You can feel very alone in this industry, especially when you’re trying to create something meaningful.

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I know because I’ve been there. I didn’t have mentors. I didn’t have a support system — I had just ambition, drive, and a deep desire to create something with purpose.

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From my early days as an assistant designer in NYC, through design director roles at Nike Swim, Oakley, and Perry Ellis International, and later co-founding Creative Capital Design — a Portland-based performance and lifestyle apparel consultancy — I was always searching for connection. For collaboration, emotional support, and wise, compassionate mentorship. But for years, I navigated it alone. This was the reality of the fashion industry: highly competitive, fast-paced, with relentless pressure to meet deadlines.

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These struggles and the journey to overcome them inspired me to create ifd and The Conscious Fashion Design Academy.

 

A Seed Takes Root: The Birth of ifd

In 2016, my partner and I were brainstorming how to promote our design consulting business, Creative Capital Design. We decided to do what I’ve always loved — host an event. We called it the Open Studio Social. It was a small gathering, but the energy was electric. Designers, creatives, and industry pros were thrilled by the meaningful connections forming in the room. “Why don’t we do this more often?” someone asked.  At that moment, a lightbulb lit up. The sense of community, the sharing of ideas, the collective encouragement — this was what I had needed all along.

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That event planted the seed. Over the next two years, I began organizing more. I created a series of events during Design Week Portland, including panel talks with industry veterans, textile showcases, and happy hours that evolved into creative networking hubs. We held exhibitions, launched mini-workshops, and hosted community conversations that fostered deep connections and a sense of purpose.

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That movement became Inside Fashion Design — a multi-platform space dedicated to supporting fashion professionals at every stage of their careers. ifd is more than an educational platform. It’s a global community hub where students, entrepreneurs, and industry veterans come together to learn, collaborate, and inspire each other. Through workshops, online learning, in-person events, blog storytelling, mentoring opportunities, and thought-leadership content, IFD was designed to be precisely what I once needed — and what many others are still seeking.

 

The Conscious Fashion Design Academy

In 2024, I took the next step and officially launched the Conscious Fashion Design Academy (CFDA) — a hands-on, step-by-step learning experience for today’s fashion professionals who want to build a brand that aligns with values, vision, and viability.

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The TCFDA offers industry-informed, ethics-rooted training in sustainable product development, business building, sourcing, circularity, and AI tools for fashion design. Most recently, I partnered with circular design expert Caroline Priebe to develop a dedicated circularity course — one of the first of its kind designed specifically for working fashion professionals.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or transitioning mid-career, TCFDA courses are built to help you create not just a business, but a legacy.

 

Why This Is Personal: A Life Shaped by Purpose

Looking back, I credit both my parents for planting these seeds — though in very different ways.

From an early age, I was drawn to both creativity and consciousness, long before these concepts became buzzwords. My mom, a talented seamstress, taught me to sew. I made my own clothes, chose my own fabrics, and dreamed of runways while standing in small-town fabric shops in Minnesota. My dad was a college professor who recycled before anyone else did — back when it was considered a hippie thing, and not in a good way. Little did I know that those roots would become the foundation of everything I stand for today.

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At 15, my dad introduced me to a fellow professor who had attended FIT. She took me to lunch — pizza at a local Pizza Hut — and explained the design program in New York. That lunch changed my life. From that moment on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

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I applied to FIT, got accepted, moved to New York, and eventually worked on projects for major global brands. One early role put me with a company whose main sales came from Walmart, which required mass production and multiple trips overseas each year to work with factories in Asia. What I witnessed — poor conditions, waste, and an overwhelming pace — was a shock. I didn’t yet have the words for it, but I knew: this wasn’t the kind of fashion I wanted to create.

Years later, I found success in my career. But it came at the expense of my mental and physical health, ongoing burnout, and exhaustion. At one point, my stress levels led to serious health issues and eventually landed me in the hospital after a SCAD heart attack. It was a wake-up call. Something had to change.

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The Power of Community, Mentorship, and Support

Whether you yearn for mentorship — or don’t yet realize how much it can change your life — the difference between having it and not having it is profound. With support, you grow faster. You recover stronger. You stay grounded in your purpose. Without it, the pressure, pace, and isolation can erode your creativity, mental health, and confidence.

This is especially true in today’s fashion landscape, where climate change, labor injustice, and resource waste demand innovative, collaborative solutions. We can’t solve these problems alone.

We need collaboration. We need mentorship. We need each other.

 

A New Chapter: COVID and the Future of ifd

The second major turning point came in 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world paused — and so did much of our client work. But in that pause, I found clarity. I poured my energy into building Inside Fashion Design into a full-time venture. I launched online programs, built a global community, and reimagined what learning and mentorship could look like in a remote, digital-first world.

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Today, ifd and the TCFDA offer courses, resources, events, and community spaces that span continents and time zones — and still feel personal and powerful.

 

Where We’re Going — and Why

Inside Fashion Design is now a full platform for conscious fashion professionals: a members-only community, a growing course library, a curated global resource directory, monthly content and expert sessions, and in-person events for connection and collaboration.

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Through The Conscious Fashion Design Academy, we’re expanding our curriculum in sustainability, circularity, AI-assisted design, and responsible business practices. In 2026 and beyond, that means more courses, more expert partnerships, a growing global membership, and deeper collaboration with values-aligned organizations and brands.

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I also serve as Creative Director for Threads of Impact — an NYC fashion show and gala produced in partnership with The Sustainability Laboratory — where the power of fashion as a vehicle for social change is on full display every year.

Whether you’re a student, an entrepreneur, an industry veteran with wisdom to share, or a professional looking to pivot toward more meaningful work, there is a place for you here.

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If you’re a designer trying to find your way in an overwhelming industry, IFD is the community you didn’t know you needed.

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We believe fashion can be a force for good.

We believe in designing with purpose.

And we believe in walking the journey together