The Mentor Moment With the Co-Lab: Alicia Skehan
When it comes to navigating a vocation route, no device in your arsenal can be fairly as important — or as tricky! — to use as mentorship. We’re partnering with The co-lab, a member-led, inclusive world wide networking local community for vogue, magnificence, wellness, retail and purchaser luxurious pros, to bring you ‘The Mentor Minute,’ exactly where we chat with experts about how they’ve utilised their part as both a mentor and a mentee to get exactly where they are today.
Alicia Skehan wasn’t constantly likely to do the job in purses. The designer — who has 15 yrs of practical experience under her belt performing for quite a great deal each typical American model you can discover in your closet (believe Kate Spade, Mentor, MZ Wallace)— originally received her start out in apparel design and style. But a component-time function discovered that she wasn’t as passionate about ready-to-dress in as she was about the prospective for equipment, which led to a job change.
With the assist of a former Parsons professor, Skehan was equipped to tweak her portfolio and start down the vocation path she’s on currently. And you will find wonderful information for brand names out there on the lookout to tap into her experience: She not long ago manufactured the soar to entire-time consulting, which suggests she can implement her enthusiasm for great purse layout across all selling price factors.
Study on for Skehan’s just take on switching skilled gears, the value of leaning on your college community and how some of her most effective mentor relationships arrived about.
Speak me by your job path so far.
I have been planning purses for fifteen decades. I basically started off out in attire layout. I researched at Parsons Faculty of Structure, graduated with my BFA and took a portion-time purpose that a buddy and fellow Parsons grad referred me to. That began out a few days a 7 days, but grew into complete-time, and I uncovered in the process that I wasn’t actually excited about it it was a blend of not possessing a obvious identity of the consumer, or a story behind the brand name. I turned extra interested in checking out other groups, since I realized I needed to make a change and this was early in my profession. So, I redid my portfolio — I experienced a women’s clothing portfolio, so I appeared at the baggage and sneakers in my closet, contemplating about my awareness of building, how I would interpret some of the collections that were being in my portfolio for luggage and footwear.
I interviewed for a when and then ultimately got my start operating at Kate Spade, but it was a considerably more compact corporation then — Katy and Andy have been incredibly much concerned. From there, I went to get the job done for Coach, which was wonderful. They experienced their personal developing on 34th Road with a manufacturing facility on the fourth ground, so I learned more about the technological aspect of handbag layout. I didn’t travel internationally at that work, but doing the job with the in-dwelling factory taught me a ton about the variety of patterned items that go into a bag, all of the distinctive fillers, etc. From there, I went on to design and style for Juicy Couture, Cole Haan, MZ Wallace, Kipling — numerous brand names, some extremely noteworthy kinds. Every knowledge has been a tiny distinctive, but I’ve surely taken absent important awareness and saw some illustrations of how not to do things. Each individual knowledge has supplied me some value.
What part has mentorship played in your profession?
I experienced a footwear structure instructor at Parsons, Howard Davis, that I held in contact with submit-graduation. I haven’t checked again with him in numerous, several yrs, but he was integral in helping me redevelop my portfolio. I assume that was useful for me going from remaining a university student in university to then doing work and making an attempt to determine out my path, staying capable to lean on my alumni affiliation. To this day, I make the most of the resources that Parsons delivers — free lessons, alumni reductions, accessibility to libraries, etc.
Who has been helping you in the changeover to consulting?
I joined a pair of networking teams though on the consulting route. I joined the Co-Lab early on Kristy [Hurt] was providing just one-hour periods to go by means of your resume and converse about what the up coming phase could be, ought to you choose it may well be finest to pivot. Kristy mentioned, ‘Your resume, your encounter is best if there was a job open up, I would be placing you ahead as a applicant, but because of to the pandemic, clearly there is certainly almost nothing going on out there in the occupation industry. You should continue to be in your area and contemplate consulting.’ Afterwards, I was introduced to Erin Halper, who founded a group called the Upside, which is especially for consultants, and spoke at a Co-Lab panel. She features an accelerated plan and a quarterly group membership. It is a pretty numerous group anyone who is an Upside member is a guide or they are transitioning from full-time to consulting. That is been truly awesome to have, specially during the pandemic. It’s definitely great to have like-minded people to speak to and brainstorm with, troubleshoot, communicate about your business enterprise, get comments and provide comments to other people.
At what factors in your career have you felt you served as a mentor?
I’ve had interns from the previous that I’ve remained in touch with and then also I am a Co-Lab member. At the second, I would say I have two mentees. Just one of them is a previous intern from MZ Wallace. She’s performing on an clothing line she just graduated school, so we stayed in contact. It can be practically nothing really official at all. I am in this article to supply suggestions, offer feed-back and develop connections — anything at all that you have to have to propel forward, I’m delighted to weigh in.
At my very first task, even however it was apparel, just one of my senior group users reported, ‘I want your knowledge as a individual who’s new to this business to be far better than how my begin was.’ I have normally remembered that and want to have that forward in my operating associations with junior crew members.
I connected with a further Co-Lab member, a younger proficient designer who has business experience, but she’s also taken a little bit of a convert and has been doing the job in profits and obtaining. We keep in touch and persuade each other, give each and every other opinions. She asked me to speak for a team she began for younger Black designers, that she hosts each other thirty day period. It can be compact. It is great. It can be an prospect to share profession tales or speak about applicable matters in the marketplace. We rejoice each individual other and present help. I know that I’m extra professional, obtaining been in the market for a prolonged time, and I can give her solutions, feedback, encouragement. At the exact same time, she’s coming into this industry and I assume she also gives me encouragement as a chief, as anyone with expertise, as a person they want to learn something from. I assume you understand just as significantly as you educate in the ideal predicaments.
How have you noticed those associations evolve over time?
I will not really know if I have any concrete illustrations, but I do hope that the human being that’s in the mentee house, that you both of those expand with each other and you see people that you mentor achieve their accomplishment or find some place wherever they’re material and self-confident in their qualified purpose.
What is the ideal piece of information you’ve gotten in your profession that you would share with a mentee?
I think it is extraordinarily essential to be nice — just be well mannered, be gracious, be good. That goes a long way. I know it really is actually straightforward, but I imagine it can be vital for everybody to just be kind and want to see men and women triumph.
This interview has been evenly edited and condensed for clarity.
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