Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Pastrana

Hi Joseph, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

My career in communications started in public relations but eventually included working as a journalist and editor for various media titles. There was a natural progression to the way my projects developed from various lifestyle industries eventually leading me into the fashion industry. I was fortunate enough to have been welcomed into the field by brilliant people like the late Richard Martin who was curator for the Costume Institute at the Met. It was then when I began covering Fashion Week and reviewing collections and profiling designers including Calvin Klein, Isaac Mizrahi, Todd Oldham, Oscar de la Renta and many others. My understanding of how the industry worked allowed me to concurrently represent emerging labels and help them develop their brands. And to this day I still work within those two areas of journalism and public relations.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

It’s certainly hard work but I was also fortunate in the way the existing institutions of the time – from Conde Nast to Hearst to Fairchild – enabled me to navigate the industry. But as most freelancers know, working in a gig economy means a rollercoaster of good and lean years. The most apparent difference and biggest struggle these days is how budgets seem to be constantly shrinking. I don’t think those years when media projects had sufficient budgets are coming back but this can also open opportunities for creativity and discovery.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I’m currently a public relations consultant, representing nearly every kind of corporate or commercial entity from lifestyle to thought leaders, fashion and beauty products to designers and artists. My work is helping them create coherent messaging that establishes their brands in their respective fields. But I am most proud of having authored two books published by literary imprint Thane & Prose. “Homespun – True Tales of Tweed” was released just after the covid lockdown, while my second “Mirrorball – Reflections of Dance & Fashion” just released. It was quite a challenge since previous to those books I had really only been accustomed to writing short form. So it was a bit of a learning curve. And of course the amount of research involved was overwhelming. But that only makes me all the more pleased by the results and I hope they are as entertaining as they are informative. Before I even started on them, I looked into what was already available in bookstores as I wanted to write about those subjects in that way that had not already been done. And if only by style of writing and approach I hope I accomplished that goal.

How do you think about happiness?

Many things make me happy. And they’re often the simplest things really – listening to music, reading a good book. We each have the capacity to seek and find joy in everyday life. If only we can learn how to appreciate what we have instead of obsessing over what we don’t.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jjpastran7.wixsite.com/joseph
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjpastrana/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MirrorballReflectionsofDanceandFashion
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@jjpastrana