I'm sure you've heard amazing stories about success after tragic failure. Well, that's not my story. I think my story is more fascinating, but then again, I have done everything and more that I had hoped to accomplish in life and I just turned 40!

Here is the brief synopsis of how I introduce myself to new students:

I've been teaching for about 15 years, taught at FIDM for 9 years with 3 years in San Francisco and 6 years in Los Angeles. I began my design career at age 5 when I learned how to sew, made things and sold them at my lemonade stand. Fast forward 16 years. I move to NYC to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology and get my specialization in intimate apparel (or as everyone knows this: lingerie design). I worked at the absolute worse job in my life after graduation. It deeply traumatized me, that after only 2 days on the job, I left the industry for computer programming.

I move back to Florida (where I grew up) and regrouped. I still wanted to do design so I started building up a portfolio so I could give fashion styling a whirl. I decided that moving to San Francisco would be best for my future.

So, I pack up my car and two friends and take 3 weeks to drive across country for my big move. What an amazing experience to see the country as I did. Anyway, I moved to San Francisco without a place to live, a job or even knowing a single person. It was a great experience to start fresh.

I did my styling. I got to work with some amazing photographers and got some great photos of my designs in the process. I also started teaching pattern drafting, draping and sewing out of my garage. I launched my first business in San Francisco, Porcelynne Lingerie.

Too bad I didn't know what I was doing, but I did learn by making every mistake in the book. It took a massive theft of my merchandise for me to sit down and realize that I was selling my masterpieces for less than what it took to make them. Duh!

Fast forward a year or two, I land a teaching position at FIDM in SF and love it. Shortly after beginning teaching, an opportunity crossed my path and I opened my first store. With that too, I had no idea of what I was doing. Lucky for me, my design business was actually doing well and I even found a local factory to make my goodies.

I ran the money pit for a year and a half before I decide to turn it into a co-op. What a fabulous way to run a business. We had 12 people promoting and working the store and for the first time it was profitable. Then I closed it. Then I had all sorts of free time. I used it to write a book on how to start your own clothing line (by way of how not to start your own clothing line).

Then I decide that it's time to get serious about finding a husband so I could start a family. I move to LA, meet my husband and get married. We buy a house in the mountains and have a beautiful baby girl. I go back to work to realize I don't want to go back to work and decide to open a store. I felt the store was not enough, so I decided to start my own nonprofit design school.

The school wasn't supported by the local community, so after a year and a half, I closed its doors and we made the trip back to Florida. We packed up our store, our house, our car and 2 cats and drive back across country. This time we did it in 5 days. Not too much fun.

That brings us to our current day and time. We just made it back to Florida and are starting to settle in. I'll update as soon as I start my next adventure. So there you go, that's my story. Plus I forgot to mention that I've written 4 other books and had one translated into Spanish. So there it is, oh wait, did I mention I started my current business online and by accident? Well, that's another story for another day.