Armida Ascano, Trend Hunter Editor & Academy Strategist (INTERVIEW)

Armida Ascano's Twitter handle is "OneWomanArmi" and that's exactly what she is. The Editor and Academy Strategist at Trend Hunter, Armi has an intense passion for what she does and possesses positivity that is infectious throughout the entire office. Known for her love of advertising, hip hop and all things fashion, Armi is full of personality.
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Three years ago, I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 19-year-old enrolling in Seneca’s fast-tracked Creative Advertising and Broadcast program. Like most students of advertising, I was unsure of what stream of the ad world I wanted to get into. Though I was undeniably creative, I couldn’t see myself as a copywriter and I definitely wasn’t visual enough for art direction, but account coordination was just not me. I needed a position that was equal parts creativity and business.

I unknowingly got my answer one day in PR class, when my professor started talking about Trend Hunter. Obviously patterns in pop culture and consumer behavior are important in advertising, so TH was part of our curriculum. After using it a few times for projects, I was hooked, and when I heard a representative from Trend Hunter would be coming in to discuss its internship program, I jumped at the chance to attend.

What stood out to me most about the internship program was the educational aspect. Having enrolled in the fast-tracked version of Seneca’s ad program, I had only been in school for a year and a half, and though I learned a lot, I wanted more. The Trend Hunter internship program could provide that extra edge, since it wasn’t only about how interns could help Trend Hunter, but how Trend Hunter could help interns by showing them the ropes of online journalism.

I applied to the program and now, here I am: a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 22-year-old Editor at Canada’s largest trend community. I’m also the Academy Strategist here at Trend Hunter, meaning I handle recruiting, screening, interviewing and hiring our internship applicants.

What got me from intern to full-time employee is a combination of imagination, willingness to learn and enthusiasm. I relished in the fact that my ideas would be taken into consideration even though I was just an intern, so I shared many of them. I was also so enthusiastic about Trend Hunter and trend articles that my passion was reflected in the number of trends I wrote and the style in which I wrote them.

It wasn’t difficult to maintain such a high level of enthusiasm during my time as an intern at Trend Hunter. I met some amazing people, did some quantifiably relevant work (my highest viewed article pulled in 150,000 pairs of eyes) and picked up a ton of employable skills.

I think in order to excel at the Trend Hunter Academy program, all one needs to do is make the best of what we, as digital natives of Generation Y, are naturally good at: knowing what’s hot before everyone else does.


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