Xoya Mir BA (Hons)

What have you been doing since graduating from Ravensbourne University London, and how has your career progressed so far?

Since graduating last year with a First Class Honours and the Vice Chancellor Award for Recognition in Industry, I founded Little Yellow Studios  a beauty-first creative production studio based in London. The award felt like a full-circle moment because I'd been working professionally throughout my entire degree, building industry contacts and shooting commercially while my peers were still figuring out what they wanted to do. The studio is the natural next step of everything I started at Ravensbourne.

How did your course at Ravensbourne prepare you for employment in industry?

BA Fashion Promotion at Ravensbourne was unapologetically practical, which is exactly what I needed. It wasn't about sitting in lectures absorbing theory, it was about doing. My tutors Piers and Aurora got me onto a shoot for designers at London Fashion Week in my first year. As an international student, that experience was everything. It taught me how the UK fashion industry actually operates, at pace, under pressure, with real stakes. That one opportunity set the tone for everything that followed.

Were there any industry projects, live briefs, placements, or collaborations during your studies that helped shape your career path?

That LFW shoot in first year was the one. I didn't let it go. I used it as fuel, proof that I could work at that level and I kept going from there, I didn't wait for opportunities, I fought and created them and ended up  working professionally throughout my studies rather than waiting until after graduation. By the time I left, I had contacts at Condé Nast. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because you show up consistently and you treat every opportunity like it matters, because it does.

How did the connections you made at Ravensbourne with tutors, peers, or industry partners, influence your professional journey?

My tutor Cameron pushed me to think more freely and channel it. I've always had too many ideas and struggled to focus them. Learning to work with that rather than fight it was something I had to actively figure out. That mindset shift was probably the most valuable thing I took from Ravensbourne. It's the foundation Little Yellow Studios is built on.

What skills or experiences from your time at Ravensbourne do you use most in your current role?

Outreach. Our tutors drilled it into us and I remember thinking, okay, I hear you,  but the first thing I learned running my own business is that there is no escaping it. Outreach is everything. It's how I got my first industry contacts, it's how I landed clients, it's how I built the studio. Consistency in your work gets you so far, but if nobody knows you exist, it counts for nothing. You have to put yourself in front of people, repeatedly, without apology and without excuses. 

What advice would you give to current Ravensbourne students who want to break into your industry area?

Don't waste your uni years just learning. Use them. Ravensbourne is a playground,  treat it like one. The moment you arrive, make yourself part of the industry. Don't wait for opportunities to be handed to you, because they won't be. But being a student actually makes it easier to create them for yourself, people are more willing to give you access, more forgiving when you're figuring it out. I used every bit of that. Be in the industry from day one, and by the time you graduate, you won't be starting from scratch.