Welcome to my world.
I tell stories rooted in heritage to show the beauty in multiplicity.
By exploring and celebrating culture through fashion and culinary art, I aim to capture human expression in all its complexity.
My name is Sara Maria. I’m a Colombian-American visual storyteller & Digital Content Production professional with a background in documentary filmmaking & fashion e-commerce. I believe the most powerful content is rooted in culture and makes people feel seen.
I’m based in Brooklyn, New York and am able to travel / relocate.
ABOUT ME
After graduating with a degree in Romance Languages and Entrepreneurship & Management, I spent several years working as a production manager for female-centric documentary films. My goal was to launch a career in fashion in which I could tell meaningful stories through the art of dress. I freelanced at numerous luxury houses and magazines prior to landing a dream job at the Ralph Lauren Library, the company’s famous archives, and later on the Wholesale Digital & E-commerce team, helping the rapidly evolving digital business grow on retailer.com sites.
Since 2022, I’ve built and lead a global content production team at Oliver Agency x H&M, transforming e-commerce, email and app content production to enable localization and segmentation at one of the world’s largest retailers.
I translate my storytelling expertise, cultural education and retail product selling knowledge to a career dedicated to fostering diverse representation & targeting of content in the fashion industry.
Below you’ll find an overview of my skills…
DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCTION & MANAGEMENT
My expertise is in the creation, management and archiving of digital assets. I’m fluent in Adobe Experience Manager and Open Text DAMs/CMS and adapt to new platforms quickly. I create optimal workflows to maintain quality standards and lead teams to deliver thousands of assets in an efficient manner.
E-COMMERCE STRATEGY
Whether through my personal e-retailing endeavor Mother Tongue, managing 3rd party e-commerce in top tier fashion industry B2B relationships or optimizing brand sites first hand through content production and A/B testing, I am well versed on e-commerce performance strategies & storytelling to enhance sales.
DIGITAL
MERCHANDISING
I create conversion-driving product pairings based on key investments and consumer trends. My strategies include complete-the-looks, product bundling and lifestyle imagery that features diverse offerings.
PERFORMANCE MARKETING
I work with third party digital tech companies such as Syndigo and Criteo to feature key products in sales-driving locations on HPs, CPs, PLPs and PDPs. I build content that enhances brand values, such as carousels and fabric content features.
PHOTOGRAPHY
I have experience as a photographer and photography assistant in the fashion, film and food industries. My photos are warm, textured and tell dynamic stories. I’m particularly fond of capturing emotion, movement and vibrant colors.
ART DIRECTION
Having informed my eye through filmmaking, fashion editorial campaigns and food photography, I have a keen eye for curating and cropping imagery. I keep a pulse on global industry trends and am able to make quick decisions, on set and off.
STYLING
I have experience styling fashion shoots for personal editorials and assisting stylists for cover shoots at Document Journal and British Vogue. I was trained as a food stylist while studying abroad in Paris, where I learned that presentation is just as important as flavor when it comes to elevated eating.
LANGUAGES
Having majored in Romance Languages, I studied the languages and cultures of Spanish, Italian and French-speaking countries. I’m fluent in Spanish and proficient in Italian and French. As a specialty at Johns Hopkins, I focused on film and explored themes of immigration, refugee crises and marginalization.
DIVERSITY + INCLUSION
My work fostering diversity + representation in a professional setting began at my university where I served as a PR lead for a student-run advertising agency, “Stratejays,” that was hired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to find solutions to violent extremism. Later through my documentary work, I focused on uplifting marginalized voices of women, black and latinx communities, During my time at Ralph Lauren, I’ve served on various cultural advisory committees and became a lead on the Native American Heritage Advisory Committee. We work to evolve design processes, end cultural appropriation and give back to Native communities. As an intersectional person with both indigenous and European ancestry, it is a mission of mine to facilitate ethical representation and practices through my work.
Learn more about my mission + influences.
View my projects.