We sat down with University of Iowa junior Elle Kaiser, who represents Victoria’s Secret PINK. We asked her about the responsibilities of her job, the current competition among schools across the nation, and what she enjoys in her spare time.
Daily Iowan: What is your job title?
Kaiser: I am one of the two campus representative for Victoria’s Secret PINK and the University of Iowa.
DI: What are your responsibilities?
Kaiser: I represent PINK at the University of Iowa and connect the campus to PINK at the national level. I create awareness of the PINK brand and the PINK Collegiate Collection on campus by hosting events on campus and promoting Pink Nation. I also blog on the Campus Rep website about fashion trends on the Iowa campus.
DI: How did you get involved with this job?
Kaiser: I found it in HireaHawk, which is found in the UI Career Center. I’m a journalism and mass communications major, which is why I liked this opportunity.
DI: What are some the events that you havehosted?
Kaiser: In August, we set up a pop-up store featuring new items from the PINK Collegiate Collection at Fry Fest, and in November, we had a fashion show Viewing Party at the IMU where students could come to watch the fashion show, eat food, and receive freebies from PINK. Throughout the fall, we also planned and executed the PINK Happy Project, a clothing drive in which we collected around 2,000 items that we donated to the Crowded Closet in Iowa City.
This spring, we hosted a Fitness Party with UI Bollywood Team, and we also profiled several fitness instructors from the university to see what they liked and disliked about the PINK Yoga Collection.
Throughout the year, we take pictures of female UI students who we feel exemplify fashion at the university, and after the pictures are submitted to PINK, they are featured on vspink.com under the “Style U” section. Currently, we are promoting an online competition — the PINK Nation Collegiate Showdown.
DI: What is thecompetition?
Kaiser: It is 59 college schools against each other with one school as the winner. The winner gets a free concert. Last year, the winner had Victoria’s Secret models show up, and Drake, as well as a pop-up store featuring a bunch of new clothes featuring their school. The competition started April 1 and goes until April 21. (As of April 11, the UI was in second place.)
DI: Does the company tell you what to do? How does it work?
Kaiser: All of the campus representatives from the 59 schools have an account in a special PINK website that functions sort of like a Facebook page. We blog, share pictures, and participate in surveys about new products and fashion trends on campus.
DI: What’s your favorite part of the job?
Kaiser: My favorite part is being able to connect people to the PINK brand. I love PINK, and I love the Hawkeyes, so this internship has been a great way to combine my interest in fashion with my love of the UI. Seeing the huge response to the Collegiate Showdown has also been amazing, and it is exciting for me to see other people are as excited about VS PINK as I am — we definitely deserve to win. I’m honored to be a rep for Victoria’s Secret and the brand.
DI: What are the hard parts of your job?
Kaiser: Sometimes, it’s hard figuring out how to spread awareness. I can’t be in residence halls because of soliciting rules, so it can be tricky. It’s a lot of trial and error. It’s interesting to see how different colleges represent PINK and their rules.
DI: Aside from your job with PINK, what else do you like to do?
Kaiser: I like to run; I’m attempting to train for a triathlon right now. I am also studying for the LSAT. I follow fashion and trends, which is another reason I was interested in this job.
