What inspired you to apply for the "Celebrating Fashion Future" program?
I currently sit on the BRAG E-board and I applied for CFF for the same reason I am so passionate about BRAG. I truly value the importance of minorities having the space and assistance to flourish and chase their dreams. The fashion industry can be so daunting and feel out of reach for many individuals who aspire to work in it. But to have the opportunity to learn about the industry, meet execs, see living proof of the positions I could one day be in, positions that are filled with people just like me. CFF just like BRAG is all about bridging the gap, and giving creative, young, aspiring individuals a helping hand to reach success.
What drives you? Share your passions, values, or a defining experience that shaped who you are today.
I am a very emotional person, I feel everything about everything. Truthfully my emotions drive me and the desire to feel true joy. I value positivity. I But I also LOVEEEEE A GOAL. I truly am someone with my eye on the prize and I love dreaming big. I believe when you dream as big as me and have large goals, its great to also have medium sized goals to help you reach your large ones, then smaller goals to reach the medium ones, and even smallerrrr goals in your everyday life. I value joy, positivity, and the structure of always having steps to accomplish my dreams.
How do you see yourself as part of Fashion's future?
Fashion in my everyday life has truly been the only things to give me confidence and hold my head up high at certain points in my life. I believe "when you look good, you feel good". I hope to be a woman who plays a vital role in helping everyone feel good through fashion. To play a part in something that helps people everywhere hold their head up high. We all have bad days but a bad day feels a hell of lot better when you have a nice outfit. I care about the greater good of humanity, if people were happier we could have a better world. The reason everything looks the way it does now is because of the negativity people are feeling and letting control them. So even though my long term goal is to be Congresswoman in the 5th district of Georgia and put policies in place to help the country, while I'm working in fashion marketing to get there, I plan to impact individual's emotions about them, their lives and etc, on a wide scale. I especially want to lift up and encourage children and young girls, because the emotions a child feels can stay with them forever.
How does your campus Black Retail Action Group (BRAG) create community and opportunity for students?
I LOVE BRAG. Coming to Howard I had never heard of BRAG. But now I tell everyone I know about BRAG and the wonderful opportunity it is to be apart of it. BRAG hosts several panels and fireside chats with industry trailblazers, consistently giving students an opportunity to learn, interact, ask questions and witness fashion professionals. In addition to that they host workshops and events regularly that members can attend and epicycle clothes, shop, eat, crochet, design bags, etc, just do all the amazing things we love while being around likeminded peers.
How has attending an HBCU set you up for success?
The sense of community and belonging that I experience at Howard University is unlike any other feeling in the world. To know AND SEE all of the greats this school has produced, and truly know and believe that I too will be one of the greats is in amazing feeling. And I place emphasis on being able to see the greats because Howard's alumni list is not only vast but the alumni consistently pours back into the students and is a shoulder for them to lean on. My professors and advisors are always pushing me to work harder and think bigger. MY PEERS, I get to witness them achieve greatness and milestone accomplishments everyday, and that drives me more to join them and achieve greatness of my own. Howard has prepared me for success by showing me every second that, when you apply yourself, the world is yours.
