Dear Friends,

Happy New Year to you! I hope this note finds you happy, healthy, recharged and making plans for the year ahead. Looking back on 2016, I realize I have not been in touch with you as I have in the past. One of my resolutions is to change that this year. I aim to send you more meaningful updates and connect with you. I have missed our conversations!

It seems from the social atmosphere that 2016 has been a year of challenge. For me it’s been a challenge, but also a year to soak up new learning experiences and to evaluate my work as a designer. It has been a little over a year that I have been working with the close-knit team at Asiatica | Kansas City and I couldn’t dream up a better group of talented, intelligent and kind women to work with. If you aren’t familiar with Asiatica, you should take a look at what we do. I have been lucky to be able to touch many aspects of the business including design, production, marketing, selling and customer service. My creative energy has been focused on immersing myself into this new role. My goal for the new year is to use some of that knowledge and apply it back into my own work in 2017.

A major highlight of the year was being awarded the Rightfully Sewn Designer Residency. Last winter, I applied for and was one of five designers awarded the Rightfully Sewn 2016-2017 Designer Residency. The residency includes a full-ride scholarship to attend Kauffman FastTrac® NewVenture™ in order to develop a business plan, invitations to participate in promotional events, access to workshops, and more. I’m happy to say that I completed the Kauffman FastTrac® program this fall. It was an intense 10-week program that covered all aspects involved with creating a start-up business. My program met at the Women’s Business Center and I definitely benefitted from the synergy of my female classmates. I look forward to watching their business concepts unfold.

Above: Spring 2016 KC Magazine Feature

This spring I was honored to have a two-page feature in KC Magazine! See the article here.

Above: Rightfully Sewn's Moving the Needle event

This November 29th, was a very special event held on “Giving Tuesday” (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) called “Moving the Needle." It was the first scaled fundraiser for Rightfully Sewn. The organization was able to raise money for their seamstress training program through both a live and silent auction. I was honored to dress celebrity auctioneeress, Yve Rojas, for the event in a custom jumpsuit — this garment was also one of the silent auction items. I am happily making another piece for the winner of the silent auction and look forward to more opportunities to give back to the community who has shown me so much love and support! See more photos from this event here.

Above: Yve led the live auction in a custom tailored velour jumpsuit.

I have some big ideas and plans for the year ahead… stay tuned! As always, I look forward to hearing from you. Your ideas and feedback are much appreciated!

xo,

Sarah