We share with you the stories of amazing women who work in fashion to let you understand more about the different roles in this industry. By knowing their career path, you don’t only know what they do on a daily basis but you understand how they got there and have a guide to follow.
Today we are talking to Casey Watson, Social Media + Community Director at Bloglovin’ – a platform to follow, organize and read all your favorite blogs in one place. From a degree in Fashion Marketing + Merchandising at Parsons School of Design to interning at Harper’s BAZAAR and Saint Laurent, Casey revealed how she landed her job at Bloglovin, what she does and how she expedited Bloglovin’s social growth by garnering over one million new followers in just six months!
Tell us about yourself
Hi! I’m Casey Watson, the Social Media + Community Director at Bloglovin’. I’ve been with Bloglovin’, now known as ACTIVATE, for 2.5 years and have loved watching the company evolve alongside the ever-growing influencer marketing industry. Last Fall I relocated back to San Francisco, from New York, and have been working remotely for the company ever since. While New York was my first true love (at the ripe age of 10), San Francisco is home and it feels good to be back. In my free-time you can find me exploring the city…I love finding new restaurants, coffee shops, bars and home stores. I believe in spending my money on experiences and that time spent with family and friends is never a waste of time. While I do work in Social Media and in a mostly digital world, I am always trying to make space and create time where I can put down the phone and engage with people IRL.
What did you study? Did you have an idea of the type of job you wanted to do when you entered Parsons School of Design?
When I first enrolled in Parsons I was thirsty to learn. I had graduated from The University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007 with a BA in Art History and had been living and working in NYC for a year. To be honest I was sort of lost. Most my friends had already started at jobs that were career-focused, whereas I hadn’t found my passion yet. Fashion was something I had always been interested in but, didn’t know what I wanted to do in the industry or how to break in. Enter Parsons!
The decision to go back to school was the most defining moment in my career, to date. It opened doors for me that I felt would have otherwise been shut, armed me with the tools I needed to succeed and gave me a work ethic I didn’t know I had. I wasn’t always the best student until Parsons, and the time spent there gave me a sense of confidence that I could and would, do anything I set my mind to.
After a year and a half I graduated with a degree in Fashion Marketing + Merchandising. When I started interviewing, I didn’t have a specific job title in mind, and still to this day, when I’m looking for a job, I find myself going after an opportunity or company versus a job title. Since graduating I’ve worked at 3 totally different companies and done everything from Ad Sales to Curation to Social Media. My drive has been fed by the different creative environments, great leadership and inspiring coworkers. I always want to find a job that is mutually beneficial. As important as it is that I bring my expertise to the table, I also want to be learning – and I’ve been lucky to learn from the best thus far!
What was your first experience in Fashion?
While interning at Saint Laurent I had the opportunity to participate in their Market Week. I think my eyes were the size of ½ dollars the whole time – I didn’t want to miss a minute of it. From watching the models come out, to witnessing how buying takes place first hand – it was as if everything I was learning at Parsons was unfolding right in front of me, making it one of the coolest experiences.
You then was a marketing Intern at Harper’s Bazaar, what did you do and how did you transition it into a full-time position?
I was still at Parsons when I was interning at Harper’s BAZAAR and as graduation loomed, I realized that I wanted to stay on at the magazine. There were no current roles open on Marketing, but the Ad Sales team had an assistant role, which I jumped on immediately. The hours were late, the stress-level was high and I loved every minute. Working at BAZAAR and going to Hearst Tower everyday fulfilled every dream I had of working in fashion as a little girl and I felt honored to be there. I vividly remember they were really just starting to realize how imperative it was to embrace the digital landscape and that digital was here to stay. Seeing that shift was eye-opening, and I was so impressed with how Carol Smith, BAZAAR’s publisher, really guided the book to be at the top of their game online.
What advice would you give to young girls who want to work in fashion, about finding their first job?
Go after what you want and don’t hold back! Landing your first job is the hardest one, especially in fashion, but once you are in it gets so much easier.
When I was starting to interview, my dad told me to go to the BIGGEST company I could, and I would 100% pass along that same advice. Get in the door and be a sponge. The bigger the company, the more opportunity you can seek-out once you are there. This job doesn’t have to be for life, but it is a great launching pad, and will always look fabulous on your resume.
Look at who your manager will be … who you work for really matters and definitely can shape your future. If you look at my resume and my career trajectory, it is sort of all over the place, but one thing has been totally consistent and that is that I have always worked for the best people. A good manager is someone that wants you to be successful, takes the time to nurture your career, and looks at a mistake as a learning opportunity. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the relationships I have been blessed with and the people I have worked and learned from.
You had an experience at eBay and now work at Bloglovin. As a Community and Social Media Director, what are your tasks and how does a week in your life look like?
No day or week is the same – which I love! Monday’s are usually my housekeeping day – getting through emails, setting-up our social for the week, looking ahead at any takeovers or meetings I have that week. I never schedule meetings for Mondays, I’m just not a Monday person (haha). The rest of my week is spent writing, coding and curating our Community Newsletters, fielding inbound requests from Sales and meeting with our influencers either over a phone call or in person. My boss, Morgan Kaye, is really responsible for setting-up the community at the company, and it is probably one of the most important things when it comes to our industry. Personal relationship building and brand awareness are two components I always enjoy working on.
You expedited Bloglovin’s social growth by garnering over one million new followers in just six months. Could you share your secret strategies with our members?
If Consistency is King, than Content is Queen
and let’s just say you’re going to need both. If you aren’t posting content that your followers want or know how to engage with, you are losing out their “likes,” “comments,” and possibly “follows.” Same goes with consistency. Consistency doesn’t just pertain to how often and what time of day you post but it also lends itself to your filters, your brand voice and the feeling of your social media presence. I would always recommend staying genuine to yourself. If you build your content around you, your interests and what you’re doing then the consistency part is already (partially) taken care of.
The third pillar is engagement! Talk to your growing community + listen to what they are responding to most. Pinterest for us blew up sort of instantly, so we saw it a necessary account to pay closer attention to. We would compare fashion to food to travel and experiment with what our followers wanted to see more of. It is all about being responsive to your audience. Give them what they want, but also give them something they didn’t know they wanted. You’re the trendsetter here – there is no right or wrong answer so if you’re digging something, share it, because maybe it’s the next “it” thing. The successful tastemakers we see today are the ones who weren’t afraid to take a chance. Be that person!
How much time do you spend on social media in a day and what do you do? I imagine the way you look at Instagram is different from others, what is your strategy?
Yikes – that number is probably too high to share haha. But it is an integral part of my job and I’m always fascinated to see the different ways people choose to share on social. Whether it be through stories or still imagery it is remarkable to see how these women and men capture a moment. You and I could go to the same dinner or event, but the way we choose to experience (and share) that moment could be totally different – these differences in opinion and style are what keeps us engaged on social media.
