I was working as an Assistant Designer in Los Angeles for a company called Single. I am now trying to make my move to New York City for greater opportunities since it is one of the greatest fashion capitals in the world. I am going to always be working as a Freelancer for my own designs until I get the funding and feel comfortable enough to start my own line.

EDUCATION | I received my Associates of Arts degree in Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. I continued my education there for another year doing the Advertising study in fashion design after receiving a full scholarship.

HOW TO GET STARTED | It is important to know and understand what you are going into. Do not expect to see all the glamour they show on television. That's really important because a lot of people see shows like Project Runway, The Hills, and shows like that where they show the lighter side of the fashion industry. Also, you need to know that it is all or nothing. There needs to be a lot of passion to work in this industry; I am ready to work until I hit the grave and I am not scared or even intimidated by that. In fact, I am excited.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | You must have a passion and a drive that is derived from honesty. I believe that nobody should enter the fashion world just to make a quick buck. There are some that just want to be rich and famous, but sadly, a small number of those type of people do get their wish. Your intentions should be honest.

how I got started | During senior year of high school when everyone was deciding on colleges to go to and which majors they wanted to study, I chose to go to CSU Long Beach as an undeclared major. Two weeks before the term started, my family approached me saying that they didn't think it was the right route for me. I was shocked and asked what they thought would be best; they thought it would be more fitting for me to go to an art school. As soon as I got their approval, I quickly looked up schools and found FIDM in Los Angeles. I applied, interviewed and was accepted into the school. Everything happened one after another and I was moving to Los Angeles. I chose FIDM because I liked its appeal; I liked how everything they did, from the college class catalog to their applications, was designed, and plus, I liked the location of the campus. I admit that if I had done my research more, I probably would have tried applying for the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. FIDM was such a great place to begin my journey and introduce me into the fashion industry because I learned everything there. There were people of different levels entering the same time; there were those who have been sewing since the age of 7 and those like me who have never used a sewing machine, but have the creative drive. During my first quarter, I learned how to sew and sketch. Before then, I have never taken an art class. What kept me going was my passion for it. Everything was all exciting and I just kept wanting to move forward and learn more every day. I knew this was my calling and there wasn't any second guessing that that I belonged in this industry. After receiving my AA in Fashion Design, I received a full scholarship to continue my education there for another year for the Advertising study in fashion design. The application process was a little tough than the first time around; there are about 100 students who applied, but about 10-11 people who were accepted. I was one of the lucky ones. For this program, it was basically a year spent on creating our first collections to show at the annual fashion gala called Debut; it is this huge show shown in Santa Monica. After I finished my studies at FIDM, I was asked to freelance for them and created a gown for the Wizard of Oz exhibition. I have also entered myself in design competitions like the one I did for Ezekiel Girls in Orange County/Irvine. It's a competition where six contestants create five looks and compete for prize money and have the chance to have selected designs produced by them.

why this job?| I suppose me choosing to become a designer really stems from me not being able to ever find clothes that would fit me or clothes with intriguing designs that fit and as well as being decently priced. That was a major problem in high school for me when I was looking for clothes that I wanted to wear, but could never find it. I guess I knew that I was interested in fashion, but I just didn't know that I would fall so hard for it. I really love the craft and the whole process that goes into making clothing. People are really unaware of all the work that goes into their clothing and don't understand that it costs so much to get things done.

why I love this job!| What I mostly like about being a designer is the creative freedom to pursue my personal vision and show others what I believe is considered "beautiful." I love working on this amazing craft of creating garments from scratch and my clients do really appreciate the time and work that goes into one garment.

my typical day| When I meet a client, it begins with trying to figuring out the purpose and what my client is looking for. I being asking questions of things that they like, don't like, color themes or their inspiration. I take all that information in and begin my rough sketches; these sketches are the ones that aren't seen by the client. I go through about 50 ideas and narrow it down to about ten to show to the client. We then discuss details about fabrics, fabric treatments, and whether I have sketched the right dress for them. If not, I will go back to the drawing boards one more time and sketch what they are looking for. Once the design is chosen, I begin making the garment. I take their measurements and I drape and/or patter-draft to create the patterns for the garments. I cut it in a sample fabric and sew that up to create the sample dress. I fit that on the client in order to adjust any problems and try to get it as close to the sketch as possible. After that, I make corrections, cut it in the real fabric, and sew. This process, depending on the design and how quickly we choose a design, can take about a week or two. This is considering me working every day for as many hours as I can stay up.

what they are | There are a lot of things wrong with the fashion industry, but I think it is our job, as young designers to pave a new way to work against the big companies. When I say big companies, I don't only mean other well known, household designers like Marc Jacob, but names like Walmart. It has to do with what America can afford. So instead of fighting that, we need to work with it. That is a challenge, especially as a freelancer, there are things I want to design and think would be perfect, but it's the budget that I need to be aware of. Another challenge I would say is the time and effort put into the creations. For example, I barely got any sleep during my third year at FIDM when I was creating my first collection. I ended up doing 13 looks with 32 garments overall. It was a very hectic time; I was sewing with friends at my apartment while taking nap shifts. The other would stay awake so that they would wake us up if we slept for too long. Creating that collection was the most work I have ever done in my life so far, but it taught me a lot about how this industry is and how much hard work is done behind the scenes. I don't let my fatigue hinder my performance since I set a standard for myself when making the garments, because it is the polished finished product that people will see. If a seam wasn't done right, I would rip it out and do it over. Being tired was something that I had to get over and get the work done because getting rid of a garment piece wasn't an option for me.

all about growth | The growth opportunities as a freelancer are endless. I hope to be hired, as a freelancer or a permanent position, to design for a well known company that I respect. A few names I would love to work for includes 3.1. Phillip Lim, Marc Jacobs, or even Alexander Wang. There are a lot more, but those always come to mind first when I think of dream companies that I want to work for. I was thinking about spending ten years working for others while learning a lot along the way, and then start my own line. I say ten years because I feel like that is a good amount of time for myself to get a position high enough ow here I am designing alongside the head designer. I will continue to work on my freelance work and slowly building my customer base and interests. If a great opportunity comes by my way sooner than that, I am more than willing to begin down that route. I tend to focus more on women's clothing because they are a little more accepting to eccentric designs, but I would love to help pioneer this transformation that I want menswear to take on. My goal in this industry is to do clothing for women, menswear, unisex clothing, and as well as bags, accessories, houseware, and furniture.

my website|