SELECTED WORK —

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WORK TYPE

Visual Identity & Content Creation
Event Coordination
Photography & Editing

ROLE

Historian

TOOLS & PROGRAMS

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom

AUG 24 - MAY 25

: A new era for Hallyu Members.

Hallyu is a social organization at the University of Houston that aims to educate & spread Korean culture while uniting students through different forms of media including dance, food, & entertainment.

As Hallyu’s historian, I developed Hallyu’s rebrand for the incoming year & organized events alongside my officer board, including cupsleeve event print + promotional materials created from member interest.

Challenge

Declining membership was a big problem for Hallyu, meaning less funding for Hallyu activities and events.With previous members graduating & leaving, we needed to garner more interest than ever for Hallyu in the incoming year, when freshman would be hunting for clubs to join.

Solution

An updated look to Hallyu’s Instagram, matching student tastes in events, aesthetics, & activities.A Hallyu-hosted event in the interest of members and the general public celebrating a popular K-pop group’s new comeback album.

Developing Hallyu’s Instagram direction for the new year, I focused on two key areas for theming:

— DEFINE

What is “Hallyu”? What does it look like in a club setting?

— REFINE

What can we implement to gain k-pop fan & member interest? What’s trending with students interested in Korean culture & music?

Hallyu, The Korean Wave

Hallyu encompasses the global popularity in Korean entertainment & culture, including music, TV, & film.From the rise of Korean dramas & pop music in the 1990s, its meaning has expanded to include Korean culture & language, where global communities come together to celebrate the Korean wave.

HALLYU AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Established in 2012, Hallyu Club at UH brings students interested in Korean culture & entertainment together. Hallyu celebrates Korean holidays, hosts Korean food-making activities, dance workshops, & notably, activities centered around K-Pop.

New Wave

During my time as a member & intern under the officer board, I observed how K-pop & its fan culture became a driving force in club participation. Activities like photocard trading & decorating, dance challenges, & karaoke encouraged consistent attendance in meetings & socials.Looking closer, a trend was shared among fan-favorite artists, who sported cyber, futuristic concepts in their visual identities & music.

This inspired Hallyu’s new direction: Attract non-member k-pop fans through visuals reflecting trending k-pop group concepts.Aespa, a popular girl-group known for these futuristic visuals & sounds, became a key reference for Hallyu’s posts, promoting club socials, meetings, & activities targeted towards member interests.

What's a Cupsleeve Event?

K-pop fan cupsleeves are fan-hosted gatherings intended to celebrate k-pop artist activities such as new albums, artist birthdays, concert dates, & anniversaries, commonly held in boba & tea shops.Cupsleeves for drinks are created for attendees to collect & memorialize their experiences, & vendors are invited to sell/trade photocards, albums & fan-created merchandise enjoyed by k-pop fans.As a club heavily populated with k-pop fans, hosting a cupsleeve event for members was a no-brainer. Additionally, it became an opportunity to showcase Hallyu activities to non-members.

Cupsleeve Creation & Event Organization

We surveyed members on their preference for the cupsleeve theme, where Aespa’s latest album release, Armageddeon, was ultimately selected.Alongside our Instagram graphics, I designed the physical cupsleeve for the event, & contributed decorations such as albums, photo hangings, & photobooth props for attendee use.

Reflection

Hallyu & the success of our cupsleeve event fostered my love for the ins and outs of event promotion & coordination. Through my officer position in Hallyu, I gained hands-on experience in developing promotional materials, designing event spaces, & coordinating with vendors on-site.

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Creating Community at an Anime Store

WORK TYPE

Content Creation
Photography & Editing

ROLE

Blog Intern

TOOLS & PROGRAMS

WordPress (SEO/HTML)
Instagram Reels

JAN 23 - MAY 23

: Brand Rep & Blogging for Houston.

Partnering with local businesses & brands, Texas Tasty promotes events & branded social media content to an audience spanning its blog, TV, 512 Degrees Podcast, & social media, including an Instagram following of 200K+ Followers.

I represented Texas Tasty at Houston-based events & trending restaurants through blog writing, photography, & short-form video content promoting attendance & awareness reaching over 300K Instagram views.

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Crafting a Story for Nurturing Care

WORK TYPE

Content Creation & Strategy
Photography & Editing

ROLE

Social Media Intern

TOOLS & PROGRAMS

Canva
Zoho Socials
Shopify

SEPT 24 - DEC 24

: Crafting a story for nurturing care.

Nurtured by Design creates trauma-informed, evidence-based solutions that support the connection between families from pregnancy to postpartum. Their product ecosystem, The Zaky, provides benefits of nurturing touch, regulation, growth, & overall child development.

As a Social Media Intern, I identified challenges within The Zaky’s social media channels & executed a social media strategy on Instagram & Facebook for 100+ scheduled posts, updating & optimizing Shopify product photos on the side.

01 — SOCIAL MEDIA

These 100+ scheduled posts through Zoho Socials were overseen by Nurtured by Design. This social media strategy highlights The Zaky's commitment to parents through research, care, & conversation.

02 — SHOPIFY PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography and optimization of The Zaky's products on listed on Shopify were based. Below is a brief look into combinations & product varieties available upon making product details & combinations clear for shoppers.

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Conversations for Research & Community

WORK TYPE

Content Creation
Photography & Editing

ROLE

Social Media Manager

TOOLS & PROGRAMS

Canva
Adobe Lightroom

MAY 24 - MAY 25

: Conversations for research & community.

At my time at the University of Houston, I managed & created social media content for The Social Media & Inclusive Health Lab.

As Social Media Manager, I led the lab’s mission in showcasing lab research, connecting to communities around social media + mental health, & sharing student opportunities for university events and lab participation.

Challenge

Being newly formed, the SMIH Lab had little visibility within the Digital Media program & audiences outside the lab.With no existing social media presence, we had a blank slate to build up & establish the lab online from scratch.

Goal

Make Digital Media students & relevant audiences aware of our lab.Encourage interested Digital Media program students to become lab members.

Solution

• A discovery phase to determine our identity, our audience, & content we would share.• An execution phase turning our ideas into social media content through research & community.

I built my strategy for The SMIH Lab’s social media presence through three key categories:

— DEFINE

What is the SMIH Lab? What do we do, stand for, & want to communicate?

— SHARE

What should we showcase online? Are there activities, events, & people that should be highlighted in our content?

— CONNECT

What would interest students in joining the lab? How do we turn interested students into members?

Lab Purpose

Our interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research lab focused on understanding social behavior, emerging technologies, communication technologies, & overall well-being in diverse populations with researchers, health-care professionals, & community.

Our lab activities revolved primarily around our research & ongoing papers, as well as findings in the convergence between well-being & social media.

Research & Meetings

With research being the lab’s primary focus, we needed to highlight projects & collaborative research done by our team.Our ongoing Aphasia Research, which concentrated on their understanding of information in written versus verbal communication modes, was a highlight in our lab updates.To keep followers updated on our lab progress, documentation of our monthly meetings through photography & summary would add to our social media content.

Community Reflection

Our research was meant to be discussed within the community; a part of the conversation to further awareness & knowledge in understanding social behaviors, technologies, & well-being.While showcasing our own findings, we had a responsibility to inform & bring awareness for current topics & new findings in the community. We brought this value into our social media content, becoming a way to connect with those interested in our work.

The Digital Media Program

The lab is closely connected to its programs curriculum such as the Social Media Applications & Analytics class, which discusses social behaviors & online communities.

This became an opportunity to reach attending students through the class who valued social media research & encourage membership within the lab.We aimed to further encourage students through shared research opportunities within the lab & program.

Branding

To establish the SMIH Lab’s online presence, the lab’s previous branding was translated into social media headers & icons with updated colors and typography.

Most notably centered was the at symbol (@), containing symbols of health, social media, & diverse populations.

CONTENT & CONNECTION

Content was grouped into three categories, reflecting the lab's core values.

2.1 — Inform

Through behind-the-scenes photography, we highlighted the lab’s ongoing research and projects, giving students a closer look at the work within our space & encourage them to join in on our initiatives.

2.2 — Educate

To engage with current issues surrounding social media and wellbeing, I researched & referenced academic papers & social media insights, turning findings into informative graphics.

2.3 — Report

Lastly, our socials encouraged student engagement by sharing program opportunities such as workshops & conferences, alongside monthly meeting updates in the lab.

Reflection

Primarily defining the lab's core values allowed us to reflect its identity & connect with students interested in lab involvement ranging from social media, health, research, & technology. Additionally, this framework aided planning content consistently through a checklist format of thinking.

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A New Era for Hallyu Members

WORK TYPE

Content Strategy
Photography & Editing

ROLES

Social Media Analytics
Client Presentation Designer
Photography Editor

TOOLS & PROGRAMS

Canva
Instagram & Facebook Analytics

JAN 25 - MAY 25

: MARKETING STRATEGY FOR DOWNTOWN ANTIQUES.

Nestled on a small antique street in Rosenburg, Portilla Home & Garden is a furniture & plant shop offering furniture repairs & design consultations, paint, plants, & DIY workshops.

With my team, we developed a marketing strategy including a social media audit, content calendar creation, & supporting photography to strengthen Portilla's social media & branding, increase in-person traffic, & drive sales.

Challenge

Portilla had no tangible strategy behind posting, & little growth for visitors & followers.

Goal

Social media engagement should convert to:• in-person visitors.
• clientele.
• workshop attendees.

Solution

• A revisit & strengthening to the brand identity.• Establishing an audience to connect to through personas & competitor insights.• An in-depth look into Portilla's social media performance.• A strategic post calendar for best practices, & KPIs to track success.

We started by asking key questions about Portilla, their audience, & their content:

— Who is Portilla?

What is Portilla as a brand? What values and voice shape its personality? Who does Portilla aim to reach?

— Who is visiting Portilla?

How can we better understand their needs & draw new customers in? How does Portilla stand out among competitors?

— What & where does Portilla post?

How does Portilla perform, & what content is most engaging? What does Portilla’s target audience want to see?

Portilla's Story

Specializing in custom home furnishings, Portilla emphasizes building a strong client-relationship for a highly curated consultation process and experience. From refurbishing to arrangement & decoration services, Portilla works closely with clients to create the home of their dreams.Portilla offers a multitude of products and services to help a client on their decor journey, including DIY workshops that shares their expertise on custom furniture.

Translation to Branding

We centered Portilla’s relationship-driven service using a friendly voice encouraging guests to explore furniture in their style.Portilla’s typography and color palette reflects an organic, creative, & welcoming atmosphere, allowing clients feel comfortable throughout the consultation process and browsing experience.

Personas

To understand customers, we created personas to represent their personalities, needs, & interests.

Process

Surveying over 30 unique individuals via Google Forms, we collected demographic data & insights for current & potential Portilla shoppers. Personas were created from the trends of groups of individuals with similar answers, including lifestyle, media consumption, & buying habits.

Competitive Analysis

Portilla's direct & indirect competitors were examined to understand the market of similar stores. We implemented these findings into Portilla’s marketing strategy to showcase what made them different.Across the street from Portilla are its direct competitors: furniture stores offering products such as plants and antiques with a social media presence.Additionally, we considered Portilla’s indirect competitors, chain furniture stores like IKEA & Rooms-To-Go, with their strengths in convenience and affordability.

NEIGHBORING STORES DIDN'T HAVE

• A face of social media, connecting Portilla owner Chelsea directly to customers.• A decorated & picturesque storefront experience, as opposed to a typical furniture store layout.• Portilla’s workshops — inviting non-customers to spend time in Portilla’s space & experience their paint and decorating products firsthand.

CHAIN FURNITURE STORES DIDN'T HAVE

• Portilla’s personal connection to their customers through the custom-design process & antique buying process, making each piece one-of-a-kind.• A third place for customers to make a trip out of, where visitors could leisure in & attend workshops.

Why Social Media?

Social Media allows businesses to connect with their audience & motivate them to make a decision. For Portilla, social media can attract potential furniture customers, store visitors &/or workshop attendees. To achieve these goals, every post must have a purpose.

Scrolling Through

Through Portilla's analytics on Portilla’s Facebook & Instagram, we presented their social media activity & presence. Some percentages & graphics have been omitted for privacy.

Main Takeaways

We needed to create a strategy that motivated people to engage with Portilla (& convert to a sale).Additionally, we needed to afford the opportunity to engage, such as linking Portilla's website listings and workshops, adding information for convenience, & posting at peak times for both non-followers & followers.

Certain post formats performed better. Instagram users viewed reels and liked multi-photo carousel product photos. Facebook users engaged with videos & posts with links attached.Potential to gear content towards more young adult women. The overwhelming majority of Portilla’s audience identified as women over the age of over the age of 35, leaving an opportunity to engage with a younger audience of clients, customers, workshop attendees.Underutilized social media features. Instagram stories were not actively being shared to its following, & Portilla could further connect with local users through Facebook features such as Communities.Engagement had potential to improve. While views peaked at Instagram carousel and Facebook video content, comments interacting with customers & visits to Portilla’s website lacked.

Strategy Implementation

We tailored Portilla’s Instagram & Facebook strategy for best social media practices, including post dates, times, content, formats, & captions.

Rationale

Content would highlight what makes Portilla unique, encourage replies, be relevant to their audience, & reach out to users on popular platform features like Stories and Reels.This strategy would expand Portilla’s reach, eventually converting engaged followers into new clients through a click of their website link.

Key Performance Indicators

We established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track the impact of our social media strategy & adjust for improvement if these KPIs were not met.

At the end of the month, we proposed metric goals on Instagram & Facebook to define our strategy as a success.

Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of structure in solving client challenges, turning our process into a clear path towards success on Portilla's terms.

By structuring our approach from the ground up, we helped Portilla identify challenges in its social media performance, highlight brand strengths against competitors, & build a strategy around its target audience & our proposed content calendar.Key performance indicators, based in our audit of Portilla's social media performance, provided a way to measure success & make adjustments to its strategy as needed.

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Brand Rep & Blogging for Houston