BOLD Alumna, Isabella Garcia, Talks on Influencer Marketing
BOLD started October off strong by welcoming Isabella Garcia to talk about influencer marketing and what that job can entail. She is a fellow BOLD alumna and works as an Influencer Agent Assistant for Wilhelmina, one of the world’s leading modeling and talent agencies. The agency was given an opportunity to learn about Garcia’s work journey and what she did to get there.
Isabella Garcia began her ‘Influencer Marketing 101’ presentation by introducing herself to the agency. She is someone who describes herself as a fangirl, loves to follow trends on social media, and has an intrigue with the entertainment industry. Garcia graduated in the Fall of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communications. During her time at FIU, she was very involved within different clubs and organizations. Within BOLD, she was an Account Executive, a Public Relations Specialist, and Social Media Specialist. Outside of the agency, Isabella was a Staff Writer for HerCampus FIU, a Street Team Member for the Homecoming Council, and was the Social Media Chair for Alpha Xi Delta.
Prior to landing her current position at Wilhelmina, Isabella Garcia did two internships outside of BOLD. This includes The Webster, where she worked in public relations and marketing from June to November of 2021. Alongside this, she worked as an Amazon Prime Campus Ambassador for Riddle & Bloom. Her extracurriculars and internships combined gave her amazing experience opportunities and insight into what a career in that field would look like. This led to Isabella talking about her current job and what she does in influencer marketing.
Wilhelmina International is a talent and modeling agency that is headquartered in New York City, but has offices in other major cities like Miami. The company has different divisions such as Aperture Talent and WillySocial. Garcia works within the WillySocial division as it is for influencer media. Within her presentation, she mentioned how they offer influencers full management with access to major brands. Isabella Garcia offered the agency a breakdown of how brand deals come about and how they are negotiated. During her time at Wilhelmina, she has had the opportunity to work for brands such as Gucci, L’Occitane, Walt Disney, and many more. She describes her role as being the “middle man”, having worked with some agencies like Hangar Four, Purple, and Edelman in her position. As an influencer agent assistant, Garcia’s role includes maintaining multiple content calendars, brainstorming content ideas, doing invoices, and ensuring posts go live at the right time. She has also been able to attend events to help shoot content, find new influencers for Wilhelmina, and manage PR packages.
Isabella Garcia closed off her presentation by explaining why one should consider going into influencer marketing and why she chose to. For her, she has always loved the entertainment business but would never like to be at the front of it. She loves the behind-the-scenes work that goes on and what she gets to do within her role at Wilhelmina. The BOLD agency learned in great detail about a potential career path and were able to connect with her. The members were highly engaged throughout, as they asked questions and were able to take away more from the presentation.
Click here to connect with Isabella!
BOLD is a student-run strategic communications agency at Florida International University. Click here to learn more.
Written by: Jefrany D’catry, Director of Public Relations