That photograph of a celebrity arriving at a fashion show may look effortless. Behind the scenes, Sanzia Jai Pearman knows otherwise.

“There’s so much that goes into getting that press moment. Photographers get a shot list. We are literally leading the photographers into the venue.”

Then there is the look itself. Clothing has been selected and fitted, jewellery carefully handled, celebrities brought into venues and teams positioned to make sure everything comes together at precisely the right time.

“That one photo that we see on our phone, there’s like six interns and four staff that ran around to get that photo taken.”

Ms Pearman works in fashion public relations in New York, helping to create the moments the rest of us eventually see from Fashion Week, celebrity appearances and events.

Her role can encompass everything from managing guest lists and VIP seating to liaising with celebrities and their agents, arranging fittings, working with influencers and handling press.

Right now, she is in the thick of Fashion Week.

“Every day is different,” she says.

In the lead-up to the shows, she has spent days moving between the office, fittings and model castings, sometimes beginning at 9am and not finishing until 8pm.

“We are doing production, casting the models and then we fit them for the show, the look they’re going to walk in. We pack everything up, put it in a moving truck and then we head to the actual location of the show.”

Somewhere in between, there are still e-mails to answer, media outlets to contact and the PR operation to keep moving.

“Our work isn’t done until everything is over for Fashion Week.”

It is a career Ms Pearman essentially stumbled into after a conversation with Bermudian stylist and costume designer Shiona Turini. The two were having lunch in Bermuda when Ms Pearman began telling Ms Turini about her life and the kind of work she enjoyed.

“I was sitting at lunch with her and was yapping to her about my life. She said what I was describing was PR and that I would enjoy it.”

Ms Turini told her that her best friend owned a PR company and offered to find out whether he needed interns for Fashion Week.

Ms Pearman joined the team for Fashion Week last year and simply kept showing up.

“I showed up to the office, and then the next day and the next day, and I never left.”

What began with that conversation over lunch has since developed into ongoing work with both Ms Turini and The Hinton Group, giving Ms Pearman experience across styling and fashion PR. The opportunities have already taken her to Milan and put her inside a world she previously experienced from the outside.

Her favourite part of the pre-Fashion Week rush is celebrity fittings.

“They come in and get styled for their looks, so I get to use both of my brains. We style them and then get to see them in full glam the day of the event.”

As a self-described people person, working with VIP guests comes naturally. One encounter, however, managed to stop her in her tracks.

At a Christian Siriano show, Ms Pearman was handling VIP seating when she looked up to find Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King standing in front of her.

“I’m taking them to their seat and I’m talking to them, and they were open to talking to me,” she says.

They asked her name and she told them she was from Bermuda.

“Oprah said, ‘I love Bermuda. Gayle and I go often.’”

For Ms Pearman, it remains a defining career moment.

“Jaw on the ground. Definitely Oprah, hands down.”

Working behind the scenes has also changed how she views celebrity culture.

“You see the celeb post but not the team behind them. There’s a whole chain reaction behind the name of that celebrity.”

Seeing famous clients arrive for fittings without the styling, make-up and finished imagery has made that even clearer.

“It’s made me touch grass in a way. I’m not as flustered or starstruck when I see people any more. They really are human.”

Her Bermudian upbringing, meanwhile, has followed her into those rooms. Ms Pearman naturally greets and speaks to people around her, something a casting colleague recently pointed out.

“He said, ‘You always say good morning and stop and speak to everyone.’ It’s something that’s naturally ingrained in me.”

She believes that friendliness has helped her build relationships that extend beyond networking.

“Now they view me as someone who’s approachable and kind, and I think that’s the Bermudian in me.”

Asked exactly where all of this is leading, Ms Pearman doesn't have a perfectly mapped-out answer, and she is comfortable with that.

“I would like to continue to build myself as a brand, Sanzia Jai, while continuing to work. I’m a hustler. I’m an octopus. I love to do 6,000 things at once.”

PR, with its constant movement, people and unpredictability, suits her.

“It’s exactly what I want to do. I’m rubbing shoulders with people who I hope to one day be a peer of.”

For now, she plans to keep learning, working and climbing.

“I haven’t planned one thing in my life. I’ve just fallen into these positions by being authentically me and not being afraid to pitch myself to someone.”

And, she added, by being willing to work once the door opens.

“I’ve always wanted to work hard and be the best at whatever I’m working at.”