Born in USA, 

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Hi, my name is Angelita Van De Grift.  I have an A.A. Fashion Design Degree and I am currently going to school for a B.A in Graphic Design.  In Graphic Design I currently have 83 credits under my belt.  I have been working in the Fashion Design field primarily in California.  I have had many jobs in the Apparel Design Industry. I started out as an assistant fashion designer and worked my way up the ladder.  I have managed design rooms and I have not only had the privilege to be a head Fashion Designer/Graphic Artist/Fashion Stylist and Photo Shoot Coordinator, but I am also familiar with the technical side of apparel design such as:  technical design, import production coordination, sample development, both domestic and import, and design room costing.  I have 13 years design experience if you add my fashion/graphics experience together.  Throughout my fashion career I have been able to also play the role of a Graphic Designer.  I have created vector flat clothing illustration cads for line development, screen prints, embroideries, and detailed technical design instructions for sample development and corrections.  I have worked for a newspaper, and I have also done some work for the U.S. Army pro bono, and I have done freelance work.  It's been fun and rewarding. 
My advice to anyone who wants to break into design is to go to school, start with an internship, and network with as many creative industry people as you can, have a thick skin for rejection, and never give up.  Just remember the higher you are on the ladder the more responsibility and the more politics you will have to endure.  Roll with the punches and pace yourself.  Knuckle up to the politics and don’t sell your soul in the process.  Organization and management skills will get you very far.  There will always be haters and if they want your job that bad let them have it because God will open up a better door for you somewhere else.  Remember this industry is smaller than you think and word gets around so try not burning any bridges.  There is only 6 degrees of separation between us.  Look it up.  It is an interesting concept.  Your assistant today may be your boss tomorrow.  Wow! What an idea right, but it could happen.  Be kind to one another.  God is watching and don’t we all have a higher power to answer to at the end of the day anyway.  What goes around comes around.