We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alysia Andriola a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alysia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

The trend I’m most excited about in the landscape of business and education in today’s World, is allowing young teens to choose a path that allows them to investigate and learn in the fields that they are passionate about! I saw things like music and the arts disappearing from Budgets in public education when I was younger. Finally we are seeing programs and classes in the Arts becoming available again in high school so young people can start nurturing and following their dreams before they are adults or before they lose interest in education all together –
I hope this trend continues to grow in ALL the towns and States around the Country, not just the more progressive ones where we see it now.

Alysia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The question you ask about successes and failures that I have experienced my career are often very similar, and sort of cause and effect! When I worked in the Restaurant business, since it was connected to my Family’s business – that insustry was filled with ups and downs, as it’s a hard business to succeed in – but after a few times of leaving one spot to another, as much as I loved the work, it was volatile and often unpredictable…
So I decided to educate myself any way possible around growing my skills and knowledge in the creative arts!!
I studied techniques in every type of design – graphic, interior, painting, lighting…ALL the visual arts – plus sculpture and pottery – a love I still pursue – all these endeavors on my own – silently growing my base through experience. I worked as an assistant to designers, photographers, stylists – often for free – always knowing that the skills etc and experience was more valuable that the payckecks…the more I grew my understanding of the various areas of style and design – that intrigue sent me to step outside the comforts of the Bay Area, and move to LA and eventually New York in my 20s, to work for professionals there whom I admired. All that self driven study and hard work realize helped me realize I could merge some of each of those arts to become the stylist I am today….and taking it FULL circle, I do a lot of creative for the culinary arts, touching the beginnings in the Restaurant World…but now designing and staying Cookbooks, photo shoots, decorating and designing interiors of hospitality locations…I feel very fortunate to have a career with such a diverse platform – to express myself and help others with their dreams!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

It sounds simple but the strategy that helped me build my reputation is to ALWAYS over deliver in relation to what industry standard expectations are. If I will directing a photo shoot and am in charge of styling all the props in however many shots we’ll be doing –
I will bring the most complete range of props possible to assemble – a diverse range of colors, styles, sizes, combinations etc. I spend twice or 3 times as long on preparation as we will on set. I am ALWAYS early, I have an assistant or assistants on site to help execute or solve any/all issues – I think thru all scenarios of the project – so the vibe is calm and creative- so the photographer can by in her/his best place for lighting, and the food stylist or chef can be in their best zone-
Then everyone is at their best, and so are the results!!
I do that same preparation regardless of how big or small – or what area of design we are working in.

Any advice for managing a team?

The best advice I have for managing a team and keeping high morale – is to lead by example! When I’m at a job I eork to always keep my cool – I stay positive and focused on the results, as well as everyone else on the team being able to see that in my communication.
Then, the same with the actual tasks –
GO TO WORK – don’t sit in one spot and give orders – have a hands-on approach and then delegate and ask for help where I/we need it – keeping everyone engaged, but showing them the way with my pace, demeanor and work ethic-
It’s the sure method to success in the moment.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: alysia_andriola

Image Credits
Thanks! photos by Dawn Huemann Annabelle Breakey