I came into this position much like most people, because of who I know. In this case the person I knew was my mother, whom happened to be the lawyer for who would soon be my future employer. My always child boasting mother mentioned to my new employer that I was in school for fashion and one phone conference and spring of emails later I found myself being the assistant for a very credible fashion stylist who had just relocated to Chicago. For discretionary purposes we will refer to her as Boss Lady. Being still in school and only 20 and already having gained the position of my dreams put me right on cloud 9. But my #WINNING moment was quickly brought back down to the reality of the real world when the work actually started.
My position was a very unstructured schedule. I was in school full time and working at WalMart part time as well so time spent with boss lady had to be squeezed into any other spare time. I quickly found that this was quite the challenge. My main tasks were to handle the social media aspect for my bosses new business venture. Making a facebook, twitter, page and extensive blog to bring awareness to her company. It seemed like the perfect job description being that fashion is my first true love and social media is my forte. Although the work its self wasn't extremely hard, my boss was very detail oriented and specific. She was a perfectionist in so many words and expected the same from me. If I didn't do something right she would make me start all over and again and again until it was up to her standards. Coupled with that was the fact that she was a long distance boss because of me being in school. So all of our transactions were made via phone or email.
Sometimes I would have to do personal secretary work as well including typing up mock invites and emails and doing research for her. And she also expected me to stay up on my fashion knowledge. She required me to research designers and collections of colleagues and clients of hers as well as stay up on what fashion and business trends were happening in our world. It definitely wasn't a job made for the weak. It consumed all of my free time. And being that I've never held a job while in school and now had an internship as well, it was a huge adjustment to say the least. I had to become Little Ms Balancing Act. Being organized and punctual; 2 things I had never been good at. Boss Lady was very demanding and there were many times when I missed the days I could just come from class and sleep or lounge around with my friends or actually attend campus events. Those were numerous days when I wanted to quit. It was even more frustrating because none of my immediate friends were in fashion so I had no one who truly understood to sympathize with me.
I came to the realization that this is the reality of the fashion world. Being constantly busy and having to have stupendous work effort, having to start from the bottom and work your way up, having the courage to go after what you want and be willing to pay the price to succeed. With a year and a half left in my college career; my short semester being an assistant gave me the most credible insight and wake up call to what my life would be like in the near future, and how close I am to being ready for it. My semester as an intern taught me a lot about myself, and almost saved my career in an ironic twist of fate.
Right before I was offered the position I was feeling really uninterested and disconnected to the fashion world. I just didn't love it like i used to and was seriously question whether or not I was cut out for it or even wanted to be in it anymore. It was also very easy to loose interest, being that I'm now away from the city of Chicago and the creativity of Columbia. But Boss Lady saved me by bringing back my passion and reminding my why I love this industry. I ended my first semester at NIU and my first internship gig with new found drive and dedication to my craft. I'm married to this game called fashion and I'm in it for life. To prove my dedication I got permanently inked up to prove it.
