My name is Jennifer Huerta, a current student at The New York City College of Technology (City Tech), majoring in Fashion Marketing. Fashion Marketers focus on publicizing and increasing awareness of a particular brand, such as designer labels or department stores. As a student at City Tech I will be introduced to buying and management careers in fashion-related firms, showrooms, retail stores and buying offices. Although I would not actually design clothing as a marketer, I would be responsible for helping designers by ensuring that their lines sell. This would be the best career for me because I will be able to investigate the rise and diffusion of fashion phenomena and how to successfully manage fashion cycles, monitor the reactions of customers and retail outlets to new products and brand initiatives, and last but not least the ways of  the marketing concept. As you keep reading you will learn what a Fashion Marketer does and what it will take to become one.   

I named this photograph “GAP” because it is one of the many retail stores located at Queens Center Mall.

By earning a degree in Fashion Marketing, I will prepare myself for a future career as a fashion merchandiser. Earning a degree in this major would open doors to various job opportunities for me. For pursuing a job as a Fashion Merchandiser, it is useful to know the following facts. The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) College Catalog 2014-2015 informs us that, “The Fashion Marketing program is designed for the student interested in the dynamics of fashion, both as a business and as an expression of contemporary culture”. (City Tech 126) City Tech’s Fashion Marketing program will educate me, “Theoretical knowledge, practical skills necessary for career success, meet the professional employment news, hands on experience through field trips”. (City Tech 126) A degree in Fashion Marketing enables one to get a fashion merchandiser job. According to Serials Review, fashion merchandising has become the major of choice for the majority of students in the field of clothing and textiles, “Fashion merchandising as a field of study depends on literature in finance, fashion product knowledge, merchandising, retailing, promotions and trends, textiles, human resources, consumer behavior, management, and marketing”. (Tralton par2) In addition to earning a degree in Fashion Marketing, “Numerous job titles are available whether in apparel manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, or related areas. Retailing can be in department stores, specialty stores, designer boutiques, mass merchants, malls, variety stores, and catalog firms or operations”. (Tralton par2) Options are broad. Professionals who work in fashion marketing examine fashion trends, help retailers stock fashion lines, coordinates sales, and promote goods. By earning a degree in Fashion Marketing, I will prepare myself to earn a job as a fashion merchandiser.

“Fashion”, came to mind because this mannequin shows the ideal of fashion. It is wearing the coat and scarf, ideal for the type of weather here in New York City.

At this point you have an idea of Fashion Marketing. Now I would like to inform you why becoming a Fashion Marketer would be the best job for me. Working as a Fashion Marketer would be the best job for me because I will be able to investigate the rise and diffusion of fashion phenomena and how to successfully manage fashion cycles. “Fashion marketing involves the process of identifying trends in fashion and advertising and promoting fashion products to the buying public.” As a Fashion Marketer I will be able to learn to predict fashion trends, the wants and don’ts of the public. What will become a success and what will not in the fashion industry. With this job I will be able to match styles to specific markets and develop early marketing concepts. Having this opportunity I will be able to know the reasons why a certain fashion trend is a big hit or not, something which I always had a fondness of. Why did this trend become a huge success while this did not?

“Black and White” due to their outfits they are wearing.

Monitoring the reactions of customers and retail outlets to new products and brand initiates is the second reason why landing a job as a Fashion Marketer would be best for me. Visual merchandising can be described as what the potential consumer sees and experiences when approaching, entering, and interacting in the store. If the consumer has a positive approach when entering and interacting we will be able to receive a satisfied feedback from them which is something we would always want from a consumer. When receiving negative feedback we would want to work with that feedback given and convert it into something better, and ask ourselves how can we identify the customer’s needs or wants. “The store window is indeed the showcase for the brand. It is the silent salesperson, the visual communication tool which has only one opportunity to ensure the target market is attracted to enter the store.” (Lea-Greenwood 95) How the retail outlets windows is visualized depends on whether or not the consumer will go in to look at their goods.  Size and location of a store can have an influence on the types of communication that can be portrayed within a certain amount of space, but all brand with a strong image can manage to convey no matter the size or location.

Pursing a career as a fashion merchandiser you will be able to learn the ways of the marketing concept. “The modern marketing concept, which is applied by most successful small businesses, is intended to focus all of a company’s activities upon uncovering and satisfying customer needs”. (Hillstrom par1) It may be easy for an entrepreneur to come up with a product, but all their effort would have been wasted if they were unable to sell the product to consumers. In marketing you transfer goods and services from producers to consumers who the consumers are then able to decide whether or not it met their needs and if it satisfies them the way they need it to. In order to succeed one must master the basics of marketing in order to have great sales in their products. According to the BLS in 2013, wholesale and retail buyers in the apparel industry earned an annual mean wage of $58.210.

In order to better prepare myself to become a successful fashion merchandiser I would have to be creative, quick thinking, self-driven, business-oriented, up on trends and current events. and a people person. Although a bachelor’s program in fashion merchandising takes four years to complete, some programs offer opportunities for hands-on work experience.  

Overall, fashion merchandising careers offer great job opportunities especially to experienced professionals. Professionals with this career must have an eye for style, but should also have a head in business. As a fashion merchandiser I will have the opportunity to build strong foundations in buying, inventorying, budgets and distribution strategies. It provides an overview of how apparel is designed and manufactured and ways to market the apparel to retailers.

Works Cited

Hillstrom, Laurie Collier. Kevin. Marketing, Encyclopedia of Small Business. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale, Cengage Learning. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

Huerta, Jennifer. “GAP” Flickr. 6 December 2014. Web. 6 December 2014.

Huerta, Jennifer. “Fashion” Flickr. 6 October 2014. Web. 6 December 2014.

Huerta, Jennifer. “Black and White“ Flickr. 7 October 2014. Web. 7 December 2014.

Lea-Greenwood, Gaynor. Fashion marketing communications. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.,2013. Academic Search Complete. 29 Nov. 2014.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech). College Catalog 2014-2015. 2014. PDF. 29 Nov. 2014.

Tralton, Martha K. Suzanne V. “Fashion merchandising periodicals: A selected, annotated bibliography”. Serials Review. Spring93. 19.1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov 2014.

United States. Dept of Labor. Bureau of Statistics. “Whole sale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products”. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dept of Labor. May. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

Introduction

In this project, I had the opportunity to use a day to record my thinking every thirty minutes, photograph some of those thoughts that substitute my thinking, and construct an argument that reflects on my thoughts. Having this opportunity helped me to compose an objective for my future thinking.

Thinking in Writing

Just 10 more minutes
Why am I still sleepy?
It’s still to early for this
Whats on the agenda for today?
Precalculus homework and STUDY for upcoming EXAM
Whats for breakfast I should say
Catch up on some reading from the textbook
Orange juice and Granola bar
The next decisions I make will be up to me
Why does everything have to be complicated
Is being scared the learning process of never to be afraid and chase after what you really want
Its really cold in here
Can I fast forward time to where I can finally say I made it
Its only up to me to decide what I really want to do
I’m hungry
I’m tired
Have to start reading the textbook
Precalculus homework finally completed
Finding the composite functions is easy
Now get STUDYING for upcoming EXAM
I need a snack
Go and watch No Good Deed
The best surprises are the unexpected
Almonds
I’m bored, I really don’t want to read now
I need to go for a run
I need to go shopping
The only way we learn is by making mistakes
This is complicated
Do I really have to do this now
What do I normally think of, hmm..
I need a break from all of this
I want to travel the world and experience new things
I didn’t sign up for all of this
The only way to make your dreams come true is go after them and never allow any obstacle push you back
Obstacles are there only to make you start from the beginning but it is up to me to jump over them and keep on moving
If I give up it only means that I didn’t try hard enough
College life is scary
You never know what to expect
Follow your dreams
All I have to do is keep my head held up high
I need a vacation
Who would’ve thought
I need to get some sleep

Thinking Visually

This first photograph depicts what I decided to have for breakfast, something that was quick and fast to munch, which concludes to the title of this photograph, “Breakfast.”

Studying is something that I always hassled with because of the many distractions that surrounded me, but this time I made sure there would not be as many distractions, “Studying…”

Running is something that has always helped me to relax, “Time for a run, Astoria Park.”

Thinking Rhetorically and Reflectively  

My name is Jennifer Huerta, a current student at The City College of Technology, majoring in business. I am the youngest of three siblings. Growing up having three older brothers to pick on you on a daily basis wasn’t something I dreamed of or actually no one does. There would be constant fights in the house because they would not leave me alone so it was rough getting along with each other. I guess you can say they just wanted to annoy me for the same reason, I was the only girl but at the end of the day we will always love each other no matter how rough we are with each other or how mad we get. Being the only girl was hard and till this day it still is because I don’t have a sister, someone who I can talk to about anything and will not judge or criticize about the things I do, but instead will support me and tell me that everything will be okay. I have always been this quiet girl growing up its not because I was shy but because I just was quiet something that was just a part of me growing up. In this project I had the chance to reflect on my thoughts for a day and it helped me take a look on what I focus on the most and what I should me focusing on. I argue that my thoughts are focused on the important things in my life at the moment and how I can make myself a better person from what I need to accomplish at that exact instant.

Having to choose to a day to focus on my thoughts made me realize that I focus on what is important in the present and I never took a note of that because really we all think about different stuff that are happening to us. For instance, during my day of thought, I wrote, ”Whats for breakfast I should say.” (huerta4 par. 6) Thinking about what will I have for breakfast is on a daily basis. I like having a healthy breakfast so for this day in thought I came to the conclusion of eating Nature Valley Oats ’n Honey granola bar and a Tropicana Orange Juice with it, as stated in my day of thoughts (huerta4 par. 8). It was convenient for me to eat this while walking to the train station. I decided to have this for breakfast because I wanted something quick and light since I was also running late. Before having this for breakfast I decided to take a quick picture of it since it perfectly depicts my breakfast for the day, (Huerta,”Breakfast.”). It was convenient for me to eat this while walking to the train station, it was something I was able to grab from my kitchen and leave in a hurry and it was in an eye level reach.

Not only do I think about what I am going to eat but that I need to get my schoolwork completed so I can go out and enjoy the rest of the week. School is never easy because you always have tons of work to complete whether it is just reading from your textbook to catch up and understand the topic more clearly or go over your notes or study for an exam but schoolwork is somehow involved one way or another. Throughout the day, my schoolwork is what I always thought about as stated in my day of thoughts, (huerta4 par. 17). I knew that I had to complete all my assignments for the week if not I would have had a lot to complete within a night. The reason I broke up the assignments throughout the day was because I found it easier and favorable to do so. If I had completed it all in one shot I would have found it too long and tiring and completing one assignment at a time is what I thought would work for me, which is what did. Yes, completing everything in one single sitting would have been better so my rest of the day could have been relaxing but it also helps me to complete other things that I need to complete besides school work. One assignment I had to complete was to read from the textbook which is the reason why I took a picture of my textbook, (Huerta, “Studying…”). Not only did I read the text because there were parts that were confusing so to better understand the topic a little bit more clearly I went over my notes for that day as well. 

Not only did I read from one of my textbooks but I also had to complete my Precalculus assignment along with studying for an upcoming exam the following week, which is what my day of thought consisted of, “Precalculus homework and STUDY for upcoming EXAM”, (huerta4 par. 5). Math is my strongest subject so I knew right from the top that I was going to be able to complete this assignment in a breeze, the only part left was to study because you never know what type of questions they will give you so I needed to be aware of all the topics for this exam. Which is the reason why I always jotted down that I needed to complete this assignment so I can get studying.

I like to be physically active and I also needed a break from schoolwork so I decided to get ready and go for a run, (huerta4 par. 26). I grew up in Astoria, Queens so the park I go to is about a 25 minute walk from my house to Astoria Park located along the East River and adjacent to the Triborough bridge. Astoria Park has a track, which is the reason why I always come to this park for a run. Although there are closer parks where I live Astoria Park is the only one that has a track and I really don’t mind the long walk since at a young age my family and I would walk to the destination that we needed to be but only if it was in the same borough. Going for a run is what helps me relax, it helps me get through the rest of the day especially if I had a rough day too.Since I had the chance to come to Astoria Park for a run I decide to take a picture of the track, (Huerta, “Time for a run, Astoria Park.”).  Also it is not bad to get in some exercise. Being physically active helps you feel better and helps us to get or stay at a healthy weight.

Having to complete this project made me come up with the conclusion that I focus on what is in my present because what I do in my present with either harm or benefit my future. The way I think will let me realize the things I need to complete to become successful in life. If I think in a positive way I know it will benefit my future because as I wrote in my day of thoughts, “If I give up it only means that I didn’t try hard enough” (huerta4 par. 37), meaning that no matter how hard life gets I need to keep on pushing further because in the end the outcome will be turn out to be great.

We all have different stuff we think about during the day but in my day of thoughts I mostly thought about the present. The things that I need to complete whether they were to complete my schoolwork or what should I do be doing for the day. Overall I had to tell myself that it is up to me to keep striving forward for the best, to go after what I want because if I don’t no one will do it for me. I have to try hard enough to get up to where I want to be, I cannot give up I just have to work harder because nothing is really hard we just set our mind to say it is.

Everybody thinks about different things because we all do not have the same brains. Some of us think about what is happening in the present, some of us think about the future and well others think about everything and are all over the place. After completing this project, my day in thoughts reflected of me thinking about the present and what I needed to get done at the moment because what I think about now will help me to either succeed in life or not help me at all. I need to stay optimistic about my future.

Works Cited

Huerta, Jennifer. “Breakfast.” Flickr. 3 October 2014. Web. 11 October 2014.

Huerta, Jennifer. “Studying…” Flickr. 25 September 2014. Web. 11 October 2014.

Huerta, Jennifer. “Time for a run, Astoria Park.” Flickr. 26 September 2014. Web. 11 October 2014.

huerta4 (Jennifer Huerta).”Re: Project 1: Thinking in Writing.” Openlab. ENG 1101 D377 English Composition1, FA 2014. 21 September 2014. Web. 11 October 2014.