It’s been a little over one month since I went full-time, which also means it’s been a little over a month since I was laid off from my previous role. My thoughts have swung evenly between intrusive doubts and positive reflections.
On the bright side, I’m navigating my new routine and trying to find my rhythm. Lately, what keeps me going is the ethos of a beginner’s mind. More than ever, I’m standing ten toes down behind the name of my brand. Embracing a beginner’s mind was the key to my journey that began over a decade ago.
In 2012 while I was attending UC Irvine, I daydreamed about how I'd hopefully work in fashion one day. Daydream feels like the right word because the rejections were endless. My first milestone eventually came when I landed an internship at a womenswear company called St. John Knits. From there, I bounced between several 90-day unpaid internships throughout the industry. I took each opportunity in stride and held onto blind faith that one day I’d reach my ultimate dream: working with John Elliott.
Two years later, I hit an even bigger milestone when I received a full-time offer as a Men’s Buying Assistant at Pacsun. The pay was modest, but it was the first time I had stable income and benefits. Eight months in, I was unexpectedly laid off when the company restructured and closed 400 stores.
While the situation was out of my control, I took it as a sign to take the leap of faith, bet on myself, and reach out to John Elliott. That decision changed my career forever. After some convincing and humbling myself through a three month unpaid internship, I received a full-time offer in 2015. The rest of my time at JE truly felt like a dream; I went on to work with John for the next five years and made Los Angeles my home in adulthood.
During that time, I witnessed a number of special moments in the brand’s history: opening wholesale at SSENSE and Mr. Porter, having Virgil DJ our NYFW afterparty, and collaborating with LeBron and Nike. These memories along with my experiences embracing a beginner’s mind continue to motivate me as I do my brand full-time. In many ways, my current circumstances feel familiar.
I don't always believe that lightning strikes twice. But after reflecting on what made my past dreams a reality, I’ve noticed a throughline: trust that things happen for a reason, believe in the 1% rule — the power of compounding small improvements over time.
The math behind it is simple but powerful. If you improve a skill by just 1% each day, after a year you’re roughly 37 times better than when you started.
Heading into my second month full-time, I'm still figuring out what's working. What I do know though is that I’m trying my best to stay consistent, experiment, network and grow.
If there’s anything to take away from this, it’s that I’m back at square one in my career. And true to my brand’s name, I’m staying grateful, striving to be just 1% better than I was yesterday.