Growing Up In Ethiopia

Growing up in Ethiopia, a third world country where opportunities come few and far between, medicine, law, and engineering are all at the forefront of these limited opportunities and overly frequented options for college students. At an early age, I uncovered my love for helping others, but to my parents’ surprise my passion was for helping my girlfriends put outfits together or helping them shop for clothes, not helping an ill person regain their health in a white coat. As I began to mature, so did my taste and understanding of the fashion industry. After relocating to America, I learned that the industry is much more than raveling in the season’s latest designs or playing dress up. The industry requires a keen understanding of the various aspects of business. From an in depth knowledge of marketing necessary to efficiently publish magazines to the attention to detail and micro management required to produce the runways shows, or the macro management experience that’s a must in order to oversee a styling company. I was astonished and even more so motivated by the business empires that are household names across the world, including the numerous fashion companies, and intrigued like never before by what takes place behind the scenes to build them from the ground up. I soon fell into the expansive world of business head first when I took an introduction class to business as a freshman in high school, in addition to a quantitative literature class to provide me with the bases for understanding the math involved, as well a college level Introduction to Business course during my senior year at a nearby community college.
A few months ago I was fortunate to have the opportunity to put my tremendous passion and the knowledge of business and fashion I hold to work. I attended a summer studio fashion retail program at the New England Institute of Art and got an up close look and hands on experience with creating a business plan for a virtual store, deciding on the