Prodigy

I think that generally those in the fashion crowd answer the question of “Have you always known you wanted to be in the fashion industry”  with a “Yes- I have loved fashion ever since I was a little girl and played dress up in my mom’s closet” from an early age on. I however, never really gave fashion a standing chance until about the time I started college, and so no, I most definitely didn’t know I wanted to be a part of fashion until rather recently. I actually find my story to be quite  comical. Growing up I wanted to be everything from a tomboy to a screamo rocker (actively fighting against skirts and dresses),  and I definitely hated heels until I was 18. Hot Topic was my jam. I didn’t grow up playing dress-up and flipping through Vogue issues dreaming of when I’d become the next “it” designer. In fact, I thought that anyone who wanted to go to fashion school or be a part of the industry was a joke. So being this very practical girl that actually looked down on the fashion industry (all while having a penchant for Betsey Johnson), I started college as a double major in Political Science and French. Halfway through the year, after having heard from so many different people about my supposed “style” and eye for it, I sat down with my rhetoric professor Vincent Chandler- the one who had been encouraging me to step into fashion since day one.

So there it was, my “moment”. We had our talk and I decided it was going to be fashion or bust. It happened all at once and it was a very confusing time for me as I didn’t know what the next steps were, if I was making the right choice, or why I was even making this directionless and seemingly catastrophic change in my career path at all. But low and behold,  I stuck to my guns and four years later,  I’ve never once looked back. 

Growing up and even now, I’ve always been told that I’m very mature for my age. Because of this characteristic, I feel that the people in my life have always taken me very seriously. I don’t feel that I’ve ever been handed anything because I’ve worked so incredibly hard for everything that I’ve achieved and I find myself extremely lucky because everyone around me has been able to recognize my hard work and not just the outcome of it. All in all, my early accomplishments have always been met with much support from everyone around me and for that, I am thankful.

My Mom and my Aunty are the two MVP’s when it comes to my support system. Together, they have both shaped my outlook on life, in addition to,  being everything from the all-star coaches to the cheerleaders that just don’t quit (Don’t let the sports analogies fool you, I know nothing about sports.).  Their technique is somewhat unconventional and can be very “hands off” at times but I know for a fact that it’s what has made me so strong. What I’m most appreciative of though, is the fact that they don’t sugarcoat things. The best way that my Mom and Aunty have supported me and continue to do so is by dishing out honesty, all while still being there for me through thick or through thin.

I apply it mostly to work situations but I find that it’s actually an amazing guideline for life. How I see it, is you can either waste time thinking about what you’re gonna do, how you’re gonna do it, what the outcomes are  or you can just do it and deal with it as you would have anyway with less time wasted on potential scenarios that may or may not have happened. I think that this goes hand in hand with following your authentic self because if you spend too much time thinking about how you present yourself to others or if what you’re doing is the “right” thing, you’re going to end up losing time actually being your authentic self. So if you ask me, I’d say just be your authentic self, do what you need to do, and the rest will follow suit.

In five years from now, I want to be in the thick of the fashion industry. I imagine an unforgiving and demanding schedule that utilizes my French speaking skills, whether it be with a fashion PR agency such as KCD or Karla Otto, in-house with any one of the luxury brands, or with a major publication. I thrive under pressure and live for the challenge so I can’t imagine doing anything that’s not of the high-risk, high-reward variety. But most of all, whatever I’m doing and wherever I’m doing it, I want to be entirely successful at it while working alongside the fashion titans and learning from them every step of the way. Wow, thinking about all of this already makes my blood run wild with excitement. Oh, and in five years time, I would also like to be best friends with Katy Perry.