Long Day and Long Night at Art Institute of Charlotte.

I am currently a Fashion Marketing and Management at the Art Institute of Charlotte. Before attending the Art Institute of Charlotte, I had 10 years of experience in retail buying, marketing, management, visual merchandising, and sales. After years in retail, I had fallen in love with the industry and began the search for higher education in the field. I understood that by gaining more knowledge about this industry that it would provide more opportunities.

Attending the school has helped me to realize that fashion is not limited to only clothing, but is an art of expression. The Art Institute of Charlotte has exposed me to all aspects of fashion and has sparked an interest in marketing. Each quarter at the Art Institute of Charlotte has allowed me to hone my skills and ignite my passion for the field. My creative skills have developed to be able to incorporate research to fit the needs of the client. I have learned to justify my creativity by bring supporting evidence to the table that adds value to the work. Additionally, my motivation to produce high quality work and the drive to being successful keeps me moving to the next level. To me, everyday is a learning experience

Like any other experience there comes the good, bad, and ugly. There are many good times at the school. One of the most exciting opportunities at the school was when a group of Fashion Marketing student and I held a fashion show to benefit the community. Edible was a fashion show to help feed the hunger. The bad were the long days spent by my computer doing projects without sleep. The ugly is when I turned in projects that I spent long weeks on and it was not good enough and I have to go back and redo it. Despite my bad experience I would not trade it for anything; I have learned skills and habits that I can apply to my career of choice.