PR girl Jennifer Gomez has always had a deeply rooted passion for the fashion industry. Her love for celebrities and music drove her to move to LA in 2010. Her work experience as the Visual Standards Director for Bebe, Inc. and Fashion Accessories Merchandiser for Bloomingdales developed her obsession with the fashion industry and spurred her career in PR. She joined the Kenwerks team in 2010 and quickly excelled in developing relationships with key fashion editors, Hollywood stylists, celebrity trendsetters and style icons. She recently got promoted to VP of Women’s division and is packing up and heading to the East Coast.
I’ve always loved fashion and knew I would end up working in the fashion industry. My best friend, Dana introduced me to my now boss, Ken Loo. They had worked together at Ben Sherman, and I was new to Los Angeles so Dana made the intro. Ken had just started Kenwerks and would hire me part-time for events and different activations he was doing for clients. When he was ready to bring on a Jr. Publicist full time he offered me the job!
Thank you! It’s so rewarding to be a part of the growth and success that Kenwerks has accomplished in 6 short years. Firstly, my new role will move me to NYC to grow and identify opportunities in our women’s division as well as oversee all PR and marketing efforts for our women’s clients. We currently represent some great women’s brands and I am looking to grow our roster of our clients by finding those up and coming women’s brands who need PR and marketing services to elevate their success.
Our office is really fun and unique, especially because our LA showroom is a house, so our decor and aesthetic is really cool. We have stylists walking in all day, music playing, samples being pulled and sometimes I bring my little Chihuahua Divitt to work with me so she will run around and bark at everyone which keeps things light hearted and interesting around here.
I am currently planning our Kenwerks FW15 press days in NYC, and also packing up my West Hollywood apartment because I am making the move across country to the big apple!”
COFFEE, I can’t put together a sentence without it in the morning! Google Drive is a must-have app because I can access all my clients files from my phone on the go. My wireless hotspot is a life saver when I’m on remote client shoots and wifi is not accessible.
We specialize in brands that are either looking to launch here in the US or are already established but looking to re-brand and re-create themselves. We love to work with up and coming designers and brands and be a part of their success from the start.
Getting promoted to VP of our Women’s Division has definitely been a proud moment this year. I have worked my way up from assistant level, fast forward 6 years later being promoted to VP and overseeing our entire women’s business. It’s still pretty surreal to me but hard works does pay off and I’m excited for the future and whats to come.
My favorite quote is “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.” Everyone has to start somewhere and in my experience, you are most valuable when you can be the jack-of-all-trades in this industry. PR has evolved so much in the past couple of years that you really need to be evolving with the times and learn quickly how to think outside of the box.
PR has evolved so much in the past couple of years that you really need to be evolving with the times and learn quickly how to think outside of the box.
Most of our clients come from word of mouth and other clients telling their friends about the work we do and so fourth. Our agency provides so many different services that each client is so unique to the other and we are able to adapt and provide new clients with what they need or haven’t found at other agencies.
This industry is ever changing, not having to live the same day twice is my favorite thing about working in PR. Fashion is a universal language and being able to work with not only US brands but other brands globally is the next step for us and that in itself is exciting!
Now that I will be living in NYC, which is where all of the major fashion editors are based, I am quickly learning that the turn-over rate in media is at an all time high and knowing how to adapt and pitch a new editor instead of relying on the past editor to push your client placement thru for you, is key. Yes, relationships matter but changing strategies and memorizing editorial calendars so you know what stories work for your clients will help you whether you have that strong relationship with the editor or not.
My advice to PR girls is to remember my favorite quote from above: “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.” Hard work and a positive attitude will always get you noticed. You can’t be a wall flower in this industry and expect to get recognized and move up to the next level. Speak up, voice your opinion and ideas, but always make sure to have a positive attitude while doing so. NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK!! Remember that when you leave a job or a company, you take your contacts and relationships with you and in this industry they are worth gold!
Hard work and a positive attitude will always get you noticed. You can’t be a wall flower in this industry and expect to get recognized and move up to the next level.
Congrats, Jennifer and thank you!
Coffee pic via PR Couture’s Instagram
