When it comes to getting involved at ASU, Brielle Cohen is hard to beat.
Graduating with a major in digital marketing from the W. P. Carey School of Business and Barrett, The Honors College, Cohen was marketing and communications coordinator of ASU Student Life, a manager of the ASU Housing social media accounts, a two-time winner and recipient of the Fashion Scholarship Fund, an art director of the ASU club AdWorks and a creative director of Styleline Magazine.
Racking up an impressive resume, Cohen started her marketing journey while under quarantine after getting COVID-19.
“I was stuck in my room, and I was also just thinking a lot about my assignments for my pre-med, biology degree,” Cohen said. “I love science, but I really wasn't passionate about chemistry. I kept thinking about how I would rather have a business and how if I do medical school, I won't be done until I'm 30.”
After a lot of in-depth research, Cohen became very interested in a grad program for "luxury fashion brand management.” However, it was a real hands-on experience that really helped seal the deal.
“I took a gap year and worked for a window covering place as a receptionist but I would get bored and come up with ideas of, ‘Oh, they could fix their website like this,’ or ‘They could do their socials like this,’” said Cohen. “I would always try to think of ‘What are better ways that I could sell this to make people want this window covering or this type of fabric?’ Then my boss told me to start a social media account for them. I just did that for fun.”
“I learned that it's really important to find problems with the business and then to find a creative idea coming from that,” Cohen continued. “A marketing campaign in that context really helps me come up with ideas, just looking for a problem and trying to solve it. And I think that also can show up in personal life and really anything.”
With that problem-solving mindset, Cohen made short work of her next challenges, including a two-peat in the Fashion Scholarship Fund that saw her flying out to national events in New York.
“The Fashion Scholarship Fund is a national scholarship … and those who donate to it are all big fashion companies,” Cohen said. “You would write up a case study for a few months, submit it, and it could be in different disciplines like product development, design, marketing, business strategy, etc. ... You work for months on this project, and they pick 160 people out of the pool of applicants.”
Alongside bragging rights, Cohen secured $20,000 in total scholarship winnings, opportunities to network at multiple career fairs alongside some of the industry’s biggest fashion companies and a paid trip to New York to attend a gala alongside fashion titans and other scholarship winners.
For those interested in setting up a path for themselves in an industry they are passionate about, Cohen has advice on how you can turn uncertainty into an actionable plan.
“I would say don't feel too pressured with your major,” Cohen said. “If you're dead set on a specific major and get an inkling that it's wrong for you and ignore it, you're just going to end up changing your major later down the line. Explore what you like and don't deny yourself the experience of your interests.”
Cohen also highlights the importance of leaning on mentors during times of uncertainty, attributing her discovery of a Fashion Scholarship Fund to her thesis director.
“The professor that made the most impact on me is Dr. Danielle Testa,” Cohen said. “She really introduced me to the Fashion Scholarship Fund. Just being able to talk to her about marketing and fashion has been super helpful. Whenever I go to her and ask for help, she always gives the best advice. I don't know how she does it but I just know that whenever I can talk to her she'll lead me the right way.”
After graduating, Cohen will be starting a trend research internship in St. Louis with fashion brand Weissman.
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