Why I decided to join the fashion industry

This is my journey from high school to present day of why I wanted a career in fashion and what my dreams are to change the world.

Part 1: High School

It all started my junior year of high school. I had just transferred to a public high school after being homeschooled throughout middle school. I went to a magnet school which means we had majors: art, science, and law. I was an art student, although I loved taking science courses. In high school, I thought I was going to be a dentist because I excelled in science and math. HA. Then my english teacher told me dentistry has the highest suicide rates. Regardless of whether that was true or not, it had me shook. I was not in the best spot at the time and so I did not want to set myself up for failure. I started meeting with my career counselor and she encouraged me to go into fashion. Being the homeschooled jungle freak I was, I would create a lot of my own clothing and wear it to school.

Side story: For heroes day in high school, me and my three friends decided to be the Pretty Little Liars gang. The night before, I stayed up all night sewing a pair of high waisted lace shorts so I could be Hanna. Lolol like why did we do that?? I can't even tell you. And yes, I did actually post these pictures on the gram. It is okay to be embarrassed for me.

Anyways during high school, so many of my peers were being plagued with depression and/or eating disorders. Many problems that young women deal with stem from unrealistic standards of beauty. (If you haven't yet, please watch the documentary Miss Representation). I centered my life around caring for them which took a toll on me. I searched for dogs on craigslist instead of studying for finals to help cope with my sadness. I ended up finding a beautiful pup, emptied my bank account and went to go get her! (Not saying that this is what you should do. If you are sad or depressed, go to therapy. There is NO shame in therapy. Everyone needs it.) But when I tell you Delilah was my GIRL. She was the perfect lil nugget.

My career counselor's advice to seek a career in fashion coupled with the realization of how many women are impacted by this industry was the spark of it all. For college decisions, I was set on Kansas State University because they had my major (also that in-state tuition tho). But then I got an email from a college in NYC and in God's timing, they flew me out to go visit the college aka my first solo trip. It was a dream. Truly a concrete jungle where dreams are made of. But I was realistic and realized I could not afford it. It was a nice free trip to the Big Apple and I am thankful for that-- Also got time to spend with my dope cousins.

Part 2: The College Experience

So fall comes around and I am moving to Manhattan, Kansas to pursue my fashion career at Kansas State University. At this time, my top passions were fighting eating disorders, sex trafficking, and stigmas about mental health. My dream was to start my own clothing store that empowers women and minorities. I wanted to build a huge community of women supporting women and have the store double as place to make friends and fellowship with others. I also thought I was so original by wanting to donate a portion of my proceeds to nonprofits addressing my top passions. This is before realizing that SO MANY stores do this. Okay now remember this dream, I will get back to it!

So I am going to be honest with you. I didn't love college. And it has taken me a long time to be okay with that. I know that those years were not my prime. Maybe I was just salty about student loans or I didn't love the way drinking made me feel. I would always think "What is wrong with me?? These are supposed to be the best years of my life." I am not trying to discredit the great memories I made or the amazing people I met, but the college culture is just not my thing. Although they were not the best years of my life, I am still thankful for that season of growth.

K-State was such an interesting and enormous growing experience. It was a huge culture shock for me since it was a PWI and I went to a very diverse high school. Diversity was my norm and then I went to a college that had racist incidents all the time. It shocked me that people really thought the way they did. ((But I am trying to have grace with them and realize that they did not have the same experiences at me.)) They also had horrible sexual assault cases that perpetuated men feeling entitled to women's bodies. These unfortunate circumstances also gave me opportunities to be an activist and fight against these issues.

Tangent: Delilah got knocked up by my brothers dog and had 8 pups. We got to keep one. Her name is Ellie.

I started as an apparel design major. After many studios, multiple part time jobs, and campus involvements, I decided the design program was not for me. I switched to apparel marketing and added a business administration minor. I wouldn't trade my design years for anything because it not only gave me a holistic perspective of the fashion world, but also gave me some of my best friends *senti*. My entire major was so uplifting of one another. It was really remarkable especially for being in such a competitive industry. My major engrained sustainability into our bones. All four years we would always address the sustainability triple bottom line: people, profit, planet.

My leadership class that I taught!! Our name was #squadgoalz, I love them so much.

I was also a leadership studies minor which prepares you to be a social justice warrior. The leadership studies courses completely changed my life. I learned (and even got to teach a freshman leadership class) about diversity, inclusiveness, and community engagement. One of my biggest takeaways was to listen to understand, not to respond.

I took a leadership class about nonprofits that introduced me to Ted Talks, systematic poverty, institutionalized racism, and even myths about food stamps. Then, my junior year I took a course that held community forums addressing racial oppression on campus. My senior year was all about investing in myself so I can better serve the city. The best part about these classes was that I learned about myself, my values, my strengths, and my short comings. Self-awareness is so crucial to your wellbeing. These classes prepared me to become the person I am today.

Part 3: My Dreams

I have so many dream jobs.. creating merchandise for various rappers, designing eco-friendly shirts for national parks, working for the diversity section of Adidas.. but my long term goal is still to start my own store. Remember when I told you to remember my dream? Well, WE BACK BEACHES. So here is my dream that I have been developing since high school and got to expand it through my senior capstone with three of my best friends:

We want to open a streetwear store called UNITE (emphasis on UNI for unisex) that carries genderless clothing options and unites the community. How will we do that you ask?? We will partner with nonprofits that fight sex trafficking, institutionalized racism, and stigmas of mental health. We will help them throw fundraisers in our event space, and host after hours events including open mic nights and local concerts to give a platform for the youth to embrace their individuality. Each year, we will have a day where we hire a photographer to take peoples pictures. We will ask each person to give a paragraph about themselves, Humans of New York style and hang them on the wall. This will further help the community to build bridges with each other. It will be a space that explodes with creativity and all the arts. We desire for UNITE to be a place where you can make friends and feel accepted to be your true selves. UNITE will also display local artists' work around the store to help them sell their pieces. You can read more about it by clicking on this graphic I made!