As I prepared to conclude my first week at Donna Karan International, I was ready to perform my usual duties as a public relations intern. Earlier in the week I had been managing clothing sample trafficking, checking in returns from magazines and photo shoots, and assisting my supervisor with any tasks or errands that needed to be completed around the office. Walking into the office on Thursday, I knew I would be responsible for moving shoes from my building to the other DKNY building for a photo shoot. This seemed simple enough; pick up shoes, drop them off, come back to my building. I thought to myself that this would be another day practicing the tasks I had been performing throughout the beginning of my week.
After delivering the shoes to the stylist working on the DKNY Jeans, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was asked to stay a little longer to help pull looks from mannequins in the downstairs showroom. As if this wasn't enough of a change to switch up my daily routine and bring even more excitement to my co-op, I was then selected to spend my entire day working on the shoot for the spring '14 look book! My dream of working in the fashion industry became reality right in front of my eyes. I was put in charge of dressing my very own model for the full work day!
Although initially I was nervous about taking charge of dressing the only female model on the shoot, I gained such great confidence in myself that day. I learned that when it comes to your career, never say no. Have a little faith in yourself, you never know what can come out of it. I now have an additional skill to add onto my resume, as well as gaining a new friend in Manhattan- my model, Anja, an amazing Swedish model! I came into work that day thinking I would be working in the public relations department like my typical day and left with more knowledge from one day that I could ever learn in a classroom. I am looking forward to gaining all these skills that I will be able to apply to whatever job I may get in the future, especially now that I know I will be exposed to more sections of the fashion industry than I thought I was signing up for!
Chelsea, that sounds like an incredible opportunity! Your advice in your post really spoke to me. I think it can be so easy to have doubts within yourself, especially while performing on the job. In this situation, you walked into work expecting something small, and left with confidence and further knowledge. I think these opportunities really help us to learn more about ourselves.
ReplyDelete