With a lifelong love of art and a growing commitment to sustainability, Lindsey Casella, KLN ‘16, took her passions and incorporated them into her work. The alumna of the Advertising Program was determined to make the most out of her Temple University experience, and now she is making her mark as the senior manager of global marketing and e-commerce at Loop, a zero-waste venture started by TerraCycle that specializes in circular economy shopping.

Casella wasted no time after high school stepping into the world of advertising and marketing. When searching for college programs to enter, she noticed that there were only a few schools that offered advertising, which balanced her dual interests in art and business. After diligent research, she discovered Temple’s program and knew as soon as she stepped on the university’s campus that it was the right fit. 

At the university, Casella was a tour guide while holding leadership positions in Temple Ad Club and the National Student Advertising Competition. She even co-hosted an event called Kidonomics, a program she created in high school, to empower local students through providing a day-long conference on Temple's campus. For her work on Kidonomics, she was awarded a Brave Life Grant from Keds and Seventeen magazine.

While at Klein College of Media and Communication, Casella still made time for social media and marketing internships with companies including Anthropologie and Verizon, along with serving as a brand ambassador for retailers Keds, Timberland and Victoria’s Secret Pink. Her experience with Pink was particularly impactful, and after graduating from Klein, she became a campus representative recruiter and then a marketing coordinator for the company.

“I really felt extremely well-prepared, especially going into internships. Being immersed in the city and having the professional network of Philadelphia and the neighboring cities around us always made me feel like I was ahead of the curve and ahead of my peers at other universities,” she said.

However, Casella was developing a concurrent interest in environmental issues, specifically eco-friendly fashion. Her self-proclaimed “eco-woke” journey started when she began questioning the supply chain practices at Pink and realized that they did not quite embody the values that she wanted to promote in her career. 

Lou Perseghin, customer success manager for VTEX, was Casella’s mentor through the Philly Ad Club mentorship program. He helped her secure her first advertising agency internship in Philadelphia and has stayed in touch with Casella throughout her undergraduate and professional careers. Perseghin said that even at Temple, Casella’s need to take part in meaningful work served as an admirable example of how to establish a work life that mirrors the values of one’s personal life.

“I found that inspiring as a young adult myself at that moment,” Perseghin said. “It was interesting to see that, someone who had a direction that they were very interested in and was willing to put the work in to become an authority in that field.”

In 2019, Casella joined TerraCycle, a company she found out about through an entrepreneurship class at Temple. The company works in 21 countries to recycle materials through recycling platforms, helping more than 202 million people reduce waste. 

“I’m really fortunate where TerraCycle’s been doing this now for two decades and they’re really leading the charge and I get to be a part of this really cool, innovative project that a lot of brands are actively joining,” she said.

Not only has Casella found fulfillment in her work with Loop, but she has also received recognition. Along with her team at Loop, she was awarded a Goodvertising Award, an annual honor that celebrates the best of values-driven business advertising. Goodvertising honored Loop for its “modern-day milkman” campaign.

Although Heather Crawford, vice president of marketing and e-commerce of Loop and Casella’s direct supervisor, was not directly involved in the Goodvertising-winning campaign, she knows that Casella’s dedication to Loop’s mission has greatly contributed to the startup. Casella’s willingness to take on varied responsibilities is foundational to the success of the startup and reflects an attitude that was apparent to Crawford when she hired her.

“In this sort of environment when there’s a lot of growth and a lot of rapid expansion, there’s always the opportunity to try out something new that maybe you haven’t done before just by simply raising your hand because we’re always looking for people to take on more,” Crawford said. “Lindsey’s done an incredible job of doing that hand-raising and really being up for anything that we ask of her.”

With a promising future at a promising startup, Casella believes that she could not have found herself in a better place at this early point in her career. According to Casella, Loop has grown rapidly since she joined the startup, expanding from service in ten U.S. states to now carrying products internationally in Canada, the United Kingdom and France.

“I think we’re actively creating what the future of the industry looks like and so I’m in a really unique space where I’m actively creating things that didn’t exist five years ago,” she said.

Casella acknowledges that her time at Temple was a pivotal experience for her. After graduating, she became involved with the university as a young alumni board member and has even paid it forward by taking on Temple students as interns.

Greta Hartsell, an adjunct professor who teaches search engine optimization in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is a friend of Casella’s. The two met at Temple and worked together through NSAC and other activities. Hartsell recognizes how inspirational Casella’s educational journey and career could be for current students and has even brought Casella into her class as a guest lecturer.

"Lindsey is a classic example of someone who had it all figured out when she was in college, and still took a path less traveled by which has made all the difference,” Hartsell said in an email. “She is a prime example of never settling in your career and that change doesn't stop the day you get your degree. Change is essential in the path of your career and life and she has shown the positives in that."

Casella is looking forward to discovering and creating new professional opportunities. No matter what she decides to do in the future, she believes that her work will always prioritize ethics and sustainability.

“Not only do I feel fortunate for the experiences and what I learned and gained from my time at Temple but what Temple continues to give back by just producing these incredible individuals that are just so equally passionate and driven,” Casella said.