From Fashion Merchandising to Public Relations: Ashley Arias — Director at TAA PR

By: Marina Li

October 13, 2020 — Having worked in the public relations industry for over 10 years, Director at TAA PR, Ashley Arias joined GMU PRSSA‘s meeting and shared her experience working with lifestyle and luxury brands, the different exciting projects she helped execute and her advice for aspiring public relations professionals.

Even though she has been a PR professional for many years, she didn’t start out in the communication field.

Back in Marymount University, Arias was pursuing a fashion merchandising degree. She knew she wanted to be involved in the fashion industry. It wasn’t until she met her boss of 10 years during her time in Marymount’s fashion club did she realize the importance of the communication and public relations field in the fashion and luxury industry.

During her time with the fashion club, she had opportunities to learn about grand opening parties and fashion shows through volunteering.

It was then when Arias knew exactly what she wanted to do for a career.

“You need to be in communications. You need PR. You need to learn how to write a press release,” her boss of 10 years guided her when she expressed interest in the fashion sphere.

Inspired, she then switched her major and the rest is history.

“I always believe hard work will get you far and kill it with kindness. It’s what got me where I am today,” Arias shared with Mason Comm students.

“Even at 10 years now, there’s no job or task that’s too big or too small,” Arias said when looking back at her years of hard work, “I still, to this day, don’t have a problem getting on my knees and scrubbing a runway to make sure that it’s perfectly white. I still don’t have problems stuffing gift bags.”

When it comes to her advice for Mason Comm students, Arias emphasized the importance of lifelong learning.

Public relations is ever-changing. In order to be an asset to your company and your clients, you need to be constantly learning and be creative.

Whether it’s social media strategies, graphic design, Adobe applications, video production or other skills — never stop learning. Take classes, watch tutorials, and be willing to take the extra step.

Tools to learn:

• Hootsuite

• Sprout Social

• Twitter

• Instagram Reels

• InDesign

Despite being in the field for many years, Arias is still constantly finding ways to improve her writing skills.

“I read articles. I read so much,” Arias shared what helps her grow as a writer, “The writers that I’m pitching, I read what they’re writing so that I can mimic their writing styles when I’m pitching them.”

Aside from pitching, being able to creatively write blog posts, articles, website copies are also important writing skills to possess as PR professionals.

Arias also gave her first-hand advice on how college students can make the most out of their internship experience.

When working as an intern, don’t be afraid to ask questions. When there’s something you don’t understand and want to learn, let people know. They are always more than happy to help you, and in the end of the day, asking questions at the beginning can save you from making mistakes in the long run.

Make yourself helpful — is another tip Arias shared. Check in with your supervisor(s) from time to time, ask what they need help with and provide your assistance. Not only does this help you form a good impression, it also gives you the opportunity to learn.

When asked how to stand out among a pool of applicants, Arias stressed, “The biggest step is to make that effort. Make sure that you’re pitching yourself properly. The second step is researching the agencies. You can be a star if you just make the effort.”

Make employers feel special. You don’t want them to feel that you are just copying and pasting everything and sending your resume out to five different agencies at once. Make the effort.

Aside from that valuable advice, Arias also shared the exciting projects she took part in at TAA PR. From planning the Pride Night in D.C. to building the largest clear ice maze in the U.S. — you name it.

Some of the clients she had the chance to work with include Cirque du Soleil, CityCenterDC and 1331 Maryland.

As the “Christmas elf” of the office, one of Arias’s proudest projects came to life during her favorite time of the year, Christmas time — the clear ice maze they did for CityCenterDC in 2019.

Inspired by other campaigns — pop-up igloos and Hong Kong’s ice maze, Arias had the crazy idea of something even grander for CityCenterDC.

What if we build a clear ice maze? Arias thought.

That dream became a reality.

The idea was only part of the success. They saw the creative idea fully through — from conception to being on-site to make sure everything is going smoothly for the installation.

It took three and a half days and four ice-filled trucks. The TAA PR team was there until 3 a.m. every night. And that wasn’t the end of it yet.

After they finished the installation at 3 a.m. the last night comes the crucial part — publicizing it.

They got ready for broadcast within an hour or two after the clear ice maze was set up.

“For it to be successful, we needed people there. Promotion is as important as the idea itself.” Arias emphasized. Even at 3 a.m. when the team was half asleep, they were hard at work and made sure every TV station was there ready for the grand opening before it started.

The clear ice maze went viral internationally. There were people in line waiting for three to four hours just to get in the maze. They even won the MAXI award, an international marketing award, in 2020. Everybody was talking about it.

“Something that I’ve learned throughout the years is being able to adapt,” Arias continued, “I wear many hats and it’s because I never want to be doing the same thing every day. And I’m so honored and gifted to be able to be in a job where every day is different.”

Public relations is an exciting field and we are so grateful to have Arias share her first-hand experience and advice with us.

Next week, #MasonComm alum, Chloe Clark will be joining us on Tuesday, October 27 at 7pm to share her tips on building a strong LinkedIn profile and how to effectively network through adversity. Register here: https://bit.ly/3olapXw