Entrepreneur, model and television personality to speak on career and inclusion in the media
Venita Aspen’s work in the creative sectors will be the basis of her conversation with ICTAS Director Stefan Duma as part of the Hugh & Ethel Kelly Lecture Series.
With a blog, an Instagram account and a point to make, an eighteen-year-old fashionista in Charleston, South Carolina began sharing all things fashion, travel, beauty, food, and opinion. She was owning her voice, and that was just the beginning.
Since then, Venita Aspen has gone on to star in Bravo’s “Southern Charm,” produce a lifestyle blog, start her own agency, and model in brand commercials. No matter what niche you find Aspen in, her authenticity bleeds into everything she does.
Aspen will engage in a discussion with the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) Director Stefan Duma on April 9 at 2 p.m. in the Haymarket Theatre at Squires Student Center. A part of the Hugh and Ethel Kelly Lecture Series and hosted by ICTAS in partnership with the College of Engineering, the event is free and open to the public but registration is requested.
Growing up, Aspen did not see many black women in the media. So, when she was 15, she began modeling and later decided to create a social media presence, inserting herself into creative spaces devoted to inclusion. She has since worked with major brands, including Target, Anthropologie and Dillard’s, and even founded the Aspen Agency in 2017 – a creative production agency that offers an affordable rate to smaller brands for photoshoots.
On April 9, Aspen will share insight on what influenced her decision and describe her creative process. She’ll also address bigger questions pertaining to inclusion and accessibility within social media, including:
What do you wish you could tell your younger self desiring equal representation in the media?
How have you managed to stay true to yourself during this journey?
How does viewing your content through a lens of accessibility impact the way you create your content?
Audience members will be able to ask questions in a post-conversation Q&A and participate in an event postcard signing where they can meet Aspen.
The Hugh and Ethel Kelly Lecture Series is made possible by a fund from the estate of Ethel Kelly, who generously supported Virginia Tech and the College of Engineering in honor of her husband, Hugh Kelly. Hugh Kelly earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the university and went on to play key roles in multiple groundbreaking projects over a long career at Bell Laboratories.
To honor Hugh Kelly’s technical accomplishments and the couple’s support of Virginia Tech, the College of Engineering and the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science established the lecture series and renamed the institute's headquarters building Kelly Hall in 2013. The Kellys’ generosity has allowed the institute to bring Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and other visionary leaders and thinkers to Blacksburg to share their work with the Virginia Tech community.
