SFD 001: How to Get Your First Job in the Fashion Industry with Bjorn Bengtsson
Breaking into the fashion industry and getting your first entry level fashion design job is tough. Even if you go to fashion school, the competition is fierce. But there are a few thing you can do to beat out the competition and get the job.
Bjorn Bengtsson has over 30 years of experience working in fashion, and in this episode he shares exactly how to get an interview, what he’s looking for during that first meeting, and what to include in your design portfolio (even if you only have school projects to show).
If you’ve dreamed of working in the fashion industry and landing your dream job, you’re going to love this episode on how to get an entry level fashion design job.
You will learn:
- The value of internships and building relationships
- What to include (and not include) in your portfolio
- Why Illustrator skills are mandatory – but what other skills you need to survive
- The skills learned in school vs what’s required in the real world
- How to better prepare yourself for a job while you’re in school
- How to get an entry level fashion design job
- How to create opportunities if you don’t have a fashion school degree
- Why a curious mind will take you far
- How to get in touch with Bjorn for guidance (thank you for this generous offer Bjorn!)
Guest Info & Resources:
Enjoy the show? You can help us out by:
- Rating us on iTunes – it really helps!
- Subscribing on iTunes – I appreciate each and every one of you!
Looking for more resources?
SFD 001: Full Podcast Transcript
Heidi: Hey everybody this is Sew Heidi and you’re listening to the Successful Fashion Designer podcast. We all know this a fashion industry is brutally competitive and it takes loads of hard work to get ahead, the problem is that everyone’s secretive and tight-lipped about their ways. After working as a designer and educator for over a decade I wanted to help break down those barriers and bring you valuable knowledge from industry experts and this show is exactly where you’ll find that, whether you’re trying to break into the fashion world make yourself more marketable launch your own label or become a successful freelancer we’ll help you get ahead in the cutthroat fashion industry. This is episode one of a Successful Fashion Designer Podcast and I’m chatting with Bjorn Bengtsson who worked in the industry for over 30 years with brands like Theory, ELA, Ted Baker and Helly Hansen. He also works as an adjunct professor for Parsons and F.I.T in New York City and mentors aspiring designers. Bjorn shares interview for landing your first job in the industry, what you can do to prepare for the real fashion world while still in school and what to include and not include in your portfolio. Before we jump to the interview, I want to remind you of the free templates tutorials resources I’ve created to help designers like you get ahead in fashion you can find all of them on the Successful Fashion Designer network at SFDNetwork.com/free, to access the show notes for today’s episode visit SFDNetwork.com/1. Now onto the interview with Bjorn.
Bjorn: Okay, so I’m my name is Bjorn Bengtsson, I am currently employed as the chief merchandising officer for an e-commerce company called on Untuckit and Untuckit is immense company primarily specialized in woven shirts, prior to that I worked in both and Sinus Sportswear as well as in the golf industry as well as with private label developments. Basically I have a 30 years of experience from the industry primarily in men’s. I worked with design product development and productions primarily in those years. I’m also a part-time adjunct professor at the Parsons School of Design I’ve been that for 12 years and I most important object with F.I.T for about the same period of time. I really got into the industry by slipping on a banana peel kind of because I went to University studying economics and I was totally set on working for a research organization back in Stockholm Sweden that focused on international investments and then my last year in college one of my friends work in a clothing store and he said it was an opening for some extra time kind of staff on weekends and as a student you always need a little extra cash so I signed on and I just absolutely kind of fell in love with fashion. I always had a fashion interest but that kind of opened my eyes to a couple of different things that haven’t thought about before, so once I graduated from college I actually started to work for them in access repair company in Stockholm and that’s how I started and thirty years later here I am in the industry still…
Heidi: Wow.
Bjorn: …so that’s like a quick recap of who I am in background.
Heidi: You know it’s actually really impressive because I mean your resume and your experience is quite expansive and you also teach it to the top fashion schools in New York and I mean you kind of like you said you very randomly got into industry so how did you know that first job during your college years was in retail is that correct?
Bjorn: Yeah.
Heidi: And after that how did you land that first job doing something a little bit more behind the scenes as opposed to on the frontline of the fashion industry?
Bjorn: Yeah, I think to land your first job and not me because every situation is a little bit different than mine was most certainly a little bit particular because was really a friend of the family who offered me a job and you know I would say that contacts of course is very important and I understand coming out of college it’s a little bit hard to kind of get contact so in order to land a job in the industry in general I think the best advice is really to I think get an internship I think that is like really a prerequisite really to get into the industry is to have an internship then of course contact is very important I got my first job based on the contact but I think and several of my jobs in the industry has really come from friends in the industry or people referring me but the key is really to get the first job and in order to be considered in the industry you need something fashioned on your resume and in top of everything else of course an internship is a good start I think.
Heidi: And I think that’s great advice and I mean do you find you know the industry is pretty competitive and I do you find that even to get that internship you need something fashion-related on your resume before that like you’re in fashion school or I don’t know something how do I know just go with nothing and say I want this internship?
Bjorn: Well, I think of course it helps if you have a fashion College you know that of course indicates to the person who you sending your resume that you have made a decision to dedicate yourself to the fashion industry so of course that helps and starting off with the fashion colleges them and the first step towards getting a job in the fashion industry not only that but if most of the fashion colleges also offer the chance to internships and the connections and you get from that school and many times helps you also get your first job so but you’re absolutely right the industry is extremely competitive and not only that the industry is also shrinking over there there’s actually less job every year and you know so it’s that of course increases the competitiveness in the industry in general. So but I think at the same time it shrinks it’s also requiring new type of skills and specialties that I think is interesting and I believe can help many young people want to get into the industry as an entry as a gateway into the industry, I would say.
Heidi: Yeah, so that’s interesting I mean my background I did not go to fashion school I studied graphic design but I kind of launched my own label just on the side it was I just started making clothes and selling them and doing fashion shows and then I was able to breaking the industry by taking what I had done all DIY all the stuff I had done on my own and kind of put that in my portfolio put that on my resume and then get my foot in the door at my first fashion design job so how attainable do you think opportunities are for designers who you know maybe don’t have the opportunity to go to college for whatever long lists of reasons but they really want to break into industry so just kind of doing something on their own packaging that up on their portfolio in their resume and then presenting themselves that way to try to break in to get that first level internship or entry-level assistant job? Do you see that much in in the hiring that you’ve done over the years and people you’ve worked with?
Bjorn: Yeah, I mean I don’t I mean I hired people without the fashion college degree so I think to me the first job is really about personality and when you actually get to the interview the quest is rather how you get to the interview but once you get to the interview I do believe that and what’s gonna land your job is really up to you, who are you, what’s your outlook on the industry, what do you think is your good personal characteristics that you want to bring into the industry. I think it’s much more down to that but if you’re looking at the first major hurdle which is really get an interview in your case I think that is not a way I will recommend because the reason is that I think you stand to lose a lot of money if you start your own business right out of school but let me use that a little bit as I as what I think is really good wafer designer is that if you don’t have a lot of work in your portfolio why not look at the industry and look at a segment you want to work in whether that be moderate contemporary or designer whatever it might be, why don’t you create a capsule collection that you think will appeal to that particular target market and in that, making that kind of capsule collection work with the color store, with a fabric story, with the concept, with the inspiration and develop the shapes just as you were giving an assignment from any of those companies you like to work on creating something for the upcoming spring or fall whatever it might be. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to the interview with just your school portfolio. I don’t think that’s gonna get you too many jobs, I think you need to because school work is very many times very conceptual and not always applicable to what goes on in the industry from a commercial standpoint so develop something by yourself that you feel could be good for those five to ten companies you really want the interview with and then when you show your portfolio actually develop time and develop you something that you feel is relevant from a commercial standpoint. You took the expensive road which is actually doing it of course if you have the means and you want to try to do something like that and develop samples and everything that’s a great way of course to approach something too but you don’t have to go to that extent so what I just talked about as setting up a project for yourself it’s a more much more cost efficient way of kind of showing your abilities outside of your college, what have you done and what do you think will be good for the industry.
Heidi: That’s really great advice and so and that’s something I hear from designers all the time too who are just students and they’re trying to kind of break in there they sometimes, I almost think they over label their work as like fake – I don’t say fake but you know these pretend projects that you do for school or that you made up like it wasn’t actually something that went into production that went in to development and so they’re always wondering how do I present this as my school work versus do I pretend it’s actual work or where’s the fine line between that or do I just put on my portfolio I don’t really label it and I kind of just let it sit there and be assumed?
Bjorn: Yeah, well I don’t think it’s an idea to this to not disclose what the work was done for, what purposes was done and my assumption is that anyone with more than 50 years’ experience if the interview will know immediately what is what but is looking at portfolios. I would never ever try to say that that is something I worked with because it’s very obvious when I look at portfolios from entry level designs what it did in school because those kind of projects have a particular angle or twist to them while a real work project is like slightly different a little bit more commercials reading, a little bit more straight to the point and it’s pretty easy to distinguish the two I think in an interview so I wouldn’t do that but unfortunate today most people into design or specially entry-level, they want to see some kind of project from the designer so the ever upcoming issue high-end design is always why don’t you do five outfits for us for spring 2018 or seven, 18 or whatever the season might be that is a request that most designers face today and why not do it in advance you know and have something in your portfolio that maybe evoked a little bit more confidence in the person that hires you that you have the right taste lobe because that’s all it’s about it’s about the taste level and the point of view all designers have their own personal point of view on fashion it’s all about how many different levels of the industry can I apply my taste level to and be successful you know and most interviewers looking for how well can you apply your point of view and fashion in our product developing and designing our products for our customer, that is like the number one question to resolve for anyone we introduced an assignment.
Heidi: So as a designer comes into the interview, you already know you’re going to ask them to design five outfits for a test project so if they came in with that already done you’re impressed right off the bat because that shows their initiative and their ambition to say “you know what I kind of had a level of expectation of what you were going to ask me to do” so I’m just going to give it to up front on a silver platter.
Bjorn: Yeah, well I would maybe not phrase it like that but that is the spirit of what I’m saying but broader and I’m really interested in you as a company and I really feel that this segment is the best is the segment of the business where I my capability abilities and creativity lends itself best and I have been working on my own to develop concept that I think could be really good for this particular segment for this particular customer…
Heidi: Sure.
Bjorn: …yeah you know I think that’s a good opening to a conversation at the same time of course you put yourself in a position if they don’t like it did you get the job but at least it shows it takes a step forward you know rather than then relying on just a college portfolio.
Heidi: Yeah, so what are some things I mean you you’ve been in a lot of upper management and high level positions and I would assume over the thirty years have done a lot of interviews have seen a lot of portfolios are there any things that kind of stand out over the years that designers have done to really impress you?
Bjorn: Yeah, I mean good portfolios always impress me okay and someone who has spent a lot of time working on the portfolio always impresses me also people who can show a little bit of versatility in the portfolios and actually exposed me to their point of view as it applies to different type of segments or the markets always impresses me so let’s say for instance your immense designer and your portfolios from college is probably very avant-garde and it kind of challenged conventions etcetera because that’s usually what I do in college and then you work on projects afterwards which one is maybe a little bit more high-end the other might be dress, shirts the third might be active wear etcetera. When you can show that kind of versatility in your portfolio and I get impressed because it means to me you’re able to take your point of view and use it for different product categories for different users for the consumer I think that is important, so that impresses me. The other thing that usually impressed me is designers that is good beyond basic shapes you know can you do a great color story, can you put together an exciting fabric story, have you thought about the relationship between shape and fabric and how you can challenge conventions there, you know from a commercial perspective and you have some good little ideas of tweaks and updates to classic garments which kind of woodwork form are those things impress me when designers show a little bit more depth to what the job is and also show versatility I think those two things are very important.
Heidi: Interesting and so speaking of portfolios and what are your thoughts on the requirement to have a digital portfolio or like a website versus maybe just sending you a PDF and then showing up at the physical portfolio because I get asked all the time do I have to have a website you know I just don’t know how to put it together. How important is digital presence?
Bjorn: Well, I think that as the business is competitive digital portfolios are important why are important well because the people who interview don’t wanna waste any time and if they can take a quick look at your work and it did it all and these things doesn’t really cost anything and there’s plenty of forums and platforms you can use to display your work you don’t need really more than four PDFs you know for Portuguese with things on it and I think it’s very important to it’s almost like a little bit like a business card of a designer and I think it’s important to have those things so unfortunately what people can use it for is quickly put an X into yes or no box but that’s kind of the rule of the game right now and it’s highly competitive and if you have the only thing the only comfort there is if you have the right stuff you’re gonna get an interview okay so I think that’s important. The other thing is, the industry is shifting very much towards illustrator so if you’re not a brilliant sketcher I wouldn’t sketch, I will use illustrator for sketching. I think it’s much better much more important to be a brilliant illustrator designer that needs to be freehand sketch of today so and forget all those things you have in school we have to draw four figures and all that I to me that is not important because a great designer is not always the one who has a great hand you know, the great designers don’t want someone who is able to express their ideas whether it be Illustrated free and really care and I personally prefer illustrator because that’s what most of you industry uses today but that’s like also an important aspect of it because most designs can become brilliant an illustrator but either you have a good hand or you don’t have a good hand and if you don’t have a good hand you get judged so if you feel like you’re artistic skills as counsel drawing is not as great as and there’s easy to compare yourself with other students in your class if you feel you’re in the middle to lower range somewhere you should definitely resort to use illustrators that for your portfolio.
Heidi: And just don’t include any hand sketches in your portfolio that’s okay?
Bjorn: Yes, I would not.
Heidi: Okay, interesting very interesting insight and so speaking of you know learning all the hands catching in school and we kind of touched on that and you teaches as we mentioned earlier at both of two top fashion schools in the world Parsons and F.T.I in New York City, what are some of the differences you see between students and what’s learned in the class versus employees and what’s required in the office? Because you’re in this really interesting position where you’re very involved in both worlds, you work you me industry you have worked in the industry for many years you teach in the industry you have taught and so what are some of the differences you see between those two spaces?
Bjorn: Well, I mean if first of all they’re two completely different spaces okay when you get into workplace, when you interview and become a designer and you disturb your entry-level position you’re going to spend the first two three years do the tech packs okay so that’s why I’m saying Illustrated skills much more important because most companies illustrator and they’re gonna put you in front of a Mac and they’re gonna have you do illustrator sketches detail sketches execution and you’re gonna do a little bit of everything in the design world but that’s going to be a primary area responsibility right. So with that said I have not interviewed one designer just from there and just hardened because they were great illustrator designer that’s not gonna happen in the end at the end of the day you need to be creative to be a designer and that has not changed in 30 years I’ve been in industry and I don’t think it’s gonna change in the foreseeable future there’s always a need for very creative individuals right because fashion lives on creativity and if you’re gonna succeed as a designer you will need to be have a creative mindset and you have to be able to express your creative ideas in in a professional situation. In the school the creative aspect is overemphasized right it’s been like that in education for a very long time that design schools of course stressed the creative aspects of the sign over and over again which I think is the right thing to do but as you apply for a job and the box gets a lot smaller and the biggest surprise to most design students is not that they’re gonna maybe do the designs but they’re going to have to do it for a particular customer in a very short amount of time. So, there’s not a constraint that is placed on you as a designer once you walk into the industry and started to work and I think there is like probably a disconnect between fashion education and the actual demands on into level designers and what they need to do.
Heidi: And so, as a fashion student what could someone do to be a little bit more proactive to be prepared for that first job versus what they’re actually going to have to do on in the job?
Bjorn: Yeah, I mean it’s I will give a personal opinion on that question you’re not really the opinion of educational or fashion schools in general my personal opinion is that if your designer and the only thing that interests you in fashion is the creative aspects of fashion you might succeed but my guess is you will stand you will have fewer opportunities to succeed then designer who is very creatively inclined but also interested somewhat of the commercial aspects of fashion that is how do you actually produce these things, what is the timeline for producing things and how does it work when you actually go in wholesale and produce and distribute the product if you’re aware of interest stretches beyond the traditional design duties I think you stand a better chance in your career to reach the top level as a creative director or vice president design because in those positions the company will also put requirements on you to understand the business and work to grow the business at hand. So it doesn’t hurt very early on to try to understand other aspects of the industry which might not be exactly designed related and this also the problem I have many times my mentor and designers to want to start your own label they have a very good idea what they want to do, they have a great sensibility and a point of view in fashion but they have absolutely no clue on how you actually make in in production you know ball production how to cost the product how to market the product how to discern between different distribution levels and the list goes on and on and on and many times they fail or the struggle demands me because they don’t understand all the other components because fashion starts and ends with a great product but there’s a lot of different things that you have to add on to that in order to be successful in the industry.
Heidi: And you just pretty much answer my next question but from one of your Bio’s I had read your skills are in the area of interactions between design merchandising and production and the product development process and so it’s this idea that you know just having this great idea just having the design is one piece of the bigger puzzle it’s a much bigger picture than that to take that design and like you said turn into an actual product constant appropriately sell it all the business and logistical aspects of the design world that I think like you said a lot of designers don’t think about that it gets so caught up with the creative side.
Bjorn: Yeah, I mean, I think that there’s examples of the latter type of design but a Marc Jacobs is a very good example okay Marc Jacobs came out of course and extremely talented very creative individual but once you went out in its own yet we opted to have a partner okay and his partner whose name it just lost but he’s a partner ever since so here you have a situation where you have a creative head and you have a business set if you fortunate enough to find someone to guide you through your career who has can complement in the business side been fine but I would never walk out of a fashion school and take for granted they are always going to be supported with people have a sense of the business and I don’t need to know anything about that because I would have a part who does it ok that that doesn’t always happen you know so in at the end of the day as a designer the requirements are me to succeed in today’s economy is a little bit different than they were maybe and 70’s, 80’s and 90’s where people got back by big company and I said don’t worry about anything here’s the designs did you go on this design and the story I can do all those things and I’m not too worried about anything else and today I think we all have become much more interdependent, you know, the style is in compartment that used existing fashion companies are kind of slowly crumbling I think so I think the skills of the future is definitely more horizontal in the organization than they and maybe vertical in your means that you have to have a lot of different skills in order to succeed in the future.
Heidi: Interesting so as a designer in school, I mean what would be some things you could do to kind of help educate yourself on some of these other aspects of the industry that you mentioned are really essential to kind of getting your foot in the door the first time around?
Bjorn: Yeah, well I mean the problem is with students today is that you know of course in this particular day they kind of overload their schedules already with classes and all the things they have to do an internship. So they have their little time, I mean the complexity of putting together a curriculum for science students is the very fact that they don’t have enough time to give for us to provide them with all the education they really need in the years they’re at school. So if you do not have the time I would say at least keep your curiosity going being in in the world outside of design and if you don’t have time for anything at least read business of fashion every day, at least try to keep up to date with articles of interest and people who have some wisdom in the business what they write about marketing about e-commerce about all these things that is now become integral integral part of what we do in fashion that will be my minimum requirement if you happen to have a little bit more time left over why not take some business courses why not take a merchandising class, why not take some classes that are more on the commercial society of things you know or at least have an interest in it I have to tell you one of the things I hear most Parson students that I hire and work with through my years is that wish to school taught us something about all these expectations that business has on us when it comes to time and action calendar, when it comes to merchandising plans and when it comes to working in unison with the sales merchandising team and nobody taught us that, nobody prepared us for that and I think that overwhelmingly that is the one feedback I get from the science students you know, okay? You can learn on the job no problem you will be exposed to it at work but to have some preparation before you enter into the business world is of course beneficial.
Heidi: And you mentioned just kind of at the beginning of that statement of just keep an open mind and be curious and one of the things that I mean like I said I didn’t go to fashion school but I got my first job and once I got in there I asked a million questions I wanted to understand why this happened and why this was done this way and just was super curious about everything and I think that even you know I don’t I don’t know how much that’s in a personality trait versus how much that can be taught but I’ve always said you know a lot of people are happy to teach you as long as you’re willing to put an effort to learn and you show that you’re interested so be humble and ask questions when you don’t know something or try to understand why something works a certain way and you can gain so much insight just by be serious…
Bjorn: Absolutely, I mean to me curiosity and the creative mind is kind of two sides of the same coin you know how can you stay creative if you’re not curious, it’s very hard to explore your own creativity if you don’t have a curious mind set if you don’t ask questions not gonna find anything out and but I think it is a little bit of a mindset you know there are certain people are very curious designers who work I work with who is really interested in fabrics and when I take them to fabric shows they will ask the fact Mills question you know how do you make that, is there a particular synergy on this fact, you know that’s a curious mind they’re not just a beautiful fabric you also how do you actually make this, how do you make it so beautiful because next time I see fabric, that is not so beautiful maybe have a solution to make it more beautiful etc… etc so of course, curiosity is tremendously helped in furthering your skills and thereby your creativity I mean my favorite put up on a pedestal is or how was Leonardo da Vinci who is probably a creative genius that stands the test of today. I mean his curiosity in ingenuity and how he explored all these different areas outside of his own area of specialty is absolutely astounding so there you have in mind that effortlessly wandered between engineering medical science and art and that is kind of a good I think a little bit to keep as nobody will be lay or not adventure game. Ithink just his mentality and how he looked upon the world as an artist is kind of amazing because it goes to prove that if you explore other things and your cure is about other areas you will learn so much more.
Heidi: Yeah, so what do you think about the thought that you know if you’re not curious about the industry you’re working in maybe it’s not the right industry and the fashion industry is one of those that I mean you really you have to really be passionate I think to really make it in this industry it’s not something that you can take very lightly.
Heidi: Yeah, I think of course you touch them a little bit of it sore subject here I or it listen to be totally frank about this I think one of the greatest liabilities you can have as a designer is of course not to self-assess okay? Of all the designers that graduate design school so entry into this particular design maybe ten percent of them or exceptionally talented right that doesn’t mean you’re not gonna get a job if you’re a good designer but to be a fantastic designer you are really you got it from the beginning alright so as a designer you have to always assess your own skills and your own abilities not everybody is going to work for Emmaus and Brunello Cucinelli okay some I was going to work with other companies whether they not moderate the body to whatever they are I think is important and as a designer to always take a little bit your own temperature and see where do I stand here and what is my level of talent and what are my skills etc,. and make an assessment of yourself and your own abilities I think many designers end up being disappointed because they can’t get the job they want but you have to remember the competition is intense when competition is intense it means that only the strongest will rise to the top and if you feel like when you go to school as a designer and you’re in the middle of the class somewhere and you have to think a little bit about your career and what you can achieve and you made a comment here on passion to me it’s a prerequisite in industry if you don’t have that you know I can succeed because it’s just the job is just too hard too time-consuming and not only is it horror because it’s a lot of work it’s hard because it’s an emotional job whenever you designed something you put your emotions on a piece of paper and I met very few designers who are able to totally separate himself from their work on an emotional level it’s just not possible so if you have a big ego and or you don’t have the right passion it’s very likely that the design in fashion is not for you and many designers fail to recognize that and fail to admit that and maybe go on and spend ten years of their life in an industry that they end up not being successfully.
Bjorn: Interesting and your perspective is really fascinating I mean you’ve had so much experience and I mean you’ve worked I know you spent some time at theory and then you’ve done Greg Norman so you have a good span of different sort of tiers in the industry which I think gives you this really interesting oversight and perspective…
Bjorn: Yeah.
Heidi: I will end with the question that I am asking everybody at the end of the interview. What is one question that you always wish people would ask you about working in fashion but nobody ever does?
Bjorn: That’s a very good question. I think a good question to asked sort of maybe it’s not so interview appropriate is “do you enjoy working in fashion” because at my tender age and the years have worked in this I still wake up every morning loving what I do and I always say I love fashion I hate fashion people that is subjective comment for me but yeah I really love what I do and I think I’ve been in very few situations where I haven’t loved what I do and I think it speaks to my own passion for what I do. I love the idea that you take something beautiful in fabric form and you convert it into something you can wear and looks beautiful all the way to the finish and the reason it looks beautiful all the way to the center she is that if you combine these abilities of selecting the direct fabric with a right shape, in the right color, you get something really amazing in at the end and that never stops amazes me and it really what drives me in every single situation. So you know if you want to find what the industry is about ask people that question and then you judge for yourself would you like the response or not and I don’t think every single person industry will give an equally passionate replied…
Heidi: No…
Bjorn: …and I think that’s really low a difference maker.
Heidi: Yeah, that is such an amazing question and so simple and seems so obvious but then you said it and I’m like wait no nobody ever does ask that.
Bjorn: Exactly, so if you do get old guy like me or someone who’s been in history for a long time yeah I don’t think it’s wrong in an interview with saying listen I have one question and more of out of the box and maybe you don’t want to answer it but I wonder what keeps you, what do you love about this industry, what does that keep you kind of continuing in the business and it’s that and see what people say…
Heidi: Yeah.
Bjorn: …you know it’s kind of interesting if it’s just well if you get a reply equally and kind of I’m here for the Paycheck that person is probably not made the right choices in life so you know and I think it’s important to love what you do if you don’t love what you do then you’re gonna go to work being nauseous every Monday morning and that is like not a good situation to be a so.
Heidi: No, that’s not and I think it’s a good question I mean it wouldn’t necessarily have to be asked in an interview it could be asked in a more casual so networking situation or something…
Bjorn: Exactly!
Heidi: …yeah, just conversational. I love that! Bjorn this was really fantastic and so many great insights for designers trying to break into the industry and get themselves prepared as well as kind of work their way up. Is there somewhere that people can find you online and connect with you?
Bjorn: Yeah, I’m I’m on LinkedIn you’re on Bjorn Bengtsson on Parson so it’s easy to find me.
Heidi: All right.
Bjorn: I do some mentorship and I do advise all my students meet with students five six seven years back still to give them advice I don’t mind as long I have time. I do those things of course I put priority to my past and present students but I have advised other who come to me to friends and acquaintances, so I’m not saying no but it’s a little bit depending on what time I have to my disposal etcetera.
Heidi: That is great! I will add the link to your LinkedIn profile in the show notes so people can connect with you and thank you so much for your time I really appreciate it and it was really fun to chat with you…
Bjorn: My pleasure!
Heidi: Okay!
Bjorn: Okay, thank you Heidi.
Heidi: Okay! Thank you for listening to episode 1 of a Successful Fashion Designer Podcast. If you’d like to learn more about any of the resources mentioned visit the show notes at SFDnetwork.com/1 and since you made it this far you must have liked this episode if you can take sixty Seconds to leave a review on iTunes it really helps the show and makes the podcast easier for people to discover it’s super easy to do and I’d really appreciate it visit sfdnetwork.com/review to leave your rating. Thank you for your support and help
