“You can cut my arm off and take it with you.”

These were my exact words interviewing the wonderfully talented Kimberly Loomis for The Cut (a local distributor) in February 2023 talking about her attending NYFW. At the time Kimberly was a superstar in my eyes and I'm grateful now to call her a friend (who is still a superstar in my eyes). 

Picture this: You've just hit an absolute career high, spending a week in New York essentially on your own, alongside team members you’ve just met. You're at the top of your game, and you want to stay there. My only regret of the week was I was still hungry—hungry for more opportunities and more backstage work.

September brought all the feelings of what I thought was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... or so I thought.

Shayla, a stranger in September who turned into a dear friend, had the chance to come back as a lead and invited me to join her team in Febuary 2024. And here we go again—I wanted it. I wanted it, but I also wanted it to evolve into something more. After chatting with Shayla, I was able to join her team as an assistant lead.