Price Arana

A Fearless Entrepreneur

By Elisa Gallaro

Price Arana (B.F.A. '86) launched her first career — as a professional photographer — only months after graduating from Cornell. She had gone to Australia with a friend who was a crew member for the America's Cup and saw an opportunity to capitalize on the photography skills she gained as an art student.

Soon, Arana was selling America's Cup images to Sports Illustrated, Kodak, Rolex, and other high-profile clients. Impressed with Arana's work, Swissair (now Swiss International Air Lines) hired her to photograph destinations around the globe, including South Korea, which was preparing for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

"I was young and fearless and traveling the world," Arana says. The self-described "serial entrepreneur" gives Cornell much of the credit for her success. Following her initial professional photography venture, Arana has founded a breakout marketing agency, partnered pro bono on multimillion-dollar philanthropic efforts, produced a cookbook, and directed an award-winning documentary. 

"A Cornell education gives you the freedom to be anyone you want to be," she says. "It teaches you that there's nothing you can't do."

As a 20-something freelance photographer in pre-internet days, Arana didn't think twice about flipping through phone books and cold-calling executives at leading ad agencies and multinational corporations. She has displayed that same confidence and initiative in every venture since.

Arana's career in advertising began with an entry-level position at a new shop in the Los Angeles area, where she'd settled near friends. Initially, she was hired to draft letters and answer phones but quickly made a place for herself in creative meetings, strategy sessions, and anywhere she could be of assistance. Over the next four years, she learned the business inside and out. When Arana left to consider other career options, several clients assumed she was starting her own agency and asked her to take them on.

She agreed and, in 1997, opened the Press Cabinet, a boutique firm that was rebranded as the NOW Studio in 2020. Arana remains president and CEO.

Arana began breaking the mold of traditional advertising early in her career with a disruptive campaign for Stila Cosmetics. While competitors' ads featured predictable photos of beautiful models selling the promise of glamour, Arana's team helped introduce the "Stila Girls" — illustrations of women of all sizes and ethnicities who were relatable, as opposed to the supermodels being used in cosmetic campaigns at the time. "We weren't afraid to experiment," Arana says. The Stila Girls remained the faces of the brand for years and spawned a host of imitators.

The Press Cabinet built a portfolio of luxury commercial clients: St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, South Street Seaport in New York City, Ward Village in Honolulu, the JSX (formerly JetSuiteX) private jet charter company, and the Ashram California fitness and health resort, among others. "It is amazing and rewarding to create the strategy for brands and watch them grow as a result of our work," Arana says.

Arana's agency also became known for its impactful pro bono work for nonprofit organizations, including the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Shoe4Africa, and Blessings in a Backpack. Through the "Share the Wealth. Change a Life" campaign, the Press Cabinet helped Shoe4Africa fund the first public children's hospital in East Africa. For Blessings in a Backpack, the agency partnered with award-winning actress and philanthropist Sharon Stone to fill backpacks with food for millions of American students who rely on federally funded school lunch programs during the week. Without the backpacks, these children and their families would go hungry on weekends. The Press Cabinet developed television, print, and radio public service announcements free of charge and secured approximately $1 million worth of media placements, also pro bono.

For Arana, giving back has always been a priority. "I was born into a household where we were taught that life is a service job," Arana says, "so this is not something new to me."

Among her most fulfilling projects is the award-winning documentary An Undeniable Voice. The 16-minute film tells the story of longtime family friend Sam Harris, who is believed to have been one of the youngest survivors of Nazi concentration camps. The documentary, Arana's directorial debut, is another collaboration with Stone.

After unsuccessful efforts to secure outside backing, Arana and Stone decided to produce the short film themselves. An Undeniable Voice has earned critical acclaim, been screened around the globe — including at Cornell — and won awards at 13 film festivals worldwide. 

Arana chose Cornell for the opportunity to study painting in a small, highly regarded art program. She grew up in a Chicago suburb and was unfamiliar with all that Cornell offered. "I didn't know how big it was or even that it was an Ivy League school. I was just focusing on art programs, and Cornell's was outstanding," Arana says. Her Cornell experience was much more than she had hoped for. "It was exciting to be surrounded by others who were so passionate about learning," she says. "And it wasn't just at AAP. It was across all of the schools."

Arana's Cornell years were memorable for a multitude of reasons. At AAP, Arana studied with extraordinary and inspiring artists, including professors Arnold Singer, who taught drawing and painting, and Stan Bowman, who "fueled my passion for photography." Classes in psychology, art history, and other disciplines gave her a new perspective on art, civilization, and life in general. 

The atmosphere on campus was equally exhilarating. "Students were living in tents on 'the slope' to protest apartheid in South Africa. People believed in something and were making a difference," Arana recalls. "I was exposed to that, and it was very enlightening, exciting, and educational. I don’t know that I would have had such a varied experience at a different school."

Arana's advice to today's AAP students is to take advantage of all that Cornell offers, including the freedom to experiment. "This is the best time to try all of those things you are thinking about creatively. You have a tremendous support system, people who will embrace your ideas and would love to see what you can do," she says.

Beyond the college, "the B.F.A. and Cornell name open doors to anything and everything professionally."