Author: Jasmin Sessoms

The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 8 – In the Bag

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Wonderfully Random,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

 I have to admit, my mother has better style than I do. Although you may not think so, there are so many fashion trends that spurred from our parents’ and our grandparents’ time.

For me, fashion is easiest to think about as an ever-revolving door. What goes around comes back around-especially when it comes to fashion. It’s sometimes difficult to keep track of styles that are timeless.

Perusing through old pictures of my mother in college is proof. Afros, bell bottoms, halter tops, high-waisted shorts and crop tops were all the rage then. Fast-forward three decades to Fayetteville State University and you will find many students walking around campus wearing the same styles.

For many, vintage is a fashion inspiration. There so many new fashion moguls emerging, while icons like Jackie Kennedy still have styles that live on today. I am constantly trying to integrate my vintage finds into modern ones and describe myself as “vintage chic.”

Recently, I raided my mom’s closet and ran across her collection of vintage handbags. Although I have a million purses (or at least it seems like I do), I find that quality isn’t something that many designers today care about as much. In my mothers closet I found the most amazing stash of Dooney & Bourke as well as Coach bags. Since my mother keeps everything like new, they are all in the original duster bag. Perfect leather with a little bit of vintage flare. My friends would kill to get their hands on these bags.

As a gift for getting my first professional job at Clairemont, my mother handed down her leather briefcase that she too used at her first job in Raleigh. Symbolic, yes. Being able to carry my mother’s precious bag really warms my heart.

So, do you have any vintage clothes from your parent’s closets? Or do you hold on to certain articles of clothing with the hopes that they will one day be back in style?

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 7 – Event Planning

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Marketing, ,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

Little girls love to play dress up, and as a child I remember wanting to put on my mothers shoes and clothes and was often caught playing in her makeup.

Kids today especially fancy Disney Princesses, although I thoroughly enjoyed Cinderella; I never requested to go to school in the costume or demanded her at my birthday party.

The realization that children obsess over these characters hit me when the newest Disney Princess was released. Elsa, from Frozen. Queen Elsa of Arendelle or the snow queen, is the protagonist of Disney’s Award winning 2013 animated feature film.

Elsa is voiced by Idina Menzel and serves Disney as the 13th princess and very first queen. Elsa possesses the magical powers to control ice, frost and snow and has taken the Disney world and children’s hearts by storm.

I know you have to be reading this wondering, what does this have to do with PR? Well, one of our clients is interested in having Elsa at an event.

At Clairemont, our task is to find the most authentic Elsa impersonator that is realistic and believable for the children to enjoy. The Clairemont team has to do the groundwork to not only make the client happy, but also bring smiles to little girl’s faces when they see their idol walk through the door.

Think that’s an easy task? No way. Every company in the Triangle boasts to having the “best” Elsa.

After doing research and narrowing down the best girl for the job, budget became a concern. Many companies carrying the best costumes and wigs don’t come at a cheap price, and without freezing the clients budget it was back to the drawing board.

The team had a new dilemma. Will the character draw enough interest to justify the added cost? Will bringing in the character distract from the company’s event?

With all of these factors in mind, we turned to costume shops in the Triangle, and apparently, we aren’t the only ones after an Elsa costume. One company had the costume booked through April. So yes, we believe Elsa will indeed draw children singing, “Let it Go” (her theme song) to our event.

Now all we have to do is relay all of this information to the client, and see if he too will jump onto the Frozen bandwagon.

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 6 – Grand Openings

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

What makes a song bluegrass? Searching the web could possibly lead you to a million different definitions. Simply put bluegrass is a style of acoustic music that originated in the 1940’s. Bluegrass has often been referred to as “America’s music”.

There are many distinctions of bluegrass from the typical country sound. Bluegrass usually has a lonesome musical sound with instrumentation of the banjo, guitar, stand-up bass, fiddle and mandolin.

All of these things never really mattered to me until I was tasked to figure out who’s who among America’s vast list of bluegrass bands for a client. My search ranged from North Carolina to Tennessee.

The Clairemont team’s job is to pinpoint an amazing main stage act that will draw the community out, and bring more word-of-mouth advertising for the client’s event.

During my search, I learned some agents don’t even want to talk with you if you aren’t mentioning big money. I didn’t take it personally, instead I opted to tell them there was no real budget and I was looking for the best in the business.

Although I have never experienced haggling with music agents, I think I did a pretty good job. I reminded myself that they are regular people just like me. Every agent I contact needs my business just as bad as I need their band.

After a series of dead end calls, and a few bounce-back emails, I finally had a breakthrough. I spoke with a few agents that were willing to work with us.

Throughout the day, it seems that my list has grown tremendously from five to 15 bands. All afternoon I have been receiving calls from national recording artist reps and I have to say, I feel special.

If you are ever in need of a bluegrass band as a main act at an event, make sure to stop by the Clairemont House and see me! I have added at least twenty bands and contacts to my repertoire.

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 5 – “Business Casual”

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Fashion, , ,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

It’s your first day at work. Your boss lets you know that the dress code is “business casual”. Honestly, you don’t know what that means; you rack your brain trying to think about exactly what that is. You leave your stuffy suit behind and decide to wear your strapless sundress. When you arrive to work, your co-workers look nothing like you. Embarrassed, you realize that a little clarity on business casual is needed.
For many recent grads just like me, the days of throwing on sweat pants and a t-shirt just to make it to class are long gone. My mornings before class would be hectic and frustrating if I had no clue what I was wearing. During my undergrad days, I somehow expected my closet to work magic for me (not!).

Transitioning into the work force means new clothes, and I was ecstatic about trading my TOMS for heels and my Levi’s for slacks. Business casual may seem simplistic to some, but I find that a lot of people have a hard time understanding exactly how to dress for work.

Appropriate attire may be discussed a few times during the undergraduate experience, but when you enter the working world, you are bombarded with the realization that business professional (compared to business casual) has distinct rules.

The definition of business casual is vague, and a lot of times there is no general agreement. Factors that affect the dress code at work include the size of the company, the climate outside and the culture of the workplace. The office expectation here at Clairemont is business casual with the understanding that formal events may require business professional.
Here are a few tips that I generated if you, or anyone you know, fears being a little too causal at work.

1) Less isn’t more. For the business world I have found that showing a ton of skin isn’t in vogue. Dress with modesty.
2) Play it safe; slacks and/or khakis are your best bet if opting for pants.
3) Jeans are not considered business casual.
4) Dresses and skirts should reach knee length or longer. Avoid skirts with low cuts or high slits.
5) Knit shirts, sweaters and polos work great with mixing and matching.
6) Strapless tops and dresses should be avoided at all costs.
7) Open-toed shoes are acceptable, but be careful with flip flops and sandals in the summer.
8) Blazers or sports coats can help to polish your look.

Double-check yourself with a few more questions:
1) Would I wear this to bed?
2) Would I wear this to the bar?
3) Would I wear this to a Halloween costume party?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, choose something else for the workday. Hope this helps someone tomorrow morning!

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The Beauty of Raleigh PR: Day 4 – #officedogs

Jasmin SessomsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency,

Editor’s Note: Clairemont enthusiastically welcomes Jasmin Sessoms to our team! Follow this former beauty queen’s journey as she documents her first 30 days in a Raleigh PR agency.

Team meetings are typically stuffy and irritating. Everyone has suffered from meetings that have taken up far too much time and accomplished far too little. At Clairemont, that is not the case. Picture a round table discussion with around 30-plus years of PR experience combined and Jimmy Johns sandwiches. Perfection.

This morning we all sat down for a collaborative brainstorming session. New business, current clients and networking ideas were all on the agenda. Finding new clients is exciting for me. I look forward to the day where I will lead account projects.

Today, we had a very special member of the team with us in the meeting. Billy, Mrs. Hughen’s sweet dog and our CMO (chief motivational officer). Interestingly enough, Mrs. Hughens had a dog named PR when she was 10. As a dog lover myself, I couldn’t be happier to make his acquaintance.

Catching a glimpse of Billy’s tail wagging around the office isn’t just cute, studies show that dogs in the workplace could even save your life. According to the University of Virginia Commonwealth researchers, studies have shown that dogs in the workplace help workers to feel less stressed, as well as open the door for conversations that may not have occurred other times between co-workers.

The Centers for Disease Control have released statements about stress-reducing benefits. I think that allowing dogs in the workplace is a great idea. Billy resting his head on my lap for a rub made me feel warm.

I also think that having dogs in the office encourage creativity. Or maybe that’s coffee?

Either way, having Billy around makes the office a better place, and collaborative team meetings encourage collaborative learning. It doesn’t get any better than that.

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