Target Corporation, Senior Scenic Specialist with Ashley

Transcript

With an academic program that’s been seamlessly blended, between the two colleges for over 50 years, St. Ben’s and St. John’s together offer over 70 areas of study. Ashley’s gonna show us how Benny’s and Johnny’s have the opportunity to blaze their own trails. Ashley is just one of thousands of successful alums doing great things out in the world. Ashley, it’s all yours.

– Thanks, Alex. Hi, everyone. Growing up, I was drawn to art and fashion and knew I wanted to study something creatively. I just wasn’t sure where or what to do with it. Honestly, one of the first things that drew me to St. Ben’s, was the fact that my great aunt is a sister at the order of St. Benedict and St. Benedict’s Monastery. The presence of the sisters on campus and the monks at St. John’s Abbey, help make St. Ben’s and St. John’s feel like home. The sisters empower Benny’s to become strong individuals. As a first year, I was hesitant about a major, art or global business. Then my photography professor suggested I customize my own major in design. From there, I found opportunities everywhere. I worked in the costume shop at the Benedict Art Center where I learned how to sew and design. I got to learn illustration design in an internship at a local brewery. I was an apparel designer for a student run t-shirt company. I was accepted into the Entrepreneur Scholarship program where I launched and ran a business. I earned a grant to design sew and photograph my own collection of sustainable fashion. This community was here for me at every turn, and when I graduated, I depended on over 10 Benny alumni for help with my resume and positioning myself for success. Fast forward, I now work full-time at Target’s creative headquarters in Minneapolis. I’m able to collaborate with stylists and art directors to photograph Target owned brand products. Whatever major you choose or create at St. Ben and St. John’s, you’ll be gaining much more than a classroom education. It’s the community that stayed with me beyond graduation. I gained lifelong friendships in a place that helped shape my life. That’s all for me. Back to you, Alex.

– Wow, Ashley, your passion for expressing yourself artistically is truly inspiring, and your drive to channel that passion in marketable directions has definitely prepared you to succeed at Target and beyond. You’re gonna make the world a more beautiful place and we can’t wait to see it. Keep it up.