Alumni News

6 October 2017

Mele Moody

Mele Moody

FDM alumna Mele Moody recently took time out from her duties with surfwear company Reef to outline her journey. After graduation, Mele took a paid internship with Ocean Minded, a small Southern California surf footwear company. Shadowing a sales rep for the company, she decided, “This is exactly what I want to do!” After five years with various surfwear companies, she landed her dream job, sales rep for Reef’s O‘ahu and Kaua‘i territory. Now exactly where she wants to be, she’s proud she kept focused on her goal. Mele points out that while UH may not be generally considered a fashion school, there are many great courses and opportunities to learn the industry, especially in FDM. An entrepreneurship class, Brick and Click, was especially helpful, requiring students to set up a successful business and sell an actual product, but she also enjoyed “playing with the vintage clothes in the Archives, and our sewing class and fashion illustration. The variety of classes offered in the program is what was most appealing to me,” she explains: there’s space for both mathematical and creative types, “something for everyone.” Her advice to those hoping to enter the fashion industry? “Follow your dreams...stay focused on your dream (or dream job) and take the necessary steps to get there. Start small, don’t get discouraged, stay patient, and you’ll get there!”

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