Intro Speaker Male:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast by the host and guests may or may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Miami University.

Intro Speaker Female:

I am going into my last semester of chemical engineering.

Intro Speaker Male:

I'm a senior journalism major.

Intro Speaker Female:

And I'm minoring in supply chain and operations management.

Intro Speaker Male:

I'm a biochemistry major.

Intro Speaker Male:

Classes are going great. Extracurriculars are going great.

Intro Speaker Female:

I'm an RA on campus.

Intro Speaker Male:

I'm thriving.

Jason Meggyesy:

Hi, I'm Jason Meggyesy. And this is Major Insight. This is the podcast where we talk college life with amazing students about how to find your place and purpose on campus.

Annie David is always searching for ways to combine analytics with creativity. As a senior studying marketing and business analytics, Annie is also passionate about fashion and photography and strives to make a meaningful difference with every creative project. Annie is also the creative director of Up Magazine, which is Miami University’s sophisticated student-run fashion and lifestyle publication. She's been a model for the fashion and design club on campus and she's the former VP of marketing for Advancing Women in Entrepreneurship.

All right. I feel like I should have gotten a little more dressed up for this one. I mean, we're in the presence of the great and wonderful Annie David. Annie, how you doing?

Annie David

Great. I'm glad to be here.

Jason Meggyesy

Yeah, I know. This is gonna be a lot of fun. All right. So kind of just walk us through, you know, your home life. Where you from, your high school experience? How did you come up on Miami all that good stuff.

Annie David

Yeah. So I'm from Evansville, Indiana, it's in the southwest corner of Indiana. And during my high school senior year, I had no idea where I wanted to end up. I ended up applying to, I think, 15 different colleges, visited a lot of different colleges and my friend who's a year older went to Miami, and so I was like, “hey, like, I've never heard of the school, but I'm really interested.” Because I feel like when I was a senior, I really just wanted to have that fresh start and most people from my high school went to like UI, Purdue, like big 10 schools, but I kind of wanted something smaller and wanted to be able to explore my options and meet new people. So I went to go visit Sarah at Miami, and I just fell in love with it. I feel like everyone says that. As soon as you step on campus, like, you just feel like you're at home. And I really appreciated that it's a liberal arts school because, at the time, I really didn't know what I wanted to study and I knew I'd have a lot of flexibility exploring that path.

Jason Meggyesy

For sure. So I know you just touched on the uncertainty coming in. Just kind of talk to us a little more about that. Like, your whole freshman year experience.

Annie David

Yeah. So freshman year I came in undecided. I, honestly, like had such a hard time because I was super creative, and I had like my own photography business at school back at home. And I also loved AP calculus. Like, I just like had such an analytical and creative mind, and I really didn't know how to narrow that and where to saturate my skill sets. Because I think as a freshman in college you feel a lot of pressure to like pick one major, know what you're gonna do, what's your five year plan? And it stressed me out, and I really just had no idea because I felt like I could take so many different paths. So it was freshman year first semester, I was taking a bunch of different classes: Chemistry, photography -- all these different classes and really just trying to figure out what exactly it was that I wanted to do. And I really appreciated that flexibility. And my freshman year, second semester, I declared, at the time, it was interactive media studies, which is design, business and technology kind of all combined, which is three different segments that I was super interested in. And I took those classes, did some coding, learned Adobe Creative Cloud and it just got in the group of that. And I really liked it. So I ended up declaring that my freshman year.

Jason Meggyesy

Got you. So kind of backtracking … we’ll hop back on the freshman year story. But what about photography and AP Calc… what draws you to those two things?

Annie David

Yeah, so photography, I loved working with high school seniors, like, taking their senior photos. It's a huge thing in my hometown. And just being able to work with that peer-to- peer relationship. I feel like there's a lot of photographers… and it's almost intimidating, like getting in front of a camera and smiling and, I mean, like a model for a day. And I really just wanted to provide, like, a comfortable experience for those people. So that kind of drove me to photography, as well as like the storytelling aspect. I just really loved being able to capture people in their element. And that's especially why portrait photography was so big for me. And my favorite thing about it is just seeing -- from start to finish -- their confidence level just go up. Like, it just brings so much joy to me. And then the AP calculus, like, I could be given like 20 problems and just sit there for two hours and just do it. Like, I just feel like it's such a groove thing. Like, I love it. It just feels good to me, and I know what I'm doing and being able to solve that problem,

Jason Meggyesy

It's almost like a flow that you get into? Do you feel that in both areas? 

Annie David

Yes. Especially when it comes to the editing aspect of photography. I'll sit in front of light room for three hours and just lose track of time.

Jason Meggyesy

That's super cool. So you just explained the two sides of Annie David right there. And so freshman year, you said you felt like you needed to saturate one side or the other more. Did you feel pressure to be involved in this thing over this thing that you wanted to do because you wanted to saturate the analytical side or the creative side?

Annie David

So freshman year I knew I wanted to get involved right away. Like, I was at this brand new school. I literally knew no one in my class as well, and I kind of forced myself out of my comfort zone. I was like, you know, you got to make the most of these next four years, and coming out of photography, I knew I wanted to continue that in college, and I knew there wouldn't be as many opportunities because I didn't really know as many people. So I went to The first, uh, info night for Up Magazine. I was pretty sure it was Mega Fair with, you know, the 500 organizations. I went to all those different booths, and I went to their info night, and I literally felt like I was going to cry. I was like, “this is like such a perfect fit.” I talked to a bunch of different directors right after. I was like, “how do I get involved? Like, I really want to be a part of this?” And it just felt like such a big click at the time. So Up was definitely like that first organization that I really felt like I could hone in on different skill sets.

Jason Meggyesy

Going past your freshman year. When did you say you declared your major?

Annie David

So I ended up declaring the major I have now junior year. It definitely took a long time. So I was in I. M. S. And then I declared marketing junior year, and then second semester of junior year, I declared business analytics as a minor.

Jason Meggyesy

So a lot of steps to get to where you are now. Why do you think all of those work together for you?

Annie David

So I appreciate all my majors and minors because I think it really does a good job of capturing different aspects of what I like. Some marketing, obviously, is kind of that more creative side and, what I was talking about earlier, like the photography and being able to like connect with the person and photographing and seeing their confidence level, like, there's a lot of consumer behavior within marketing. And I feel like that also does a good job of just, like, connecting with people. The content creation with photography. You do that within marketing as well. But then business analytics, you know, I'm taking like linear regression classes and business programming and I'm coding and just being able to combine those two has been really beneficial, and also for what I want to do in the future -- Being able to be in more of like a creative industry, but doing more of that data analytics side of things.

Jason Meggyesy

It seems like after that, the Creative Annie David and the analytical Annie David have come together to make THE Annie David.

Annie David

Joined hand in hand.

Jason Meggyesy

I know you mentioned before the interview about a pie shaped marketer. Can you describe that for me? And would you describe yourself as a pie shaped marketer?

Annie David

Yeah. So this concept, I guess, really resonated with me first semester junior year, before I had that business analytics minor. And so, basically, you think of the shape of a pie, which is like the math … So not like an actual “you eat pie.” The symbol. And so one of the legs is like the creative aspect that people think of when they think of marketing, the content creation, the branding. And then you have the data side. The analytic side. Being able to digest the data, to turn it into meaningful insights. And then you have the top that connects the two together. And I was like “oh my gosh, like, I feel like I am pie.” Like, it really resonated with me because I always thought before coming into college that marketing was more of like, oh, social media marketing, or like content creation, or advertisements and whatnot. But it's so much more, especially as our world today has become so digital and data is like literally overflowing. We need so many people to be able to connect that and being able to turn that into more like personalization aspects for companies being able to connect to their consumers, and whatnot.

Jason Meggyesy

I know that there's a lot of people that they have all these ideas and these feelings when they come into school, but they feel like they have to narrow their way into one specific area and they have to cut off completely the other side. Did you ever feel that moment, that you were going to have to make a choice?

Annie David

Yeah, I definitely felt that, especially freshman year, when I was kind of more unaware of like, oh, I can really like combine a lot of different things that I like. You just feel so much pressure just being able to pick one thing over the other, and you're like, “wait, but I like I love photography, I don't really want to lose that.” So yeah, you definitely feel the pressure, but I feel like having what you're studying in combination of what you're involved in outside of school that doesn't really feel like school, but you're still doing work that you love, is such a great way to really be able to have all of those skills and to grow within that.

Jason Meggyesy

When was that moment for you that you realized “this is my experience, and I don't have to cut off all those things?”

Annie David

I definitely think it was when I started to get more involved with Up, especially, and I also joined Advancing Women in Entrepreneurship. And it was a really cool organization, like, there's so many girls with an Advancing Woman and Entrepreneurship that are involved in so many different things. It's been really great to be part of that as well, and it definitely opened my eyes even more to, “hey, like, you don't have to live like within a certain mold.” And there's never going to be a dead end in your life. Like, you can always turn around, you can make those decisions, like, you're never going to be restricted in what you want to do, especially in college. It's such a great time to just really explore those opportunities, and we're here to learn as well. Like, you're here to learn what exactly what you want to do, and if you don't know right now, like, that's okay.

Jason Meggyesy

So now we're going to get into the gritty, the nitty gritty that I'm trying to hear. Up Magazine. Tell me about all of the roles that you have held within Up Magazine?

Annie David

Okay, so Up Magazine is Miami University’s fashion and lifestyle publication. So we kind of have these big projects throughout the year, producing like a whole magazine and releasing it and distributing it to our students. And then freshman year, I was a videographer and a print photographer. And then sophomore year, I became director of videography. So I was kind of in charge of the YouTube channel and also making content for our Instagram as well. And then junior year, I was director of photography. So in charge of … I think we had about 15 photographers for the magazine at that time. And now senior year, I'm creative director, so I'm kind of in charge of everything visual within the magazines. So the layout design, the fashion, the makeup, the hair, the photography and videography, and the social media.

Jason Meggyesy

You hear these words, like, the title “creative director.” and it's like, oh, it's such a cool thing and such a cool title to have. But what actually is it? So what does it actually mean to you to be the creative director?

Annie David

Yeah. To me, creative director means being able to collaborate with a bunch of different students that also have the same mindset of creating art that they're proud of and they want to showcase and they want to publish, and doing that all underneath the Up brand. So just really being able to collaborate with those people and kind of guide them as they work creatively on their different projects.

Jason Meggyesy

What aspects of yourself have you seen the most growth in as you've grown with the organization?

Annie David

Yeah. Kind of like what we were talking about earlier. I feel like it's almost parallel to my college experience, like, I kind of dipped my toes in a lot of different things within Up and it really showed me the importance of collaboration. So going on these different photo shoots and being able to work with a writer, the models, the makeup, the hair stylist, the videographer, the photographer, like, you have so many different roles that people love to do, and you all come together and kind of have the shared experience with one another. It really showed me that I don't really have to remain in one spot, like, there's always going to be a chance where you can meet new people, like, learn new things from different people. I love talking to people about what they love and what they're passionate about and just hearing their thoughts and opinions. And growing in that way, I think, has been really beneficial for Up, as well as just having that creative outlet on campus was super important to me. And I think being able to grow creatively and being in my dream role now for Up, it's just been great.

Jason Meggyesy

Yeah, that's awesome. So talk to me a little more about Advancing Women in Entrepreneurship. You talked about when you joined, but could you just give a little more detail about what it actually is, what you guys are doing, what your goals are?

Annie David

Yeah, definitely. So Advancing Women in Entrepreneurship is also known as AWE, and we have four different pillars that I think really does a good job of describing what we do, and it's radiant, pioneering, smart and brave. And my personal favorite is pioneering. Again, like it all comes back to like my freshman year self and what I felt. Like, just being able to create your own path and really just like start something new, being able to take chances and have that brave and radiant spirit. So it's a bunch of different girls, different majors, different colleges and we all come together and really just share that common goal of like finding our North star. Being able to support one another in that, and have these different workshops for different professional and personal development. And my favorite aspect of AWE was going on the “design your life trip.” So it was a study away program. And I went with 15 other Miami students and we visited Cincinnati for a week, and San Francisco for a week, and we met with different female entrepreneurs and leaders in different industries. And really just talked to them about their experience, both personally and professionally, and just being able to hear the wise words of all these very successful woman, and hearing their stories, and them being vulnerable. And AWE is really a great space for you to grow, and kind of realize that you don't have to follow a certain path. You can definitely create your own.

Jason Meggyesy

Yeah. So talk to us a little bit about your internship over the summer. I know it seems like it kind of was the culmination of all this turmoil going on freshman year and it just melted everything that you wanted to do together. Is that accurate?

Annie David

Yeah, very accurate. Yeah. So I worked at URBN, which consists of many different brands, but most notably Urban Outfitters, Free people and Anthropology. And so, I worked with a brand called Nuuly, which is a clothing subscription service. So you go online, you rent six different items of clothing of your choice, they ship it to you, you get to wear it for a month, you ship it back and it was just really cool to be able to explore that space. Because I think more and more people are having closets that are more secondhand and environmentally friendly and sustainable. And so, it was really cool to explore that space. And I was a customer insights intern. So I was in the marketing and customer success department, but doing more of their data analytics and developing insights including dashboards. But yeah, I loved it.

Jason Meggyesy

So kind of tying it back to school. What if any professors or teachers or mentors have you had on campus that have been influential to your whole experience?

Annie David

Yeah, I definitely have to say. My junior year, first semester I had a Professor Paul Hunter, he teaches marketing 419, which is digital branding. And kind of like what we talked about earlier, the pie shaped marketer, he was the one that brought about this concept. And I was like, “wow, I'm really gonna love this class.” And so, we had a semester long project where we were to explore just the whole like digital branding and marketing of any brand of our choosing. And I actually chose Nuuly. And so, I ended up conducting all that research, ended up being like a 50 power point slide and really got to know the brand before I started working there. So

Jason Meggyesy

So it was an easy hire, definitely.

Annie David

Yeah. Yeah. He's been super influential and just being able to have like more real world experience within a classroom. I think he definitely emphasizes that. And yeah, just really opened my eyes to all the possibilities within digital marketing.

Jason Meggyesy

What's next for Annie David? In the next few months? In the next few years? Whatever you want to say.

Annie David

I feel like I wouldn't have been comfortable saying this a few years ago, but I don't know. And I think there's a lot of beauty in that. Not really sure where I want to land, but I definitely feel a lot more grounded in what I'm confident with what I want to pursue. Definitely interested in digital marketing, fashion retail, all these different things that I feel like I will be able to combine within the next few years.

Jason Meggyesy

If you had a time machine, you could go back and talk to Annie David freshman year, 18 years old. What's one piece of advice that you give her?

Annie David

I would tell her to stop worrying and to stop comparing herself to others. I think, a lot of the times, I felt so much pressure and I was like, “oh my gosh, all my friends know what they're doing. They have their career plan like set out and they're going to go straight to that.” And I found myself really comparing myself to other students and kind of wanting to be like them. Like, oh, “I wish I kind of had it all together.” But at the end of the day, I think none of us really have it together. We all, personally, like, truly don't know what we're doing. But I think there's so much like beauty in that because we can all empathize with one another. And really just, like, I would tell her that you need to take the next four years to just learn and grow and lean on other people. Because we're all in this together.

Jason Meggyesy

Your gonna make me cry. That was beautiful. Alright Annie, thank you so much for being on. We enjoyed this conversation.

Annie David

Yeah. Thank you for having me. It was great.

Jason Meggyesy

Annie David is a senior studying marketing, business analytics, and emerging technology and business and design. And she's considering a career in digital marketing, fashion retail, and branding after graduation. And thank you for listening to Major Insight. If you enjoyed this podcast, share with your friends or anyone interested in navigating college life. Many more episodes are now available wherever you get your podcast.

SHOW NOTES:

Featured Majors: 

Marketing, Business Analytics

Emerging Technology in Business + Design

Featured Organizations and Internships:

• UP Magazine

• Advancing Women in Entrepreneurship

• Miami University Fashion & Design (MUF&D)

• URBN/Nuuly Customer Insights Internship

• Mega Fair

Faculty Shout Outs:

• Paul Hunter, Farmer School of Business Marketing Instructor

Career Clusters:

Economics and Data Analytics

Arts, Communication, Media and Design