From the time you are a small child, people ask “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I think most people struggle with this question at one point or another.  Sometimes people have a hard time finding that thing that makes them crazy in a good way; that thing that makes them feel alive and they can’t picture their lives without.

Fashion is that thing for me.  It’s about so much more than clothes for me.  Art, research, creating things, the business and marketing aspects of it…all of the different areas I have been lucky enough to have worked in throughout my career – they all mean something so special to me and I love every single bit of it.  Ethical and sustainable fashion has added yet another spoke to my “fashion-love” wheel.  With all of the challenges and new things to learn, the opportunities to make good things happen for people and the earth, and the excitement surrounding all of it, I know it is where I am meant to be.

Recently, I had to answer a questionnaire for a very large corporation I do some freelance work for.  One of the questions was “If you were speaking to a group of future business leaders and were asked what single piece of advice you would like to offer, what would it be?”

My response:  Push boundaries, use your imagination, do what you love, love what you do!

I can’t stress it enough – DO WHAT YOU LOVE!!!

Thank you, universe, for affording me the opportunity to do what I love every day…

Illustration for in-class project - Art Institute, 1997

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lush landscapes, maori tradition, delicious food and wine, geysers, mountains, ocean, lots of sheep, the smell of sulfur, mud baths, hundreds of baby seals playing at the bottom of a waterfall, warm welcomes, and more…

We traveled to New Zealand for our honeymoon in May (how time flies) and it left quite an impression on us (we have talked about getting a time share there in the future).  Recently, I had the opportunity to write an article for Ethical Fashion Forum’s SOURCE Intelligence Magazine about New Zealand’s ethical fashion scene.  It was a story I pitched while we were there.  The project prompted me to think back on all of the fun adventures of our trip and gave me another reason to do more research on a country we both fell in love with.

We went for 3 weeks and traveled through both islands by car, plane, and ferry.  We couldn’t stop taking pictures.  Of all the places I’ve been, it’s the one place that I think anyone, from my hippie backpacking friends to my more fancy pants 5-star travel friends, would appreciate.

Looking back at photos makes me want to go again right now – even with the almost 24 hours of travel time it takes to get there.

Happy Love Day!!

The post Inspiration: Memories of our trip to New Zealand appeared first on Pashen.