do not love when I wait to take them until the last minute and they’re all due at midnight on a Friday and I’ve got to prolong my pregame plans until I’m done.
3. Suddenly everyone wants to be your friend.When we won the PINK Campus Showdown, I must have had 20+ texts from people I barely talked to about how to get VIP tickets. Literally a friend of a friend would approach me as if they knew me and beg me to tell them who the artist would be at the PINK Game On Bash. *Fun fact: we never knew until right before we were allowed to tell you!*
4. People on the Internet suck.Between all of our social media, we have over 13,000 followers so our phones are always blowing up. If we don’t reply to someone ASAP they’ve been known to email us and complain. People will even blame something being out of stock on us. But just like in the service industry, the customer is never wrong. We’ve just learned to handle it and smile because taking the high road and maintaining a classy on-brand attitude is what best represents the company, and you!
5. People in person suck.It’s easy for people to sit behind a screen and be rude, but I’ve learned some people have no problem being disrespectful in person either. You have to understand you won’t please everyone and it’s not your fault if someone walks away unhappy just because they didn’t win a giveaway. Focus on executing your job well and making the majority happy and you won’t even notice the negative people.
6. You have to be creative. I love that we get to make our own posts! We repost the VS PINK official accounts a lot, but create original content too that features the amazing, diverse women of UTSA. Producing Snapchat stories is also really fun and we get inspiration from our PINK Street Team, which is comprised of eight amazing, hardworking girls who applied and were chosen by Michelle and I to assist in hosting all the events and brainstorming social media projects.
If you are passionate about the brand and able to manage your time wisely, being a PINK Rep is for you! Start your application process here.
Follow @utsapink on Twitter, Insta, Facebook, and Snapchat for exclusive giveaways and updates on all the latest apparel and events!
Best of luck, ladies! PINK XO.