INTERVIEW BY TREY ALSTON / CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For Ashley Aminah, talent matters when she searches to fill roles at Meta, but it’s not the only thing she focuses on. “Honestly, I’d say a level of purity,” she says conversationally as we speak about her experiences, interests, and perspectives on finding great talent. “I know a lot of people have their own passion projects and stuff, and they try to hide that from their portfolio. I would highly disagree with doing that.”
Aminah is confident, poised, and, most importantly, excited about her role. She’s the Creative Talent Manager for Creative X — Meta’s internal creative agency that makes awesome work for its social media applications. Hailing from Houston, TX, Aminah has spent the last 10 months helping to bolster the growing agency’s roster with some of the world’s best creatives. In addition to that, she’s also the frontrunner of the Creatively Cultured podcast — a show of discussions and insights about the creative journey that she has experienced.
She also brings a fresh excitement to the role that lets her detail what she looks for with a welcome perspective. “My number one advice would be to be all of you,” she says. “Any moment that you hold back any part of you, it doesn’t do you or your creativity justice.”
Here’s Aminah on her story, her podcast, and what she looks for in talent below.
Tell me about you Ashley. Where are you from?
Houston! Born and raised. My background though, I am Nigerian. I went to school in Nigeria for about three years. I'm a middle child in a family of five. I've always been super expressive. Always had a lot to say, always had my own thoughts, always been a visionary. I used to come up with different business ideas as a kid. I think naturally I've also been a natural leader.
It started as a kid, in high school, when I was a part of a group called Team Inferno. And then, in college at Sam Houston State University, I went to an African Student Association meeting and, after a conversation with the president, I was put in charge of a fashion show. I worked on the music, operation, formation, everything. The success of that turned into more fashion shows and events. I created Marque Productions with a team and we essentially became a production agency.
One of the biggest things that we worked on was an exhibit in City Hall in Houston with basketball player Luc Mbah a Moute that shed light on African culture. The week-long exhibit culminated with the auctioning of art by artists, leading to them going home with a lot of money. That was when I was like, “this is what I've been trying to do.” Really trying to get creatives paid, trying to get them in a really good position, and do away with that whole starving artist mentality.
For me, growing up as a Nigerian, it meant having to work in certain fields. I was supposed to go to nursing school and I ended up not going because my company, Marque, was just taking off. I didn't really like what we were doing over in the area of nursing. For me, it meant a lot because growing up, I didn't have the freedom to express myself the way I really wanted to.
Although I was expressive, I was also capped, not really given the freedom to truly be all of me. I have so much passion for creatives today because I think they carry the voice of not just themselves, but of loads of children and talent all over the world that can't find the words, the sound, or the feeling to express how they feel. Everyone's form of expression communicates that for us.
“I have so much passion for creatives today because I think they carry the voice of not just themselves, but of loads of children and talent all over the world that can’t find the words, the sound, or the feeling to express how they feel. Everyone’s form of expression communicates that for us.”
What aspects of your work at Marque Productions do you use as a creative talent manager here at Meta?
I would say a lot of the recruiting process. I really want to find the most unique, fresh, diverse, and pure talent. I have that same mentality now of just trying to identify the talent without them screaming, “Hey, I'm a talent.”
Your podcast, Creatively Cultured, covers creativity. Could you tell me about that?
It's real, it's all candid conversations. The goal is to enhance the creative journey. A lot of creatives are creative by birth, not by choice. Sometimes it's hard trying to figure out how to get into the industry and how to make your way. I am an individual who didn’t go to school for this. I root for people like myself, who just found their way on the whim. On the podcast, I make sure that I can shed light on as much information as I can to get creatives in the position to know how to approach it and how to think about things more specifically.
When it comes to talent for Meta, what do you look for when you’re recruiting?
Honestly, it's a level of purity, I would say. I know a lot of people have their own passion projects, and they try to hide them from their portfolio. I highly disagree with doing that. I think passion projects speak volumes about where you're trying to go. You never know the person that's sitting in that room that you're trying to make it into.
How can the candidate with the portfolio, the story, and everything you're looking for get your attention?
The number one thing is to make sure that you're using the right terminology to identify yourself so that you can be found. Talent that misses the ball a lot is often having too much fun with their titles. That’s fine but make sure that somewhere in your title, subtitle, or description that you're saying exactly what you are so it's easy for people to find you.
The next way to stand out really is, once again, your portfolio. I've seen a lot of portfolios. I go through tons of portfolios per day, but the ones that stand out to me the most are the ones with the best design and the best story.
What I mean by design, it doesn't even need to be the most, like “Oh, there are bouncing balls everywhere.” I mean when I open your portfolio, am I captivated? Do I feel like I'm in your world? Bring me into your element. If nature is your thing, I want to feel like when I'm looking at your portfolio, I'm in a different space. You're telling me your story beyond words; now it's by sight. You want to make sure that you tap into the different senses when you're trying to capture someone's attention.
“I want to feel like when I’m looking at your portfolio, I’m in a different space. You’re telling me your story beyond words; now it’s by sight. You want to make sure that you tap into the different senses when you’re trying to capture someone’s attention.”
What’s the most glaring mistake that you see in portfolios?
Number one, y'all have to put your contact info in there. Oh my God, I've seen so many amazing portfolios and I'm like, “Oh, I have to contact them,” and then I start scrolling. And there’s no way to contact them. That's first. Obviously, if I love you enough, I'm probably going to start searching for you all over the web. But what about the people who probably are not that hungry? I genuinely love this stuff so that's why I dig deeper. What if they saw three other candidates that also caught their eye? You know what I mean?
What's a piece of advice that you have for anyone that wants to get hired at Meta?
Be all of you. Especially as a creative, you will do yourself justice being all of you, whether in an interview or in your portfolio. Like I said, some people hold their work back. Don't do that. Any moment that you hold back any part of you, it doesn’t do you or your creativity justice.