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Karen Kouakou

August 31st, 2016 at 2:00am

Hello Fashionistas and Fashionistos! I am so excited to start this adventure as a fall Style Guru!

My name is Karen and I am currently a senior at NEOMA Business School and I am studying International Business. I am sure you might be asking yourself where is this school. Let me explain my life to you. I am from Ivory Coast, a West African country. I spent my entire childhood living in different countries in Africa. After high school I went to France to continue my studies. My university is in Rouen, this city is situated one hour from Paris, the well-known fashion city.

I have always been attracted and interested by fashion and art in general. I remember when I was in primary school I used to take painting classes every Wednesday. Then in secondary school, I started taking fashion drawing classes and even wanted to organize a fashion show (I never had the chance to). I think painting and drawing are activities which allows someone to put down every part of personal creativity. I really think that style is personal. Unfortunately, because of my studies, I have not drawn for more than 5 years now. I wanted to focus myself on my studies. During my sophomore year at university I went abroad for a year in Norway. This year I met inspiring people and realized that in life you should never stop doing what you love to do and what makes you happy.

As I told you, I am a senior majoring in International Business. However, what is important to know is that my passion for fashion started to come back these past 2 years. This internship is the first one that I have done in the fashion industry. I realized that I should start working for what I want and what makes me happy. I like what I am studying, it will always be useful for me, but it is not what makes me “happy”. This summer, I did an event management internship in Madrid and met a woman who told me something that I am keeping in mind every day now. She said, “If you do what you really like and what makes you happy, you will be the best at it.” Years from now, I want to look back and be happy with what I have done for my passion. This is the beginning of my story in the fashion industry.

Remember guys, it will never be too late to follow your passion and work for what you want in life!

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