Fashion Marketing Senior Shares Journey from Internship to Career
Jillian Littlefair recently completed her BBA in Fashion Marketing in May 2021 and landed a fantastic job opportunity at Uncomn Projects after a successful internship at the company. Originally from New York, she has made her home in Los Angeles to pursue her passion. Below is Jillian’s account of her career path from internship to her new position, followed by an interview with Roger Sanchez, Founder, and CEO of Uncomn Projects, and a proud Fashion Marketing alumni.
As I approached my last semester at Woodbury, Professor Wendy Bendoni reached out about an internship opportunity in Los Angeles that she felt would be a perfect match. I knew I needed an internship to complete my program, but most importantly, I wanted the experience to build connections and gain hands-on experience working in the industry. The internship was with Uncomn Projects, a branding and marketing agency for luxury real estate. I’ve always been interested in hospitality and the design aspects of real estate and property development, so the opportunity really excited me!
“Through my studies in Fashion Marketing, I began to connect the world of design with marketing, thus seeing my interest in creative industries.”
After reviewing the internship requirements and interviewing with the company, I knew I would enjoy working there and would learn a lot from my co-workers. I also felt a real connection with the company culture, so I was thrilled when I landed the job!
My fashion marketing education enabled me to understand the creative world of design and the analytical work of marketing. This knowledge helped me excel in my daily responsibilities at Uncomn, such as creating consumer insight reports and actionable strategies, collecting data, understanding analytics in social media, researching and analyzing trends, and producing professional marketing plans.
Uncomn takes a consumer-first approach to transforming developments into destinations through digital storytelling. By using a deliberate and creative approach, Uncomn taps into the authenticity of the local community and overlays consumer data and trend forecasting to develop a brand that inspires and is never cookie-cutter.
During my internship, I asked many questions, absorbed it all, and most importantly, learned more than I ever imagined. I recently had the opportunity to work closely with the digital marketing team and was responsible for creating content for three clients, including social media, blogs, email marketing, daily outbound engagement, as well as tracking and presenting monthly social analytics.
As graduation approached, my goal was to land a full-time position before May 2021. On February 19, Roger Sanchez, founder of Uncomn and Woodbury alumni, extended a full-time offer as a content coordinator! I currently manage five luxury properties’ social media channels, create reels, manage the Uncomn TikTok, write blog posts, research marketing/social media trends and points of interest, and engage with local communities and residents.
It has been an amazing journey, and I’m forever grateful for all those who have helped me reach this major milestone!
Jillian Littlefair’s Interview With Roger Sanchez, Managing Partner of Uncomn Projects
How would you describe your team and the work culture you created?
I am lucky to have a team that is agile and dedicated. We look for new hires that have an entrepreneur mindset with a point of view and actively join conversations to find creative solutions. Because of that, our culture is one that inspires innovation, challenges the status quo, and demands curiosity. We give our team members maximum flexibility with their work schedule and tasks but hold everyone to a high level of accountability.
What do you bring to the table with your company?
As the founder and CEO, it is my job to nurture the culture, challenge our team to constantly improve our processes and creative output, and communicate the vision for the future of the company. It’s one thing to pay people to do a job but it is entirely different to get people to buy-in to the mission and remain passionate about work.
What did you see in Jillian that made you want to hire her as an intern and then a full-time employee?
Jillian was selected as an intern because her educational career at Woodbury gave me confidence that she knew how to do research and meet deadlines. Once we started working with her though, we discovered that she has a refined eye for design across digital to physical environments – social media, image research, mood boards, and interior design. She excelled in every task we gave her and often surprised us with how thoughtful her work product was by not just getting a task done but ensuring that a next step was completed, or a follow-up thought was provided if it made sense. The full-time position was offered because we knew that she would flourish in a company poised for growth if given the opportunity. I am excited to watch Jillian grow with Uncomn Projects.
The following video was filmed when Woodbury University’s Fashion Marketing students visited one of Uncomn Projects sites in September 2019.
Last Updated on May 19, 2021.