Snap, crackle, pop. A digital marketer by day and a social media manager by night, Nicole Fratesi does it all. But wouldn’t you want to know what is included in the “all” that she does? Well, today is your lucky day. We’re pulling out all the stops. Here is the story of Nicole Fratesi.

Nicole is a summer student at Habitat For Humanity, working as a Digital Marketing Assistant. She is currently in the Advanced Graphic Design program at Humber College in Toronto. Nicole has always had a knack for graphic design and creativity at its purest. “Growing up I was always a computer whiz who liked to design things,” Nicole said.

Nicole mentioned that she was really into sports such as horseback riding, rugby and dance. But horseback riding was definitely her favourite, she said. In the past, Nicole volunteered at lively events such as bridal shows, fashion shows and horse centres, considering her love for horseback riding. Nicole’s hobbies include fashion, photography, polaroids, horseback riding (obviously) and sports in general.

In high school, Nicole’s favourite subject was art. Her reasoning is that “You can pretty much express yourself in any way (through art). You didn’t have to actually know a mathematical equation of how to fix something, or it wasn’t science based where you needed to know knowledgable things.” Nicole is very passionate about graphic design and social media. But if she would have to choose, graphic design would win over her creative heart.

When Nicole grows up, she said she aspires to own her own graphic design firm. “I pretty much aspire to be anyone who’s actually grown a business from the ground up and anyone who has their own trademark on design and who has worked super hard to get where they are today,” she explained. Nicole said her main fashion inspiration is Alexander McQueen, a fashion designer and couturier. But her real inspiration always has been and always will be her parents. She says she looks up to her parents because of all the hard work they’ve put into their careers.

As a Digital Marketing Assistant at Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga, Nicole’s typical duties include scheduling blog posts, constantly uploading high definition pictures and does plenty of web design. Nicole said that her goal with Habitat is to run a campaign on her own from start to finish. “(I want to) learn as much about the organization and be able to bring things into my portfolio that can make me stand out in the workforce,” she said.

I asked what kind of contributions Nicole is making to Habitat. She said, “I’m pretty much contributing my time and my creativity to create a well compiled social media and gain followers on all of our platforms.” Here are some things that fellow co-workers in Marketing and Communications Department had to say about Nicole:

“Nicole is a very creative person and I love working with her on marketing campaigns because we both have different educations and different backgrounds, we both bring different ideas to the table. She’s really good at taking all these different ideas and figuring out how to make the best possible product come from them. She has so much creativity and I think she’s a really valuable addition to our marketing team.” — Sherina Harris, Marketing and Communications Assistant

“Nicole is extremely creative and is helping us take our brand to the next level. She gets along with every single person and frequently shares her thoughts and expertise with her coworkers and the volunteers around her.” — Sarah Golan, Marketing and Communications Manager

“She brings a very good sense of continuity and aesthetic to the brand.”  — Ryan Gaynor, Videographer

“The day actually goes by fast because you’re having fun and everyone is so creative, especially the marketing team.” —Nicole

 

Nicole said her favourite thing about Habitat is knowing that you’re never alone. “Working with everyone has been so empowering,” she said. Knowing that there’s so many people willing to help donate their time is really nice.”