Fashion Panel at Women's Leadership Symposium 2017
- darinagr8
- 5 мар. 2017 г.
- 2 мин. чтения
On March 4, 2017 I had a great honour to be invited as one of the "Fashion" panelists for Women's Leadership Symposium in Shangri-La Hotel by Rotman Commerce Women in Business. This was the 8th annual event, that helps female students in their professional and personal development, organized by RCWIB. No coincidence, that it happened to take place right before the International Women's Day.
This was a full day event, that consisted of networking sessions, interactive activities, keynote presentations and two sets of five concurrent sessions of various panels - Accounting, Marketing, Finance, Consulting, Enterpreneurship, Law, to Human Resources, Social Media, Entertainment and Fashion.
The "Fashion" Panel included Laura deCarufel (editor-in-chief of The Kit), Sara Duke (fashion designer and creator of Sara Duke), myself, Alex Shadrow (founder of online marketplace for students UNItiques) and Vava Valentina (co-founder of Store on Queen). The panel was moderated by Hannah Bulaun, operations lead at Oak+Fort.
All of us had different background, experiences and different perspectives on the fashion industry - from business side of retail and IT to creativity of designing and writing. However, we all came to agree with following thought on the myths and challenges of the fashion industry.
1. The biggest myth of the fashion industry is that is extremely glamourous, because most people only see a glitzy facade of beautiful images in magazines and on Instagram. What they do not see is heavy racks of clothings that people have to carry around, sleepless nights to catch early flights or exhausting working nights, and unhealthy snacking in irregular hours in rare free moments between meetings, events or shows.
2. You have to be relentless. You must never take no for an answer. You must keep banging on all the doors possible. Only people who do not give up, make it eventually.
3. If you see a gap in a market, fill it in yourself. If you can't get a job, create your own.
4. Be true to yourself and to others. People in the industry know what is happening, so when somebody is a bubble and just boasting, everyone knows that they lie and it might decrease their credibility.
5. "You only get what you ask for", said Alex of what she learnt throughout these years. Don't be afraid or shy to ask for help, advice or even opportunity.
This was a wonderful experience not only for students, who came to listen, but, I believe, for all the panelists as well.
We had a moment to chat afterwards and everybody enjoyed it. So thank you again, Rotman Commerce Women in Business, for this opportunity!
The top photos are taken from RCWIM Facebook page.
The bottom photos are my personal.
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