November 19, 2016

Meet Fashion and Technical Designer: Elle Griffin

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elle Griffin.

Elle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always dreamed of being a designer since the age of 7. At a young age, I began cutting up clothing and re-purposing them into barbie clothes. At the age of 14, I decided that I would pursue Fashion as a career, so I enrolled in every fashion class my high school had to offer. I became obsessed with fashion and read every fashion magazine I could get my hands on. I worked on my portfolio for 4 years and submitted it with my college application for review. I was accepted into the Fashion Institute of technology, in New York City for Fashion Design and I attended from 2007-2009. Thereafter, I moved to Washington, DC , where I designed collections for a private label brand, Cain and Carlyle clothing co. I also briefly interned for the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce’s pilot program of the DC Fashion Incubator. During that time, I also started a Fashion Summer program for youth ages 7-17 teaching basic sewing, design, and sketching from 2009-2014. Currently, I am a Freelance Technical Designer for Carter’s Babies and Kids. I also am a Board Member and Director of Fundraising for Safe Girls, Strong Girls, INC (Camp CADI), I just launched a Girl Boss Goal Journal (Goal Planner and Goal setting workshop series), Co-Blogger (Zoi and Elle), and I am launching a Pop-up shop series starting in Summer 2017. I got where I am today by always believing in myself even when no one else would. I worked many long days, often under paid, to establish myself and gain experience. Today, I am thankful for every opportunity that I was granted to bring me where I am today.

Has it been a smooth road?
In a perfect world, I would have hoped that it would go as planned, but life has a funny way of showing you that your plans aren’t always what’s best for you. My plan was to attend FIT for all 4 years and go Directly into working in the industry. However, due to lack of financial aid, I was only able to do 2 years. I was often discouraged by many from going into Fashion because the industry is so uncertain and it is an “impractical” career choice. I almost gave up on my dream after many rejection letters and just feeling like I didn’t have the degree or experience to get the jobs I wanted.

For many years, I felt crippled when couldn’t find a corporate brand to hire me. I always thought it was attributed to the fact I did not have my bachelor’s degree. So for a period of time, I put my career on the back burner and went into retail management. After 2 years of being uninspired, I decided to go back into the industry any way I could. I moved to Atlanta, revamped my portfolio and branded myself as a freelance designer. I was quickly offered a job when I updated my LinkedIn profile and have had several job offers since.

Do you feel luck has played a role in your life?
I wouldn’t say that I’ve had good or bad luck, but I will say that everything good or bad has certainly shaped who I am today. Any unfortunate circumstances that I have found myself in has propelled me to push through them and persevere. I have had many instances where I felt like giving up on my dreams because the path was difficult. I even took a break for a period of time and went another route in my career. During that break, I found myself feeling unsettled and I couldn’t ignore the feeling. Once I had enough of it, I made a decision to use any negative circumstances and turned it into the fuel I needed to propel me in the right direction. All of those experiences have made me appreciate everything that much more. I am so thankful and humbled to have the opportunities I have today.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Perseverance without a doubt has been most important because no matter what situation I found myself in, I found a way to roll with the punches.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I have lived in 3 Major cities: New York City, Washington, DC and now Atlanta, GA. I love Atlanta because it has so many cool places to visit and activities to take part in. There are a ton of networking opportunities, cool co-working spaces, and there’s so much beauty in surrounding cities. You can find a great deal of things to do here in and outside of the city. Traffic would be my least favorite because I relied on public transportation in other cities. We have no choice but to drive if you want to get around in Georgia and traffic is almost always heavy during the work week.

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