Community Connections

Community Connection- Meghan Berry 

 

About Meghan

On my community connections project, I decided to interview Meghan Berry, who works in apparel and design for Aritzia in Vancouver. When she was younger, around her teens, she found an interest in sewing and clothing. She kept that interest and inspiration and got her bachelor’s of design in apparel. During her schooling, she had a few internships and this eventually led to her first job as a product developer for a bridal store. Her responsibilities would include pattern making, fit technician and more. Later on, she moved on to working for lululemon, (an athletic apparel store) as a Junior Product Developer. More recently, she received a job for Artitzia (a popular Canadian women’s clothing store), where she works as a Technical Developer. She works with designers and factories on patterns, fit and construction of styles.

Why I Chose to Interview Meghan 

The reason I decided to interview Meghan Berry is that apparel and fashion design are things I am interested in and fascinated about. It is something I have been thinking about pursuing as well. Interviewing Meghan would let me know firsthand what it would be like to get into it as well as the positives and negatives/ obstacles. I as well wanted to interview her because if I were to go into apparel design, I would have a sense as to where to start and important things I must know. Meghan gradually worked her way up to where she is and is a great role model for resilience, passion and consistency. She also has attributes that I can learn from in order to follow my passions and dreams. I have known Meghan for a long time and I know the information she is providing me with is trustworthy and helpful.

 

Interview

1. Why are you passionate about your job or role?

It is all about problem-solving and collaborating with others, two of my favourite ways of working!

2. What obstacles have you faced to get you where you are today?

A lot of the industry is about who you know. Even if you’re fully qualified, you still need to be well connected and network.

3. What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?

It’s very important to be self-aware and consistently reflect on yourself.

4.What is something you didn’t expect when going into design/fashion? 

I didn’t expect how many jobs there are within the apparel industry that are not just design roles. It’s also incredibly small where everyone knows everyone in the industry.

5. What mindset do you have to have for your job?

1. Positive Attitude: Everything will always go off track from the original plan, so it is important to be flexible and come up with a new plan. This can also sometimes mean you need to help with team morale as it is easy to get frustrated and burnout over time.

2. Patience: You get to work with people not only at your office but also around the world, which is exciting, however, oftentimes means a lot of difference of opinions (not a bad thing!)l. You need to be able to manage emotions, all while helping to decide on a plan. It’s quite common that people are working 12+ hour days, which can cause emotions to run high.

6. What is one or two things you are proud of since you started?

At my last job, I had the opportunity to be involved with a lot of different roles that I normally wouldn’t have been apart of at my level. This was a result of working long days to learn and get better at what I do.

7. Would you be open to further contact from Riverside students and if so, how can someone contact you?

That’s fine by me! Email: meghan.k.berry@gmail.com

 

My Takeaway/ Opportunities

 From the valuable information I was given, there is a lot I can take away from this interview. I should make sure to reflect on myself constantly and be sure I am self-aware. The work and large amounts of effort I put in will eventually benefit me greatly in the future and this is something to be aware of. It is also important to be patient and respectful towards others when expressing my own thoughts and opinions. Whether it’s reaching out to people, working or collaborating with others, having this skill set will help to exceed and it will be harder if you don’t. Problem-solving is another skill that will be greatly helpful when going into this industry along with many others. One last thing that really stuck with me was to network and make connections with people to help me get into the industry (something this project helped me with practicing). A few opportunities that opened up for me include having a better understanding and grasp as to how the industry works and how to build yourself up which can be very useful in the future. Another one is improving my skills to make professional connections and reach out to others independently. It is important to network and make professional contacts which is an opportunity that has opened up for me that I can look into more for what I want to do in the future (such as making a linked-in account and finding more people I could reach out to later on). 

Links:

1. A link to the clothing brand Meghan works for– https://www.aritzia.com/en/home

2. A link to a page where you can find the Aritzia Vancouver Head Office– https://www.google.com/search?\

(look to the right of the page)

 

Bibliography-

First picture– https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/479211216573144461/

Second picture– https://www.pexels.com/photo/rolls-of-assorted-fabrics-and-textiles-and-sewing-patterns-inside-tailor-atelier-3965543/  –Ksenia Chernaya

Third Picture– (screenshot from my iPhone)

Fourth picture–https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-gray-long-sleeve-shirt-sitting-beside-brown-wooden-table-4622224/ – cottonbro

Fifth picture– https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-sitting-indoors-3184360/ – fauxels

Sixth picture- https://www.yelp.ca/biz/aritzia-richmond