To Tee or Not to Tee

By Sara Smith

IMC Student

sesmit13@go.olemiss.edu

If you are obsessed with tees, as most college students, and have to buy every new design that your Greek organization sells, then attribute your addiction to T-shirt enthusiast Ashley Miles.  

At B-Unlimited, Miles handles all group and online orders of Greek life T-shirts and memorabilia. Miles, an Ole Miss graduate, is North Mississippi’s regional sales manager.

“My job consists of 70% account management which means that I deal with all orders from Greek life at Ole Miss as well as current clients in the Oxford community that have always been a part of B-Unlimited,” explains Miles. “The other 20% is business development that consists of going around Oxford searching for leads and ways to develop my account.”

During her freshman year at Ole Miss, Miles had a different career in mind. The Brandon, Mississippi native wanted to pursue dental school—to become an orthodontist—while studying dietetics.

“I was told to pick a science-based major that I would enjoy rather than majoring in pre-dental because it looked better on applications. I picked dietetics because I have a passion for nutrition, health, food poverty and fitness.”

But the college experience has a way of changing students’ expectations and guides them to different paths. Miles gained a valuable understanding of the college classroom and the workplace environment, with caring professors and supportive employers who encouraged her along the way.

At the end of her sophomore year, she started to feel uncertain about her major. After talking with family and friends, Miles changed her major to political science, with a minor in journalism. 

When recalling why she decided to changed to political science, she smiled and said, “I had an amazing AP history teacher, Coach Huskey, my junior year of high school that really inspired me and taught me a lot of amazing things.” 

Throughout her college career, she stressed how important it was to be immersed in the college experience and to sharpen her leadership skills along the way. Because of its size, Ole Miss provided her with many opportunities to get involved and form positive relationships.

In her freshman year she worked with RebelTHON, a dance marathon raising money for Children’s Mississippi Hospital. “I was really excited and passionate about RebelTHON because it was the first club that I joined at Ole Miss.” During her club association, she worked her way up into an executive position. “I got a lot of experience learning how to fundraise, manage finances and marketing.”

In junior year, she took an internship with the Salvation Army in Jackson as part of the public relations team. “My internship with the Salvation Army solidified that this was the path that I wanted to go down.”

Miles also got asked to serve as a campaign manager for her best friend, Taran Carrasco, who was running for Miss Ole Miss. “It was a lot of long nights of videography, editing and making graphics.” She also taught herself how to use Adobe and researched what goes into developing a credible campaign.

After she graduated from Ole Miss, Miles got her first job as a member of Blue Delta Jeans’ sales team in Tupelo. “When I wasn’t traveling for sales I did a lot of their marketing campaigns for the store. It was a lot of hands-on-deck type situations.” 

Being on the sales team for Blue Delta Jeans guided her to B-Unlimited.

“B-Unlimited is very employee focused, they want to invest in the people,” she says with a smile on her face. “I feel very supported working here.”