Sarah Boak

Describe your current role and responsibilities.

Land key blockbuster campaigns through media, events, activations and community programmes. My role is very diverse which includes shooting content with Men’s Health, programming the Adidas Runners London schedule and liaising with media agencies for campaigns and events agencies to create and build launch events. The role differs on a daily basis depending on what campaign you are working on.

Why did you decide to study Fashion Communication at Northumbria?

I loved the sound of the course structure, the variety of subjects studied and the ever-changing landscape of what we could learn about and develop skills in across each term.

What are the most useful skills that Fashion Communication taught you?

The top three that initially come to mind are time management, professionalism and presentation. When you go into the working environment, regardless of what specific skills you have such as Adobe or journalistic writing it is often more about you as an individual and how you fit into the working routine and team. I think the given 3 are crucial in confidently positioning yourself in new challenges.

Did you get any work experience / internships while studying?

Yes, I worked at Grazia Magazine in the fashion department which was an amazing experience and I had so much fun. However, more importantly it helped me determine that magazines weren’t what I wanted to go into which was really useful for me. I also interned at Karla Otto and again this was an incredible experience where I learnt so much and was able to be involved in amazing things such as Fashion Week. It also helped me realise I didn’t want to do agency-side PR, so this helped me really focus on what I actually wanted to do which lead to me looking at Brand Communication and Activation & Strategy, which is exactly the area I work in now and love!

Are there any other areas that you think the course should cover, that you currently use in your role?

Not that I can think of, the course covers so much and all of the skills are transferable and can be used in a multitude of situations within business environments.

What is the one piece of advice you would give this year’s graduates?

Have fun and enjoy what you’re doing, it’s probably one of the only times you will have so much freedom with your projects so make the most of it and do something that you’re genuinely passionate about - it makes a hell of a difference in the outcome!

Describe Fashion Communication in three words:

Worth the hard work!