Katherine Carey Millinery

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Rough Draft for My Future #1

SO... this is what I have thus far. Please Your feedback is helpful as I have not written an essay possibly ever! I look forward to Your thoughts so that when asked I am fully prepared, strong and confident in my presentation. (for those of you who may not know this is the essay FIT (The Fashion Institute of Technology) is asking for when applying to go to their school which is exactly what I am currently doing) Many Mahalos! xoxo

 
 
Have you ever been so ready to launch out into the world but unsure of what is the first step? To say “Here I am! I have all this to offer! Just what you have been waiting for! I am ready!” Yet you are not sure who to say this to?


What about feeling like you have been growing but you realize you need help and yet how do you get help? Or you have been successful in small-scale ways and now you want to really take the leap but again from where to where?

I feel all of these. My label is called Paradise Millinery and I am currently based on Maui, Hawaii. I have been a Milliner for twenty years (as of 2010) and I am self taught. My education thus far has been from experimenting, reading books, trial and sometimes error. I have designed, created and sold at least a hundred originals, likely more. All (for the most part) one of a kind, all created solely by me.

My current target market is broad ranging from women ages 35-68. My hats sell from $50 - $450 (I would like to have them sell from $225 - $450+). At this time I sell them at a boutique here on Maui and out of my current home studio.

So why school now? Why FIT Accessories Design program? Simple. It is time to grow.

This is where FIT is so important to me. I need your expertise. I want to be shown the very basics of hat making. I have been creating all these years and yet I have never used a hat block properly (I own four currently). I need instruction. What sort of machines do Milliners use? How do I use buckram? I want knowledge. How do I go about hiring a staff? What do I pay them? I want to be the very best hat designer, fully equipped to take the fashion world and inspire the masses to wear hats again. They did in the past but I am the future.

My future needs FIT. I need the business skills I will learn here to polish myself and prepare my company for the success I feel within me. I need contacts and information on sourcing. How do I budget and launch a line? How do I get into the market? How do I get my line onto the runways? FIT knows exactly how!

I have realistic goals to take what I have now and fully pursue my passion with total dedication. I am ready to be a star student. To ask questions. To study. To learn. To launch.

I haven't even mentioned the whole shoe bliss and handbag scenario. Both accessories I have long wanted to learn to create. Both are great partners to my hats. This program is designed perfectly for my needs, for my future, for my success.

I truly hope there is a spot for me. I am so excited about what the future holds. How much better my product will be with the knowledge I learn from FIT. What a better business woman I will be. I look forward to this fantastic opportunity which will give me the courage to soar.  Thank you for considering my future and my future success.

3 comments:

  1. Katherine-
    I think as long as it comes from the heart you can't go wrong. You are appealing to them by telling your story. You want their help, they want your business. Based on these 2 facts, you (both) will make meaningful connections. They will fully support your creative endeavors- it is the science of art. Oh, I would probably change the word 'smallish' you use in the 2nd paragraph. type in 'synonym for small' in google or whatever search and see what other words comes up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wouldn't change a thing, looks AWESOME! You go, girl~ they will love it even if you don't change a word, I think!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank You Holly! Very good idea! xoxo

    ReplyDelete