Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what would be your long-term dream job?

I recently visited the XXX Museum in Morocco. I’ve always had an interest in the fashion industry, but my interest fell by the wayside when I started my career in consulting. I wasn’t confident that I had the right skills to elevate my interest to anything more than a hobby. Three years later, learning about Laurent’s accomplishments reignited a fire in me. While consulting has armed me with a foundational set of skills, an education at Columbia will help me transition into spending 3-5 years in growth strategy at an established luxury fashion company before ultimately launching my own brand.

Working in consulting accelerated my understanding of critical business functions and pushed me to become a better thinker, leader, and doer. Serving retail clients in a customer experience strategy light unveiled my interest in understanding the consumer’s shopping mindset. However, the volatile nature of consulting prevents me from diving deep into the role that I desire; now is the perfect time for me to hone my consulting capabilities in the world of fashion entrepreneurship. Columbia’s Retail & Luxury Goods and Entrepreneurship Programs present the perfect learning environments to combine my consulting skills with my passion for fashion.

Following graduation, I will spend 3-5 years working in growth strategy for an established brand such as ZZZ or ABC. These companies have built brands that consistently evoke visceral emotions within their audiences, a feeling that I seek to translate into my own. Applying the skills I gained at CBS with consulting, I will conduct research on customer and industry trends to provide strategic recommendations that will grow that brand, all while I strengthen my network in the fashion industry. Pairing relevant industry experience with my time at CBS will give me the complete set of skills needed to achieve my dream of starting my own clothing company.

My dream is to lead my company (dont kill the mood or dktm) as its CEO. dktm was initially conceived when I was on a date with someone who spent the afternoon on her phone. Hurt feelings aside, the experience exposed me to a dangerous societal problem: we are entering a digital age that requires less human interaction, culminating in a steady deterioration of our ability to form meaningful connections with one another. dktm’s visual aesthetic will provoke people to think about that missing emotional connection and inspire them to re-establish it. As CEO, I will define dktm’s long-term vision, build an actionable business strategy, and advise on the direction of the brand’s identity.

Having spoken with multiple students, I’m confident Columbia is my ideal choice. ABC (‘19) told me of the friendships she established with classmates and mentors, including ABC VP of Fashion. YYY (‘19) informed me of the various courses I could take to develop my fashion entrepreneurship skills, such as Lean Launchpad. Through CBS, I will create lifelong friendships, learn from seasoned veterans, and kickstart my vision of ensuring that people dont kill the mood.