Ciara is a great friend of ours at TQ Branding and a true inspiration. We thought she would be someone great to interview to help the young students out there trying to start their career! She also will begin soon contributing to this blog. She truly is lovely determined young woman and we are so excited to add her to the TQ Branding Blog family! Look below for the interview!!
- Tell us about yourself!
Well, I am a 22 year old senior in college just living out my dreams in hopes of turning them into realities.
- What current university do you attend? Have you been educated at any other universities?
I attend Kent State University in Ohio. I actually went to Clark Atlanta University for my freshman and part of my sophomore year.- What is your major? Is this your first degree?
I am a Fashion Merchandising major with a minor in Human Resources and yes this is my first degree and I’m sure it won’t be my last ☺
- What are your current career goals?
I have two different career paths I could take since I have a major and a minor but one would be a stylist for athletes because there are tons of celebrity stylist out there now and since I love sports why not tie those two together. Another career goal would becoming the Vice President of Human Resources at a fashion company or brand so I can still fulfill my love for fashion.
- What have you done to be proactive about your career?
My first step into finding a love for the business world was a Human Resource internship at a fortune
100 company, Johnson Controls, INC. located in Cleveland, Ohio. I was going into my senior year of high school working 8-5 in the summer. After transferring to Kent State I started to become really involved in the business world and I got offered to participate in a program at Case Western Reserve, The Weatherhead School of Management, This program helped me learn what it meant to earn a MBA and how much diversity is involved. Next, I did a program at The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business that was a 3-day intensive camp, sponsored by KeyBank Foundation. It was a leadership and creativity undergrad symposium that really helped me figure out where I belong as far as a leadership role. Recently, I’ve did a semester in New York City, where I took a full load and did an internship at G-Star RAW showroom with the Public Relations team (by far the BEST experience of my life…amazing!!) I’m constantly working on bettering myself within my career so I choose to go to Paris in 2 weeks. My personal goal is to learn how the International market works and how it’s different from the American market and our mindset. I actually have a blog that was required for one of my classes in NYC that documented our experience and to be honest I first thought “I won’t have time” but I fell in love with blogging and received really good feedback from my peers and my professors. (www.theprevailingeffect.blogspot.com). I haven’t updated much but this trip to France will cause me to start posting everyday!
- What has been the most challenging in your current career? Do you feel it is difficult for someone like yourself to enter the business world?
Honestly, It’s only as difficult as you make it! The only person stopping you from fulfilling your desires and dreams are YOU. The most challenging has to be the transition from the fashion world to the business world. A lot of people think, “Oh, you’re just a fashion major” like we don’t have the useful skills, aptitude, mindsets, and abilities to survive the business world. What most people don’t know is the Fashion Merchandising majors at Kent State ARE the business side of fashion. We are required to take accounting, business management, micro and macroeconomics, all the basic business courses.
- What advice could you give to others following your path?
Follow your heart, seriously! Listen to YOU; first you have to do some soul searching to really and truly figure out what makes YOU happy. I’ve had so many doors shut in my face and told what I could do and what I couldn’t do. Travel, explore, and go out of your comfort zone. Living in Cleveland, Atlanta, and New York has really allowed me to find my potential, expertise and discover the gifts God has given me. I can’t stress this enough NETWORK!! Talk, because a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. I actually keep a notebook of everyone I met and their phone numbers. Lastly, it’s OK to fail. The important thing is: what did you learn from that experience? Every experience or person has a lesson within it.
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