The Fashion industry seems to be filled with glamorous events and lovely people. But for many people in fashion it is a lot simpler. For Juliana Hymanson, fashion started for her when she was a young teen figuring out what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Juliana states, “my interest in fashion was probably first sparked by my love of art and drawing as a young girl. I was always drawn to creativity and expressing ideas visually. Once I got a little older and a sense of who I was, fashion felt like a natural extension of that.” Unlike some people who do not know what to do for the rest of their lives or find their passion later in life. Julie always knew fashion was where she was meant to be. She took sewing and fashion illustration classes in high school at Middletown High School South. She realized a hobby she had interest in could be her life long dream. Hymanson had said “I must say I’m one of the lucky people that has always known what I wanted to do, half of me felt like it was for fun and the other half realized I could make a career out of it.” But entering the fashion industry was far from easy. She faced “many many many challenges like any other career. It’s not all glamour! I faced the competitiveness throughout school and finding an internship but it’s really important to network as much as you can while in school not only with the industry but also with your classmates!” Now that Juliana is designer at the company Alice & Olivia, she said the most rewarding part of her job and what she enjoys most is “seeing things come to life is my favorite part of my job. I enjoy taking a concept from an initial idea to an illustration and then turning it into a real sample..” Balancing creativity and business in fashion is a skill you need to achieve in working in fashion. According to Juliana, “fashion runs on deadlines and if you do not have samples ready for market, you have nothing to sell. The more effort you put into the business side, like working with factories and product development the better the final execution will be.” Her advice for students hoping to pursue fashion careers is “Do not be afraid to pitch crazy ideas.. The beauty of working with a team is putting minds together to help make a vision come to life.” For Julie, fashion is about more than style, it is about creativity and bringing ideas to life. Julie’s journey shows that with passion, hard work and confidence in your vision it is possible to turn what you love into a successful career.