Innovation can be incorporated in all facets of the real world and not solely reserved for art-related fields.

Jobs involving creativity can be found around local businesses and the community. For Sabrina Bickham, an employee for Sweet Rolls, innovation is used at her place of work in order to have more one-on-one interaction with the customers.

“We have little videos that we make for our rolls,” shared Bickham. “They’re really interesting, and they show you how we make them. We always have different sales and various specialty rolls that come out all of the time. This entire place is very creative as we have doors hanging up and light bulbs coming out of ropes. People love taking pictures of the place while they enjoy the treats.”

Gabby Carter, manager of the Brown Door, discussed how their business applies creativity for marketing purposes.

“We have tattoo promotions coming up where we plan events,” explained Carter. “We also do a lot of socials for fraternities and sororities, and they are usually themed. We also use social media as that’s the best outlet to use for a college bar.”

Ashlin Nicosia, an alumna who graduated with a degree in communication, incorporates creative aspects while working as interim development coordinator as part of university advancement.

“I have made handmade martini glasses and props,” expressed Nicosia. “I have to design programs, I have to make bid sheets. We have a creative team at Southeastern that does our marketing. They create the invitations, but it has to be approved by us and the Department of Advancement.”

Having exceptional creative skills is necessary in order to properly coordinate a major event or program.

“As an event planner, you need to have a creative eye,” said Nicosia. “We have to do floral arrangements and center pieces. We have to be able to do things together while keeping costs down, so we can raise more money for the students. It’s easy to buy extravagant centerpieces, but we don’t like to do that, though we still try to make things as nice as possible.”

Emily Browning, a freshman marketing major, believes that creativity will play a role in her future in sales.

“I will definitely have a sales job that involves creativity,” shared Browning. “I will need to be creative with the way I sell things. When talking to people, creativity has a lot to do with vibing off of energy in order to have an open discussion with someone. In sales, creativity helps convince someone and make them think it was their idea to make the purchase.”

Lauren Leblanc, a sophomore marketing major, aspires to utilize innovative skills as she hopes to one day manage her own boutique store.

“I use creativity to market anything I’m doing or selling,” stated Leblanc. “We market ourselves everyday with our own personal brand. In the future, I will have to be creative in the way my store looks, and I will have to market my boutique to make customers want to buy my clothes.”

In addition, academic majors, such as communication, offer different concentrations that allow students to pursue multiple creative career paths.

“Communication is a field that allows you to be super creative,” expressed Nicosia. “You can do broadcasting and videoing and editing. You can go into event planning, journalism or public relations. In public relations, you have to be creative in how you write things and how you word things. All communication fields have a sort of sub-section and have a creative side. You definitely get to explore them, and it’s up to you to find which way to go.”

Nicosia offered some advice to current students about finding ways to be imaginative.

“The biggest thing is to look at your classes,” said Nicosia. “I found event planning and fundraising in my communication major through our special event planning class. That’s when I realized that was what I wanted to do and had a knack for.”