From a young age, fashion was my way of expressing myself. For me, clothing has always been a representation of who I am and how I feel. I will never forget the excitement I felt when I learned that I could translate my love of shopping and fashion into a career. After completing multiple summer courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, I knew that fashion styling and costume design was the route for me. Upon graduation, I hightailed it to Los Angeles and received an Associate of Arts degree in Visual Communications from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. I immediately began working as an assistant in the TV/Film/Commercial industry. In the 12 years that I worked in Hollywood, I grew from an assistant to an on-set costumer, a shopper, and eventually an Assistant Costume Designer. I was lucky enough to work on such shows as Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, Bosch: Legacy, How to Get Away with Murder, American Horror Story, Get Shorty, Jane the Virgin, and many other TV Shows. Some other credits include styling the music video “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar and various commercials for NBA, Gillette, Land Rover, Ancestry DNA, Farfetch, eHarmony, Enterprise, and more. Through my work in the industry, I learned how to dress an array of characters, body types, skin tones, lifestyles, price points, and silhouettes. I mastered my eye for tailoring and fit. It was a dream career and everything 13-year-old me imagined it would be. Well, almost.
Why Joy & the Valentine
The 2020 pandemic put a lot into perspective for my husband and me. We knew that we wanted to concentrate on our future as a family and put having children into the forefront of our minds. In February 2022, I gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Ariella JOY. I knew that the demanding entertainment industry and the fast-paced career I had built was not conducive to the life I wanted to lead as a mother. With that in mind, we packed up our bags and moved back to our home state of Arizona. Now, surrounded by family, we are “starting over”.
I have always believed in the power of a good outfit and the thrill of finding it. Now I know this is not the case for everyone. To many people, clothing is just that. Clothing. Through my career in Hollywood, I had the pleasure of watching so many actors find their character during a fitting. I would watch the loose ends come together right in front of me at the hands of “just clothing” and a little bit of styling and tailoring. I realized that there doesn’t need to be a script or a camera and director to make every person find their “character”. Every person deserves to find who they want to be and feel confident in their clothing.
Together, with the need for work/life balance and a love of fashion, Joy and the Valentine Personal Styling was born.