One of the things I constantly repeat here is that it is freaking hard to get out of your comfort zone, take the first step and make a change, but all of these things are even harder when you are doing it alone, with no family, no friends, and no network. For an immigrant, it takes a lot of guts to decide to make a change when you are finally living comfortably. As a person who is never comfortable and every time I fall in my comfort zone I feel like I need something new and I need to challenge myself, it was time to step up my game and take the lead of my career, not just for myself but for my passion for the fashion business and the people who are trying to make in this industry.
As immigrants, we are naturally afraid of change because we never know what is coming next. It is different than when you decide to change your job or try your own business, ruin it all and go back to your parent's house. Immigrants do not have that choice! If we mess it up, ruin our careers, take the wrong step or simply get out of our comfort zone and fail, we have no parent's house to run to. Yes, we can build an amazing group of friends and people we can trust and count on, but it is different than running to your parents. You do not expect to run to your friend's house and stay there for free forever - you can only do that to your family, lol.
Unbelievably, I do not like change (lol, but for real), but I am always up for a challenge. When I saw that I hit the ceiling and it was time to move on, giving a “step back” was necessary to figure out what I actually wanted to do and how I would grow my career. The fashion industry is competitive and does not forgive mistakes. Make one mistake and there is a line of people who want your job. I already mentioned that I do not see it as a competition. We grow together and we help each other. That is the main reason why expanding BARBARA SESSIM, helping new designers, and inspiring the young generation of the fashion industry became my main goal.
On the post “WORK HARD, LEARN, BE YOUR BEST - BUT THEN TRACE YOUR OWN PATH AND BE THE BEST!“ I wrote about career-changing and the things that happened in my life that brought me here (to NYC, to my career, and my career choices). Deciding to leave the comfortable job that I loved and changing the lifestyle it took me forever to build in NYC not only took all my ego and pride, but also my guts and strength. No, I do not feel like I am taking a step back, the opposite. At this moment, starting from scratch, creating a whole new network, and putting my name out there sounds like the career I came here for, but, no jokes, also sounds scariest AF.
This might not come as a surprise for everyone who has been following me for a while and has encouraged me to do so, but it is more than time enough to go on my own, build my own business, help designers and the young generation of people who will be the future of our industry. Taking such a big step and jumping into something that, even though I know the industry, is completely new and it is scary, but nothing motivates me more than my passion and my big dreams. That is why I am taking BARBARA SESSIM to the next level and making this space not only a blog where I talk about the fashion business and immigrants & NYC lifestyle, but also a space to inspire, instruct and help new designers and fashion lovers through each stage of production management.
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