Creative Profile: Kezia Blake shares how fashion and a passion for social media led her to creative communications

In this new feature, Creative Moment showcases creative talent from across the industry.

We will talk to new, young, up-and-coming talent, as well as established creatives who have a great story to tell of how they got to where they are today, and advice they might like to offer those starting out in the industry.

It's a chance to show-off some of the outstanding thinkers, creators and makers who are shaping the creative industry of the future.

Today, it's the turn of Kezia Blake, social content co-ordinator at Aduro Communications.

What's your story?

I started by studying fashion buying and merchandising at the Fashion Retail Academy in London. In my final year, I moved more towards marketing and social media, creating my own streetwear brand and store for my final project. This is when I really delved into social media and marketing, understanding how to use platforms to market a brand. 

From there, I took an internship for a small start-up sunglasses company where I created, planned, shot and analysed all content, as well as organising photoshoots across multiple platforms. 

I then became a buyer for M&S – Jaeger. This was also about understanding how clothing companies really crunch the numbers in order to meet margins, but not compromising on sustainability or quality for its consumers. 

Whilst I learnt some invaluable skills at my time at M&S, I really missed the creativity of social media and creating content, which led to me applying to Aduro! I was used to managing 20+ suppliers at one time, so an agency seemed like the perfect fit for me.

Where are you now in your career?

Day to day, I manage multiple social media platforms, community managing the platforms as well as posting to them daily and trend watching for any reactive content that is suitable for the brands. 

I create content daily from graphics, more user generated content-style reels, as well as copywriting. We also manage photoshoots, which is something I’ve always wanted to do!

What advice would you give to others, knowing what you know now?

Skills are always transferable. I didn’t study social media or have lots of experience in agency life but took useful learnings from other aspects of my career to build my social skills. 

I’ve also learnt that it’s okay to make mistakes and not know what you want to do! 

I wanted to try buying as this is what I had studied, but quickly realised this wasn’t for me. However, having this experience under my belt really helped me with understanding client management and managing multiple accounts simultaneously.

What do you want to see in your next brief?

I love campaigns where there is the opportunity to live and breathe diversity. 

Speaking to a community so they feel seen and being given the opportunity to work with communities to truly resonate with multiple people, not just have one storyline for one audience.