I was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, always carrying this feeling that I was meant for something more. I didn’t know what “more” meant yet, but I knew California had my heart long before I ever moved there.
I spent my teenage years working as a barista, falling in love with fashion & keeping a film camera in my pocket. Unknowingly, these hobbies shaped my dedication, creativity, & my passion for human connection.
Film felt like the perfect way to capture the magic of growing up in a small town. If I could bottle that feeling into a movie one day, I would.
But the real magic was watching someone look at a photo I took of them & fall back into that moment of value. I also carry a soft spot for nostalgia, if you couldn’t tell.
My Story ★
My Story ★
The same nostalgia pulled me into fashion. Just like the permanence of a photo, a memory lasts forever in clothing, symbolizing who we are, where we've been & what we feel.
Thrifting became my first love, curating a closet full of unknown history that was undeniably mine. I found passion in sorting through mismatched old, pre-loved & forgotten pieces that I could bring new life into.
I always had an eye for garments with a story & beautiful construction, but figuring out my own style didn’t come as easily. I focused far too much on how clothing looked versus how it felt, lacking a true understanding of what it means to be fashionable.
Mae, my best friend & now a stylist in New York, changed that for me. I joke that I was her first client.
Style to her was about experimentation: no confinement to any trend or decade, just the confidence that whatever you choose will represent some part of you.
Luckily for me, she knew me as well as she knew herself. The first time I ever felt truly fashionable was in an outfit she picked out for me.
From then on, I learned that style is like having a signature. Something reflexive through practice & confidence. Never the same, yet still entirely yours.
I found my signature by hand. Thrifting became less about chasing rare pieces & more about transforming them. Upcycling old, forgotten items into something new & intentionally crafted.
Sewing is now my form of meditation, a way to pause outside noise & create for the sole purpose of creating.
When pursuing a creative industry, it’s easy to feel like every project has to earn a grade or land a dream job. In reality, the best work comes from giving your mind room to create without expectation.
Fashion lives in that corner of my life. There is always more to learn, from the stories behind certain attire to the impact of tailoring & I feel empowered the deeper I connect with it.
And, thank you, Mae, for opening this door. All I hope is that one day I can create the same feeling for someone else.
That same door eventually led me to Florence, Italy, where I studied business institutions, sustainable & luxury fashion for a semester. Immersing myself fully in a culture rooted in the arts for centuries was an experience I had daydreamed of for two summers, saving as much as I could at the coffee shop in Idaho.
Chasing that same “more,” through travel & culture, eventually landing wildly out of my comfort zone. Through all of the excitement & challenge, I fostered a whole new connection to myself
The most memorable experience was the weekend I spent entirely alone, the new friends I’ve made exploring neighboring countries, my family & everything I knew thousands of miles away.
Winter was approaching & tourism quietly abandoned the city while I wandered the cobblestone streets for hours, observing human connection.
I found myself at a cafe, quietly listening to strangers share little stories over espresso & craftsmen working diligently through the stained-glass windows.
Inside, I felt completely out of place, but to everyone else, I was nothing out of the ordinary, just a young woman scribbling down her thoughts in a journal.
No one knew me or how I ended up there alone & yet watching strangers connect made me think about how everyone else did.
That experience changed everything for me. I brought home the urgency to connect deeply with how people feel toward themselves, their art & the surrounding world.
It taught me that every interaction & observation is a new story waiting to be told.
At first glance, these little hobbies & memories I’ve made did not seem directly related to the industry, but diving deeper, I realized they’ve built the foundation for the work I hope to do.
I’ve learned how to understand human emotion & craft a compelling story of who I am. I hope to carry that skill into a career where I represent the voices of others & help produce work that brings these small human moments to life again & again.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you sincerely for your time & for taking a moment to explore these meaningful parts of my life.
<3, S
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