One of the things I always mention is that I will keep it real (or at least try to). Holidays tend to be beautiful, we know. But not always for immigrants. I am going to admit that, being from Brazil where Christmas is a serious thing (SERIOUS), it is hard to be away from family and friends I grew up with. Usually, this time of the year reminds me who I am, everything I have been through to make a career in NY, all the effort and focus I put to stay here - without killing myself lol... but for real!
Something I noticed among immigrants is that we tend to put up with things on our own and suck all the energy in (good or bad) because we are afraid of speaking up or do not have anyone to talk to - after all we chose to be here so shut up and do not complain… but one of my main goals is to show people that immigrants (in the fashion industry or not) are not alone and we all go through some good, bad and hilarious shit.
When I first moved to the US, as I mentioned in my prior posts, I had NO idea what I wanted to do in the fashion industry. After six months in NY just partying and enjoying NYC life, my mother decided that I should get a job (LOL, BUT FOR REAL!). Then I had to choose between going back home or... well, getting a job! When I decided to stay I already knew that the life I had in Brazil and the life I had in my first six months of NYC was going to change (dramatically) and I knew that I was going to put myself through a whole new scene of challenges and difficulties, but I decided to stay. So I got my first job as a salesperson.
When I started I lasted three days at the store. I literally called the owner of the store (who was also the manager) and said “I don’t like sales, I don’t like these people and will probably be the worst salesperson you ever had! I promised you I would work until next week, so here I am and I will do my best, but honestly, I am here to learn more about the business, build my career and I just realized I hate sales, so thank you but no!” and then the owner hired me as his assistant lol… BUT FOR REAL!
Working at that boutique helped me to learn a lot about importation, importation tariffs, how the sales business works, how to price inventory from wholesale to direct to customers, how to negotiate wholesale prices with vendors, how to count inventory, and bookkeeping. Feels like I started in this industry backward because I actually started at the final stage of the process (merchandising and sales) and worked my way back to the first stage (product development) and ended up compiling both experiences together.
All this experience helped me SO MUCH and added a lot of knowledge to my career now. I am grateful for it, but I honestly learned how to hate sales. Crazy work hours, people taking advantage of you for being a hard worker, putting up with a lot of bs, and, even with all of these, I lasted almost a year at this job. Because I liked it? Hell, no. Because I hoped to get better? Hm, not really. But because I was too afraid of not finding anything else and, as a brand new immigrant trying to build a career with no network, I was afraid of never getting anything better than that.
In the meantime, when I first started working at this boutique I had to find a new place to live and start paying rent. Paying rent, organizing my finances, getting a job, and basically, adulting were things I have never done in my life. I never needed it. But as I mentioned, my mother decided that it was time for me to become an adult (lol, but for real!). I obviously wanted to live in Manhattan, but we all know that Manhattan rents are insane and at that moment I was not able to afford anything (thanks to my mother who decided that I should become an adult and pay my own bills… seriously mom!) but I was lucky enough to find a room in Hell's Kitchen for $800 a month. Now, whoever knows Manhattan rents knows that $800 for a room in the city is THE DEAL. The only one catch was: my roommate was an 84 years old sir from Puerto Rico (LOL, BUT FOR REAL!).
I guess all of this sounds funny and I know it is (now I think it is funny lol) but when this was happening to me I felt like it was the lowest point of my life and career and even feeling like garbage almost every day, I had to suck the bad energy in, go to work, go to school (I started college again) and keep up the passe because the bottom line was: I still wanted to be in NYC. This is one of the biggest experiences I had as an immigrant. We put up with a lot of bs for being afraid of speaking up and afraid of not finding anything better. After living with this old sir whom sometimes I had to poke just to make sure he was only sleeping and not dead (LOL BUT FOR REAL GUYS, FOR REAL!!!) and working as a salesperson for almost a year I got to the point that I had to find something else that I like and focus on my career because I was seriously ready to jump out of the window.
I quit my job as a salesperson. I obviously did not find anything related to what I wanted and started hostessing in a bar because I had to pay bills (again, thanks mom!). I have to admit that, even being a bad hostess (very bad…, I got three bad reviews in a month) I actually liked working in the entertainment industry and learning about it. After a few months at this job I was again overwhelmed and stressed about not doing what I love, so I quit and decided that I would not do any more jobs which were not related to my career. This was the first moment I decided to take a step for myself. I moved into a better place (by better place I mean I moved in with people my age lol) and got an internship and V.Mora where I am now a production manager.
Telling the truth about living with an 84 years old sir and doing jobs I hated was something I was not ready to do. I was feeling embarrassed about it, but then I realized that this is exactly why I created this space. To share the good, the bad and to show that we all go through a bunch of bs building a career in the US. I have seen so many immigrants (even close friends) not being able to do so. They either get lost in the process (because let's face it: it is SO easy to lose focus in NYC) or because they cannot put up with NYC life and challenges. It is hard to be nobody in NYC when you are from a family everybody knows back home, but going from “what the F* is happening in my life?” through “I am going to jump out of the window” all the way up to “I am grateful and I want to inspire people” stages helped me to be where I am. Standing up for your values and showing that you are a hard worker will only do good for you and, as an immigrant or not, stay focused on your path. The main reason I am here is to tell you that we are all in this together (and give you some great insights about the fashion business… on my next posts lol).
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