Speaker 1: Congratulations, you've been accepted into the inaugural class of Therapy
Speaker 1: for Black Gross University. Whether packing for a new year
Speaker 1: on campus, thinking through your gap year and rolling in
Speaker 1: a community college, or grabbing your skills for graduation, TPGU
Speaker 1: is here to help you thrive at this stage of
Speaker 1: your life and beyond.
Speaker 2: Hi. I'm Soria Taylor and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
Speaker 2: We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1: Your professors and older mentors have probably nagged you at
Speaker 1: least once about creating a LinkedIn profile. And while it
Speaker 1: may be easy to roll your eyes at this request,
Speaker 1: when utilized correctly, professional platforms like LinkedIn can be your
Speaker 1: gateway into securing your next internship, job opportunity. Joining me
Speaker 1: today to discuss how she's leveraged online platforms for career
Speaker 1: success is a photographer and full time student, Denise Stephanie Hewitt.
Speaker 1: Since her debut magazine cover for Marie Claire at seventeen,
Speaker 1: Denise's work has grace, folk, hype, the magazine, and more.
Speaker 1: Denise was dubbed the NYU student digging class to shoot
Speaker 1: the met Gala by Cultured magazine. In our discussion today,
Speaker 1: Denise and I explained what things should and should not
Speaker 1: be on your LinkedIn, how to strike a balance between
Speaker 1: personal identity and professionalism, and advice for impressing your employers
Speaker 1: in an internship.
Speaker 3: Here's our conversation.
Speaker 1: Thank you for talking with me today. I'm really excited
Speaker 1: about our conversation. I personally need this advice that you're
Speaker 1: about to give and all these gyms you're about to
Speaker 1: tell us, And I know that our community is going.
Speaker 3: To be really excited to hear this as well.
Speaker 1: So to start off, since you were a teen, you
Speaker 1: lived at Hannah, Montana double life as a photographer and
Speaker 1: a full time student. Looking back, what do you think
Speaker 1: gave you the confidence to know you could succeed at both.
Speaker 4: I just had a hunger for it. For me, it
Speaker 4: was never a question of could it work, but how
Speaker 4: can I make it work. I'd see these big opportunities
Speaker 4: for myself and just think, am I really going to
Speaker 4: pass this up just because of the schedule change or
Speaker 4: just because I have some homework assignments that I need to do.
Speaker 4: So I just always just had that confidence and that
Speaker 4: hunger for it. For example, when I was looking at
Speaker 4: my first photography gig, I thought, Okay, if I take
Speaker 4: this job, it's from four to six, and then I
Speaker 4: just need to leave my our class fifteen minutes early
Speaker 4: just to get.
Speaker 5: Their own time.
Speaker 4: I can do my homework as soon as I get
Speaker 4: home right after the commute, and then I just make
Speaker 4: it happen. So I just knew that there are things
Speaker 4: that are flexible within my schedule that I can just rearrange.
Speaker 4: Play tetrist with a bit, just to make things happen
Speaker 4: and go after things because there are such opportunities that
Speaker 4: really can push forward your entire career, which is where
Speaker 4: I'm at right now.
Speaker 5: So I had to do it. And also I have
Speaker 5: no choice.
Speaker 4: I'm a perfectionist too, so you know, whatever homework needed
Speaker 4: to get done was going to get done somehow. And
Speaker 4: it's also too because I was on scholarship, so I
Speaker 4: knew that to stay.
Speaker 5: In good academic standing, I needed that. And also just
Speaker 5: me with my.
Speaker 4: High standards again perfectionism, I was not letting myself see
Speaker 4: a logpa, So I was gonna.
Speaker 5: Make it work no matter what.
Speaker 4: My parents, I say, definitely had a hand in just
Speaker 4: encouraging me to be hungry and wanting to try everything
Speaker 4: like they had me doing gymnastics, tennis, soccer, like all
Speaker 4: the sports.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: I just tried everything when I was younger, So that
Speaker 4: hungered and desire to just see where things go has
Speaker 4: always been a part of my upbringing. So yeah, I
Speaker 4: didn't know that I was getting into what would be
Speaker 4: an entire photography career when I started, but I just
Speaker 4: knew that it was something I was interested in. And
Speaker 4: I guess my overall thing is that I only know
Speaker 4: how to put my all into things.
Speaker 5: It's all or nothing.
Speaker 3: For me right now.
Speaker 1: I completely relate to the perfectionism, all or nothing mindset
Speaker 1: and just the grind mentality, and that takes a lot
Speaker 1: of balance and a lot of honesty with yourself of
Speaker 1: what you can handle. So I definitely relate to that.
Speaker 1: Are there any photographers or media girlies that you look
Speaker 1: up to?
Speaker 5: Okay, and I had Gold not a photographer, but she's
Speaker 5: a PR girly. I love her. Her story itself.
Speaker 4: Is amazing because she started off on Broadway and then
Speaker 4: did this transition into PR and it's working with all
Speaker 4: of the dope black creative brands that I personally love.
Speaker 4: So she taught TIER love her photographer. I'd say Sophia Wilson.
Speaker 4: She's also was in my department at a point as
Speaker 4: well at MYU Adrian Raquel. Her colors are amazing in
Speaker 4: her photos and also just friends around me. They keep
Speaker 4: me grounded and excite me to continue working in the
Speaker 4: industry because I know that when we get older, we
Speaker 4: are going to be the ones that we all work with,
Speaker 4: So it's just going to be like working with friends
Speaker 4: and people you came up with.
Speaker 1: So right, and how did growing up in New York
Speaker 1: City shape what you thought was possible for your career.
Speaker 5: I was younger, I.
Speaker 4: Don't think I truly understood how big the city was,
Speaker 4: But as I grew in high school, I think I
Speaker 4: came to understand the mentality. There's this innate, go get
Speaker 4: her mentality where every move is powerful and also purposeful
Speaker 4: and intentional. So I think there's a self awareness about
Speaker 4: that that teaches you to be very, very decisive and
Speaker 4: just like go So between my parents and also the city,
Speaker 4: I think I definitely.
Speaker 5: Rubbed off on me in terms of how I carry myself.
Speaker 4: And I think it was really when I started to
Speaker 4: go to the gallery openings at my job, and that's
Speaker 4: where I really got to see how big the industry is,
Speaker 4: and also the different sectors and what people do. And
Speaker 4: then's just seeing around me the creatives that would put
Speaker 4: on shows and seeing other black women photographers and just
Speaker 4: all the creatives convening in one space. I understood just
Speaker 4: how much of the industry is rooted here and how
Speaker 4: expansive also the city is in terms of cross disciplines.
Speaker 4: So I didn't get it at first when I was
Speaker 4: coming up, but once I got into the space, that's
Speaker 4: when you see things really and the kind of world's
Speaker 4: colliding and combining.
Speaker 1: Yeah, do you think you have to live in New
Speaker 1: York City or another major city to have a creative career.
Speaker 5: No, it makes it easier though.
Speaker 4: One thing that I love about the city is that
Speaker 4: it feels like here you bump into people so much
Speaker 4: more often, and so things are convenient to get to,
Speaker 4: events end up in similar places, and just there's the
Speaker 4: balance that you can have where you can go to
Speaker 4: the cafe here, take a meeting, and then you can
Speaker 4: go to locksdown in the galleries right there. So I
Speaker 4: think it definitely has plus sides to it, but it's
Speaker 4: not necessarily needed. A lot of creatives have come from
Speaker 4: areas that may not have such expansive art scenes but
Speaker 4: have come to be some of our favorite artists.
Speaker 5: So I think there's definitely.
Speaker 4: The ease of it being in New York, but I
Speaker 4: don't think it's necessary. There's always a creative need, whether
Speaker 4: that's photos or videos for other people that want to
Speaker 4: capture memories or capture events. So it just depends on
Speaker 4: what you're looking for and what your niches.
Speaker 1: I'd say, yeah, it reminds me of this concept that
Speaker 1: like the major cities like New York City, Chicago are
Speaker 1: similar to a college campus. Everything is walkable. You have
Speaker 1: your cafe, you have your library, you have everything you
Speaker 1: need in walkable distance, and that increases people's likelihood to
Speaker 1: connect and to learn more people and to experience more things.
Speaker 1: So it definitely reminds me of this new topic that's
Speaker 1: popping up around comparing colleges to these major cities. When
Speaker 1: choosing the college you wanted to attend, how important was
Speaker 1: selecting a school that nurtured slash, would allow you to
Speaker 1: pursue your creative passions and connect with the city.
Speaker 5: Freely, absolutely top of mind.
Speaker 4: I pretty much only applied to big city schools, and
Speaker 4: that was for a few reasons. One, because I knew
Speaker 4: that I wanted to still pursue photography or being in
Speaker 4: a creative field to some degree. So whether that was
Speaker 4: going to be my minor or continue to do freelance
Speaker 4: and seeing what was out there, I needed it to
Speaker 4: be in another big city like that, or I really
Speaker 4: just honestly, let me be so real, I wanted to
Speaker 4: stay in New York because my network is here and
Speaker 4: I really wanted to continue to build that, especially because
Speaker 4: I was starting in high school. I had only been
Speaker 4: doing it for three years, and I was starting to
Speaker 4: see growth that I wanted to make sure that I
Speaker 4: followed up on.
Speaker 5: So a lot of the schools I applied to were just
Speaker 5: in New York.
Speaker 4: Secondly, I'm just a city girl, like I can't. I
Speaker 4: can't do suburbs, even though where I'm at it's close
Speaker 4: to where you can get like that busy avenue, but
Speaker 4: still you can have that kind of quieter area of
Speaker 4: the city.
Speaker 5: I need that convenience. My Bodega's not down.
Speaker 4: The road, like that's a problem, that's an issue, and
Speaker 4: so yeah, I just had that top of mine.
Speaker 5: Honestly, with locations, I only applied to New York schools
Speaker 5: in LA.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that was really critical part of it because
Speaker 4: no matter if my major was going to be photography,
Speaker 4: which and YU.
Speaker 5: Was the only place I applied to a.
Speaker 4: Tonal major, or it was going to be like business
Speaker 4: or marketing or communications, I needed it to be in
Speaker 4: an area that would nurture that and also nurtured my
Speaker 4: need to walk everywhere record speed.
Speaker 3: So yeah, gotcha. I'm curious.
Speaker 1: Tell me about a time when you had a photography
Speaker 1: gig interfer take precedent over school. How did you approach
Speaker 1: balancing the demands of college with your career pursuits.
Speaker 4: So many times, so so many times. Last semester especially,
Speaker 4: I was working on a global campaign. I still can't
Speaker 4: say what it is, so look out for that, but
Speaker 4: it was a global campaign. I dreamed of working with
Speaker 4: this brand. When I tell you, you can find it in
Speaker 4: interviews like I've been talking about it for a minute.
Speaker 4: And when I tell you I worked on that project
Speaker 4: every single day. It was giving full time job, honestly,
Speaker 4: tight turnaround meetings almost every day, casting location scale like
Speaker 4: the whole nine yard.
Speaker 5: I'll say probably like.
Speaker 4: A quarter of the meetings were taking place while I
Speaker 4: was supposed to be doing something else or while I
Speaker 4: was doing something else. I literally have a video of me.
Speaker 4: I'm an arian campus. I literally have a video of
Speaker 4: me doing a pitch update meeting while I was logging
Speaker 4: packages for my residents and like logging them away. It
Speaker 4: was it was crazy, it was demanding. But I'm so
Speaker 4: excited for us to come out.
Speaker 5: And I know it's going to be good. I've seen the.
Speaker 4: Final photos and we're like talking about inslation and all that,
Speaker 4: so it's going to be great.
Speaker 5: But it's a daily struggle.
Speaker 4: So whether that was like freshman year, me having to
Speaker 4: be on class on zoom, it was so much easier
Speaker 4: than and then doing photo shoot or telling my professor, Hey,
Speaker 4: like I'm going to be missing class because I have
Speaker 4: to shoot the mecala really quick. Sorry about that. I'll
Speaker 4: do my assignment later. I'll get it to that, I promise.
Speaker 4: Like It's That's been my entire career, and so it's
Speaker 4: bittersweet that I'm coming to the end of my college career.
Speaker 4: This sir that double life is not easy, but it
Speaker 4: can be done.
Speaker 3: That's so real.
Speaker 1: That is also real when I think of balancing a
Speaker 1: thriving career in school. I also think about the need
Speaker 1: for rest and unplugging. So what does that look like
Speaker 1: for you?
Speaker 5: It's something I'm still learning what I actually appreciate.
Speaker 4: I think for me, it typically starts with the topicals imask.
Speaker 5: I won't even lie.
Speaker 4: It's the smallest thing, but it works like it just
Speaker 4: does wonders. I don't know, but yeah, so topicos I'm
Speaker 4: ask even if I don't have the full time to
Speaker 4: do it, like or really take the time to not
Speaker 4: do anything, throw one of those on. I don't know,
Speaker 4: like healing powers. But I think what else too is
Speaker 4: I have been heavy into music forever. It's a critical
Speaker 4: part of my upbringing for sure too, So I think
Speaker 4: a lot of my time is also spent just building
Speaker 4: playlists out and organizing it by transition in and like
Speaker 4: by vibe and curating the entire thing that is my
Speaker 4: happy place. I could do that for hours. I often
Speaker 4: do it for hours and lease track of time. And
Speaker 4: then also reading. I'm getting back into reading. I did
Speaker 4: this past year over the summer. I started off with
Speaker 4: this book Homebodies at timing to in curse and she
Speaker 4: she can write her ass off. I don't know if
Speaker 4: it's supposed to not swear she's so good at what
Speaker 4: she does, and that was a really good introduction back
Speaker 4: into reading. I think the power of reading for me
Speaker 4: is that I can slow my mind and train myself
Speaker 4: to slow my mind, especially because I'm running around doing
Speaker 4: all the things all at once. Being able to take
Speaker 4: my time and like read words on a page and
Speaker 4: also like have something tactile that I'm like interacting with
Speaker 4: as they go along. I think it's almost a meditative
Speaker 4: process for me. So yeah, I've enjoyed reading for sure.
Speaker 1: I relate to all three mine. I'm a topical, I'm
Speaker 1: ass girl, but I'm also a trader. Joe's Lemon Grass
Speaker 1: Body Oil Girl put it.
Speaker 5: On in the mornings.
Speaker 1: It's an amazing set and it just wakes me up
Speaker 1: and it gets me going. But I definitely relate to
Speaker 1: making playlists for hours on end and also picking reading
Speaker 1: back up. I think in college is so hard to
Speaker 1: like read for yourself, and so a mission of mine
Speaker 1: last year is similar to you, like in the summertime,
Speaker 1: it's too slow my mind down, pick up a book
Speaker 1: and read some words that aren't on your phone or
Speaker 1: on TikTok or on Instagram.
Speaker 3: So I definitely relate to all of that.
Speaker 4: I'm also going to expose myself, no shame. I'm a
Speaker 4: cartoon girl. So it just feeds my inner child. I'm sorry,
Speaker 4: I'm exposed myself, but I love the brad To animated
Speaker 4: TV shows period, the TV episodes of Brats.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry. That is like it's iconic, and that just
Speaker 5: it feeds my.
Speaker 4: Inner child, It really does, and it warms my younger
Speaker 4: self that watch those four girls navigate friendship, building a
Speaker 4: cool mad magazine, travel the world.
Speaker 5: That was my dream and funny enough. So what am
Speaker 5: I doing now?
Speaker 4: I'm a media girl doing similar things and finding my
Speaker 4: friends in that space. So yeah, no, the Brats girls like, yeah.
Speaker 5: They were girls.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were those girls period.
Speaker 2: Hi. I'm sorry, Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
Speaker 2: We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1: So let's get into the moment that we've been waiting for.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about LinkedIn. So can you give us a
Speaker 1: rundown of the platform, Like we're five year olds? What
Speaker 1: is LinkedIn?
Speaker 4: I like to think of LinkedIn as your receipt when
Speaker 4: you get to that door, you show them. Listen, these
Speaker 4: are all the things that I've done, and I deserve
Speaker 4: to be here or to leave the door. Butnkedin is
Speaker 4: so easy, I think, especially in the amount of features
Speaker 4: on the platform, to just keep that record up to date.
Speaker 4: It's so important to remember to check off and also
Speaker 4: update that because this is like your record of everything
Speaker 4: you've done, and it's also public too. I honestly use
Speaker 4: LinkedIn like it's a social media like are you with
Speaker 4: somebody else?
Speaker 5: But it ritruly is. So it's such a useful tool.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that breakdown, and I would love to
Speaker 1: hear thoughts on how LinkedIn help you get to where
Speaker 1: you are now before.
Speaker 4: I even get to the positions that I landed. LinkedIn
Speaker 4: just simply as a research tool is so critical, I
Speaker 4: feel like, especially going into creative fields where the industry
Speaker 4: is so mystifying and it's just it's a mystery about
Speaker 4: the different jobs and roles and how you can even
Speaker 4: be involved. LinkedIn showed me what those roles look like,
Speaker 4: not all of them, but it definitely showed me so
Speaker 4: many different sectors and parts to these large brands that
Speaker 4: I love so much. Because they would post their jobs
Speaker 4: on there, it would show me the descriptions, it'd show
Speaker 4: me how much they're being paid to do these things
Speaker 4: hybrid remote and also the amount of people within the
Speaker 4: teams as well, so you can see what aspect of
Speaker 4: the creative process you want to be a part of
Speaker 4: and then how far it can take you in each
Speaker 4: particular place.
Speaker 5: So I think remembering that LinkedIn.
Speaker 4: Can be your Google for jobs is perfect and I
Speaker 4: think in all ways, whether that's for pay or what
Speaker 4: jobs even exist before you start.
Speaker 5: Applying, I think that's super important.
Speaker 4: But beyond that, in terms of actually landing things, it
Speaker 4: again is a record of everything you've done.
Speaker 5: So once you start on LinkedIn.
Speaker 4: You put all of your previous internships, jobs, where you've
Speaker 4: been at, what colleges you've been to. You continue to
Speaker 4: update that as you go along, and so you just
Speaker 4: keep add and adding. You end up having a long
Speaker 4: list of things to showcase. And so when you have that,
Speaker 4: you have easy apply as well on LinkedIn, where some
Speaker 4: jobs you don't even have to do the job board
Speaker 4: separate website situation. You can apply with your profile. I
Speaker 4: think that's another thing to keep in mind. Alongside your resume,
Speaker 4: which is.
Speaker 5: A PDF that you might have or your portfolio.
Speaker 4: Your LinkedIn is not just that record but also you
Speaker 4: can put really short updates on there.
Speaker 5: It's truly social media.
Speaker 4: You can make posts and talk about the different things
Speaker 4: that you've done, or you just wrote this piece. Maybe
Speaker 4: that piece doesn't exist on a resume because it's not
Speaker 4: from a formal job and you did like a freelance opportunity,
Speaker 4: But because it's on your profile, that's already a.
Speaker 5: Part of your application and your materials.
Speaker 4: People get to see the in between of those jobs
Speaker 4: and the in between of what you've been doing in
Speaker 4: the meantime. So remembering that similar to Instagram, which I
Speaker 4: personally use for portfolio, where LinkedIn is just another version
Speaker 4: of that, but more formal for like a corporate side,
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 1: Okay, so in today's world we have TikTok influencers and
Speaker 1: Instagram batties, but what would someone who wants to grow
Speaker 1: on LinkedIn post.
Speaker 4: What's funny is that I'm seeing for sure they're actually
Speaker 4: like LinkedIn influencers, and as they should. I think I've
Speaker 4: seen creators use their platforms to post other job opportunities
Speaker 4: that they find, which can be really helpful.
Speaker 5: But I think you have to define what you mean
Speaker 5: by growth first.
Speaker 4: Does growth mean for you that you want to be
Speaker 4: an influencer creator within the space of the job market,
Speaker 4: helping people land things, or are you looking for growth
Speaker 4: in terms of the connections that you have and who
Speaker 4: you are connected with on LinkedIn, or you want to
Speaker 4: be seen by recruiters or people who are looking for
Speaker 4: people in your space. So I think, first define what
Speaker 4: growth means to you. For me personally, that's just about
Speaker 4: my reach and also the people seeing my profile. So
Speaker 4: for me, in terms of what I would post, would
Speaker 4: be the articles that I get to do, the coverage
Speaker 4: that I get to do for Vogue or for Hype,
Speaker 4: et cetera. Those are the things that I would do
Speaker 4: to showcase what I'm doing in the meantime. So it's
Speaker 4: not just a static profile that shows Okay, you've done
Speaker 4: all these jobs, but people like to see examples. So
Speaker 4: I think posts are really where you can show that
Speaker 4: I've done updates, when I got awards, or when I've
Speaker 4: done things school in school that I haven't been able
Speaker 4: to show. In another way, I think it's about leveraging
Speaker 4: the different features that LinkedIn has to do that, and
Speaker 4: I think posts are a good way too.
Speaker 3: Got it.
Speaker 1: So next up, I'm curious how have you seen people
Speaker 1: our age use LinkedIn in a creative way?
Speaker 4: You know, plug on to my classmate's angel, I've seen
Speaker 4: her recently start to post her own like hot takes
Speaker 4: on things or just like ways that people should be
Speaker 4: working within this space. And I've seen this across the
Speaker 4: board in terms of people older than us as well,
Speaker 4: or more so, like within their late twenties or thirties.
Speaker 4: I personally love seeing like the social media marketers posting
Speaker 4: their memes on there because they're so relatable, like things
Speaker 4: talking about how social media is not just a one
Speaker 4: person job, or like things that pr girls say and
Speaker 4: things like that, like their relatable content that is also
Speaker 4: still on topic with what people are dealing with on
Speaker 4: a day to day, whether you're employed or you've done
Speaker 4: the job already. So I think those have been fun
Speaker 4: ways that I've seen people post. But I think in
Speaker 4: terms of using your own profile, I still love to
Speaker 4: see people take their profile more in the creative artsy way.
Speaker 5: So there's like ways that you can take.
Speaker 4: Your headshots or like the banner on your profile, stuff
Speaker 4: like that that kind of showcases a little more personality,
Speaker 4: but of course you want it to still be professional
Speaker 4: in a way, So it's like a nice mixed.
Speaker 1: There, right, And I've seen a lot of people our
Speaker 1: age take vulnerability in a creative way and so being
Speaker 1: very blunt and honest on LinkedIn on social posts talking
Speaker 1: about their wages and equal pay and just being honest
Speaker 1: and open.
Speaker 3: About the workforce at large.
Speaker 1: And so that's been really interesting to see pop up
Speaker 1: on LinkedIn because it's so quote unquote professional. What key
Speaker 1: pieces of information should someone be featuring on their LinkedIn
Speaker 1: and other platforms to ensure that they're selling themselves and
Speaker 1: their skills in the best way.
Speaker 5: Yes, you can post the jobs that you've done, but
Speaker 5: what have you actually done while you're there?
Speaker 4: I think one thing that I've continued to learn to
Speaker 4: do is to update my job descriptions as i've gone
Speaker 4: along where I can showcase the highlights. So I worked
Speaker 4: at Tiadeola for a time and one thing that I
Speaker 4: made sure to put on there is that one of
Speaker 4: my reels hit fifty K. Like those things are like
Speaker 4: key moments and key highlights that you want to use
Speaker 4: to show off your skills and what you've been able
Speaker 4: to achieve during your time there. So talk about the projects,
Speaker 4: name the brands, that you were able to collaborate with
Speaker 4: All those things are really great ways to demonstrate that yes,
Speaker 4: you have the fancy name and what's a big company,
Speaker 4: but what did you actually achieve while you're there? I
Speaker 4: think is really important. And then one thing also that
Speaker 4: you can do is leave a kudos on people's pages too,
Speaker 4: which I think is a face. Sure people don't use
Speaker 4: too often, but I feel like that'd be a good
Speaker 4: way to back your friends or people that you've worked
Speaker 4: with and give them the I guess external validation that
Speaker 4: they may need for like a recruiter or somebody else
Speaker 4: to reinforce the.
Speaker 5: Skills that you have. But I think that those are
Speaker 5: a few ways to do that.
Speaker 1: Interesting what red flags or things one should avoiding on
Speaker 1: their LinkedIn.
Speaker 5: Oh my goodness, things not to have? Oh my gosh. Okay,
Speaker 5: this is me being picky.
Speaker 4: But also I'm a photographer and a perfectionist, so I'm
Speaker 4: just say your headshots, leads, don't let them be selfies LEAs,
Speaker 4: let them not be a batty picture. We know you
Speaker 4: look good, that's great, but LinkedIn is not the place
Speaker 4: for that. Make sure you can seek out someone to
Speaker 4: get your headshots done. Maybe me, but you know, make
Speaker 4: sure that you have a really nice, clean headshot for that.
Speaker 4: I think that's one of the first initial things. And
Speaker 4: then I just like to see a profile that's really
Speaker 4: thought out and flushed out. It's easy to put the jobs,
Speaker 4: it's easy to put the titles, et cetera. But without
Speaker 4: clear descriptions that are also really short and concise, sometimes
Speaker 4: it feels like overload or that you're trying to fluff
Speaker 4: it up without it necessarily being informational. I think again
Speaker 4: that goes down to refining your resume as you along,
Speaker 4: which is a skill. Honestly, it's very hard to do,
Speaker 4: but I think one that's really clear and to the point,
Speaker 4: especially considering the fact that for a lot of job
Speaker 4: applications they only take one page resumes, which can be
Speaker 4: super hard. So really think about and be intentional with
Speaker 4: what is going on there.
Speaker 1: In addition to LinkedIn, what other platforms have been helpful
Speaker 1: to you for networking?
Speaker 5: Instagram? I'm sorry is that girl?
Speaker 4: Like I have been able to use that as a
Speaker 4: way to connect with other creatives that I really am
Speaker 4: inspired by and follow up their work and just continue
Speaker 4: to be surrounded digitally with people that inspire me. People
Speaker 4: that I want to get to know more people in
Speaker 4: the space that I'm really interested in, and through just
Speaker 4: continuing to consume their own works and get to know
Speaker 4: them digitally, i'd be able to see them at events
Speaker 4: and be like, Oh, I know you you do this,
Speaker 4: and I'm really inspired by your latest post about this
Speaker 4: or your latest pit photo project about this, and so
Speaker 4: there are ways that you can follow through with that
Speaker 4: in real life and really get to connect with these people.
Speaker 4: So I think following intentionally is really really critical.
Speaker 5: And then also one thing that I was glad I.
Speaker 4: Found out about is that if you go to the
Speaker 4: production companies who have been working on projects or production
Speaker 4: companies that work within the field, they will post the
Speaker 4: products that they worked on, as well as every single
Speaker 4: person that has been on the project. And this kind
Speaker 4: of space to a larger issue about credit and creators
Speaker 4: and make sure that you're tagging people in posts so
Speaker 4: that people can promote themselves and get more opportunities off
Speaker 4: of that. But seek out the people who actually worked
Speaker 4: on the projects, whether that's through photographers, directors, production companies,
Speaker 4: or even the credits on an article. That's really where
Speaker 4: you can find who you really need to know about
Speaker 4: It's not always about who's in the campaign, who made
Speaker 4: that campaign happen. So I think Instagram, the tags, credits,
Speaker 4: captions are really the place to be to really come
Speaker 4: to understand how big the industry is and also who
Speaker 4: you should really know about.
Speaker 1: Right, So basically pay more attention to the captions.
Speaker 3: Okay, okay.
Speaker 1: Many of us are thinking about what it means to
Speaker 1: be professional in twenty twenty four, and we're seeing more
Speaker 1: and more members of gen Z pushing back against the
Speaker 1: notions of professionalism, like having to look a certain way,
Speaker 1: talk a certain way to score a job. How do
Speaker 1: you strike a balance between professionalism while also keeping your
Speaker 1: identity intact.
Speaker 5: Because of in a creative field there's a little bit
Speaker 5: more flexibility. So I am going to have a different
Speaker 5: perspective on it.
Speaker 4: But I think that firstly you need to define what
Speaker 4: professionalism means or looks like, and to me, professionalism is
Speaker 4: more about character and how you carry yourself and how
Speaker 4: you handle situations on the job or related to the
Speaker 4: job or so than personality per se, which can vary
Speaker 4: by person.
Speaker 5: And want to make sure again that you are remembering that.
Speaker 4: People are people and we have different ways of being
Speaker 4: and being cognizant of that. So I think professionalism to
Speaker 4: me in the workplace is more so about proactivity. It's
Speaker 4: about communication and being able to keep that up, deadlines,
Speaker 4: meeting those deadlines and being cognizant of those, being able
Speaker 4: to be a good team player, all these different things
Speaker 4: that can show up on how you actually achieve on
Speaker 4: the job. Whereas your personality, what you're into, where you
Speaker 4: are raised, how that.
Speaker 5: Informs your identity is so separate from that.
Speaker 4: So I think you can't really necessarily change, at least
Speaker 4: for me, I can't fake things. But I still know
Speaker 4: that there's time and a place for everything too. So
Speaker 4: it's also like a balance of what you talk about
Speaker 4: on the job versus not I think is really where
Speaker 4: you start to see that difference or where you need
Speaker 4: to have that separation of identity per se, but especially
Speaker 4: being in a creative field. I come into work wearing
Speaker 4: the p and Moss shoes and the Hanifa skirt and whatever,
Speaker 4: because these are brands that I love or people that
Speaker 4: I want to pour back into in terms of the
Speaker 4: stuff that I wear. But of course, again there's logistics
Speaker 4: around how people show up and dress in the workplace,
Speaker 4: but I think again, it's a time and place thing rather.
Speaker 5: Than having to change your identity.
Speaker 4: I think I also appreciate our generation for kind of
Speaker 4: noticing these differences and wanting to make the separation so
Speaker 4: that people can still live their best lives and really
Speaker 4: just showcase their personality in that way. But I think
Speaker 4: it can also just be something that is a plus
Speaker 4: rather than a minus.
Speaker 5: I think what.
Speaker 4: I've done in job interviews is that when I speak
Speaker 4: to HR, you're very professional, you.
Speaker 5: Choose very carefully what you speak about, etc.
Speaker 4: But then sometimes you get to talk to the creative
Speaker 4: director or one of the photographers on the team, and
Speaker 4: then you can actually have a sidebar about somebody else
Speaker 4: that you love and create a field or I also
Speaker 4: talk to one of my bosses at an internship right
Speaker 4: now about topicals in NEVA, and you just spoke about
Speaker 4: that for half the interview. So there's ways that you
Speaker 4: can still have your personality live within the workplace. But
Speaker 4: it's just about knowing time and place for certain topics
Speaker 4: over others.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 2: Hi, I'm sorry, Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
Speaker 2: We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1: You've worked with some amazing companies like hype Beests and
Speaker 1: Greenpoint Pictures. Tell us about a favorite project you've worked
Speaker 1: on that's also foundational to you as a creative goodness.
Speaker 5: This is like six years of stuff I go through. Man,
Speaker 5: I'll say I'm gonna throw it back. I'm throwing it
Speaker 5: back to twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4: I worked with Barney's New York on a look book
Speaker 4: slash campaign where.
Speaker 5: I basically got to take their clothes.
Speaker 4: And do an ode to my great grandmother's immigrant story
Speaker 4: and just her entire life story. And I just got
Speaker 4: to choose everything from who was doing here and makeup
Speaker 4: and who was helping me with lighting and all of
Speaker 4: that stuff. I got to have a hands on experience
Speaker 4: in production before I even knew what the word production meant,
Speaker 4: and just getting to choose and have full.
Speaker 5: Creative freedom with that project. That's like one of my favorite.
Speaker 4: Projects from Reference because it was intimate, it was personal.
Speaker 4: It was also heavily with an editorial space.
Speaker 5: Obviously had to.
Speaker 4: Do with fashion, as that was what we were shooting,
Speaker 4: but I also got to include, like my aunt was
Speaker 4: in it too, so it was a personal but still
Speaker 4: fashion at ail story, which I think is the perfect
Speaker 4: example of where my work lives. It's this lend and
Speaker 4: mix of everything. So I think that project is always
Speaker 4: going to have a special place in my heart and
Speaker 4: I think that's the one.
Speaker 1: Okay period, I love it. What are your top three
Speaker 1: tips for impressing in an internship? How do you make
Speaker 1: a lasting impact on your employer?
Speaker 5: Proactivity? That's my biggest thing, and that shows up in
Speaker 5: a bunch of different.
Speaker 4: Ways, whether that is you following up on something that
Speaker 4: you had questions about, or following up on something that
Speaker 4: you were interested in. You weren't given that task, but
Speaker 4: you want to be a part of it. There's that
Speaker 4: kind of showing that you're there and showing that you're present,
Speaker 4: that you're listening is something that I think encompasses that proactivity,
Speaker 4: which shows people that you are serious about the job
Speaker 4: but that you also see the potential in some other
Speaker 4: things as well, which kind of showcases how hungry you
Speaker 4: are are. So I think proactivity for sure. Communication too.
Speaker 4: I know it's very very, very simple, but it's also
Speaker 4: like the solution to almost everything. I think communicating early
Speaker 4: and ahead of time and also again being proactive with
Speaker 4: your communication.
Speaker 5: Is something that shows off professionalism.
Speaker 4: In a way because you're anticipating issues, You're anticipating and
Speaker 4: letting people know in advance. And it's also about keeping
Speaker 4: and holding other people in regard to You're not sure
Speaker 4: how your own actions or.
Speaker 5: What you do or don't do or going to affect.
Speaker 4: The other people who are also working alongside you, so
Speaker 4: giving them that heads up ahead of time, or letting
Speaker 4: them know about conflicts, or letting them know that, hey,
Speaker 4: I am going to be on time with that thing
Speaker 4: you ask me to do. It just shows that you
Speaker 4: are being again proactive and you're thinking of other people
Speaker 4: in that way to make sure that you guys all
Speaker 4: are working together as a team that can meet whatever
Speaker 4: it is that you're trying to hit.
Speaker 5: Third thing, oh Man, getting to know people, but not
Speaker 5: just up also across easter race at it invest.
Speaker 4: I feel like we've been quoting her on this for
Speaker 4: a few years now, but I think getting to know
Speaker 4: that other people in your department or people in other
Speaker 4: departments has been something that is not just useful in
Speaker 4: terms of showing the employer that you are invested in
Speaker 4: a place, understand not only what your role is better,
Speaker 4: but also other roles you might be interested in. I
Speaker 4: think again, we talked about LinkedIn being a great research tool,
Speaker 4: but I think talking to other departments is seeing what
Speaker 4: that work looks like has really been helpful for me
Speaker 4: and understanding what other ways can I be creative that's.
Speaker 5: Still showcase and align with things that I want to do.
Speaker 4: So there are like different ways that you can do that,
Speaker 4: but I think proactivity is the number one for sure.
Speaker 1: I was going to fully agree with productivity. That's something
Speaker 1: that my profes or told me freshman year college and
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, like okay, whatever, like I'll be productive,
Speaker 1: But it really didn't hit me until I was in
Speaker 1: my senior year that I really understood what that looks
Speaker 1: like and actually how to live a productive life. So
Speaker 1: I really I fully agree that productivity is number one
Speaker 1: for sure. I'm curious what is your biggest piece of
Speaker 1: advice for aspiring Black creatives?
Speaker 5: Create for yourself and create with others.
Speaker 4: I think a lot of people come up to me
Speaker 4: asking how can I work with this brand or how
Speaker 4: can I get this person to notice me? And honestly,
Speaker 4: so much of what you do in your own free
Speaker 4: time and just for yourself and the things that you
Speaker 4: create with your friends and building your portfolio on your
Speaker 4: own is what.
Speaker 5: People come to you for, So don't necessarily rush having
Speaker 5: to have worked with everybody before you think that you
Speaker 5: you can call yourself a creative or invest in creating
Speaker 5: multiple times over. I think that's one thing.
Speaker 4: It's very very simple, just to make work, but I
Speaker 4: think it's really critical because again I came into this industry.
Speaker 4: One didn't why I was coming into this industry, honestly,
Speaker 4: without connections, without knowing what like a PR team is,
Speaker 4: not knowing what producers are, like any of that. But
Speaker 4: I was creating in my free time and through the
Speaker 4: programs that I was in, so I was.
Speaker 5: Getting to just make art. And then because I made.
Speaker 4: Art, and I made art that I was passionate about
Speaker 4: and that no one was necessarily asking me to do, people.
Speaker 5: Saw my eye and saw my eye.
Speaker 4: In practice through these projects, and that's how people start
Speaker 4: to notice.
Speaker 5: And also, I think I've also said this is my
Speaker 5: big advice and now remembering, is.
Speaker 4: To keep posting your work and keep doing the work
Speaker 4: because you don't know who's wanted. Truly, I've had opportunities
Speaker 4: come in my inbox, which most of my opportunities to
Speaker 4: this point have just been people emailing me and it
Speaker 4: almost makes me sense like how did you find me?
Speaker 5: Why? Me?
Speaker 4: But it's again because if you promote yourself well enough
Speaker 4: on Instagram on LinkedIn especially, you never know who is
Speaker 4: actually following up with your journey and might not show
Speaker 4: up in your follower account. I might not show up
Speaker 4: and who requests you to be connections. But I'm telling
Speaker 4: you to keep doing it and keep showcasing it.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 1: It's a lovely jim that you just dropped. Now for
Speaker 1: a moment of reflection. What professional opportunities are you speaking
Speaker 1: into existence for yourself in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 6: I'm gonna find good job in brand partnerships. I'm going
Speaker 6: to find a space for myself within marketing and production.
Speaker 4: I'm going to have my work on a billboard somewhere.
Speaker 4: I'm going to work on another campaign. I'm bringing all
Speaker 4: these things into this year, and I'm gonna do another
Speaker 4: speaking engagement somewhere.
Speaker 5: It's gonna happen. Bring that in for this year.
Speaker 1: Okay, period, I love all of these things and I'm
Speaker 1: infesting it for you as well. We all are so period.
Speaker 1: Where can we keep up with you? What are your
Speaker 1: social media handles on Instagram.
Speaker 4: I'm at the Denise Stephanie LinkedIn Denise Stephanie Hewett find
Speaker 4: me on there and we've been trying to do a
Speaker 4: little TikTok We'll see, but she's at the Denise Stephanie
Speaker 4: as well. We'll see if I really keep up with it.
Speaker 4: But it's there.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well we're going to check the TikTok out. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much Denise for talking with me today. I
Speaker 1: really appreciate all the gyms that you had for us.
Speaker 1: They were amazing. And yeah, thank you for talking with me.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I want to thank niece once again for joining us
Speaker 1: for this episode. Class is over for now, but before
Speaker 1: we dismiss, take the following affirmations from my conversation home
Speaker 1: with you. My dream internship is within my reach. I
Speaker 1: have the ability to secure the job I want without
Speaker 1: sacrificing all the things that make me me. I don't
Speaker 1: have to choose between my career commitments and my academic commitments.
Speaker 1: I have the ability to balance both while still making
Speaker 1: time for self care. To learn more about the work
Speaker 1: Denise is doing, or to do more research on this topic,
Speaker 1: be sure to visit Theirppblackgirls dot com slash tvgu This
Speaker 1: episode was produced by Frida Lucas, Elise Ellis, and Zaria Taylor.
Speaker 1: Editing is by Dennison L.
Speaker 5: Bradford