Ashleen Narula: Building the Future: Skills and Careers in Social Media Panel

2025

Apr 14

At SocialDay's Social Media Marketing Festival 2025, hosted at Phantom Peak London, we are excited to welcome Ashleen Narula, founder of Grad Girl Marketing. Ashleen will be joining the Building the Future: Skills and Careers in Social Media panel alongside Daniel Rae and Sophie Lee to explore how to break into the industry, grow your personal brand, and create your own opportunities.

About Ashleen

Ashleen Narula started Grad Girl Marketing in 2020, during the height of the Covid pandemic, as a way to build experience, showcase her skills, and boost her CV as a fresh business graduate. What started as a personal project quickly gained momentum — landing her a job working on programmatic advertising and paid social for global brands like Apple and H&M, and growing into a thriving community of students, graduates, and marketing professionals.

In 2024, Ashleen took the leap and went full-time with Grad Girl Marketing. She now runs the platform across three social channels, hosts fun and accessible IRL networking events, shares campaign breakdowns and educational content, and supports emerging talent through one-to-one sessions and B2B brand collaborations as an influencer.

What to Expect from the Building the Future: Skills and Careers in Social Media Panel

Ashleen joins Daniel Rae and Sophie Lee to share her experience of building a brand from scratch, growing a personal platform, and turning LinkedIn posts into international opportunities. The panel will explore how to get started in the industry, build your own path, and use personal branding to create opportunities that stand out in a competitive market.

Key Areas of Focus

How to break into social media and marketing with no experience
Building a personal brand that works for you — even if you're just starting out
Using platforms like LinkedIn to grow your confidence, network, and visibility
Creating real opportunities by showing up and sharing your voice online

Key Takeaways

Attendees will leave with:

Tips and tools to grow their personal brand and career
Confidence to build their own platform, even without a traditional background
Inspiration to use their story, skills, and interests to stand out in the industry

Ashleen’s Perspective on Social Media Trends

For Ashleen, the rise of community-led content and platforms has been one of the most exciting shifts in the last year. Whether it’s group chats, niche pages, or IRL meetups — people are coming together in more meaningful, intentional ways, and that’s where the magic happens.

A Social Media Success Story

Ashleen’s proudest moment? Being flown to San Francisco by Adobe — all because she started posting on LinkedIn five years ago. It’s proof that showing up, being consistent, and sharing your story online can take you places you never imagined.

What’s Next for Social Media?

Looking ahead, Ashleen sees a major challenge in content becoming too samey. As AI continues to influence content creation, there's a risk that individuality and creativity will get lost in the algorithm. She believes standing out will require even more human, original ideas — something she champions through Grad Girl Marketing.

What Ashleen Would Like to See in the Future of Social

Ashleen is hoping to see more focus on micro-influencers in the social media space. For her, influence isn’t about having a massive following — it’s about trust, community, and meaningful engagement. And that’s where micro-influencers shine.

Connect with Ashleen

Want to keep up with Ashleen and Grad Girl Marketing? Follow along here:

LinkedIn: Grad Girl Marketing

Ashleen joins a lineup of leading industry professionals at SocialDay's Social Media Marketing Festival 2025, where top minds in social media marketing will share their insights and expertise.