PROFILE: She Gets Those Dream Jobs, But She's Definitely No Dreamer

"Persistence pays off.  I'm living proof."

Coming from some people, that would definitely sound over the top.  But after you hear a little about fashion alumna Angie Prewitt's grip-strong tenacity and appetite for risks, you'll agree.

After all, it was nothing but flinty determination that pulled Angie from an end-of-interview calamity in her first bid to land a dream job after her 1994 graduation from the University of Cincinnati. 

Angie recalls:

"I'd driven cross-country with $350 because I wanted to live in Portland, Oregon.  I called Nike at 4 p.m. the day after I arrived to arrange for an interview.  They set me up for one at 9 a.m. the next morning.  I went directly to the public library to research the company until the library closed.  The next morning, my interview went great!  The last thing the interviewer asked me was, 'Why do you want to work here?'

I answered but I pronounced 'Nike' the wrong way, leaving off the 'e' sound at the end.  His smile faded, and he pushed back my portfolio across the table…and then he asked me to leave!  I became desperate.  I had no pride.  I jumped up, grabbed my portfolio, and shoved it into his chest.  I said, 'Sir, nobody can do this job as well as me…I'll sweep the floors if I have to…I don't mind.  But, please give me another chance.  If you hire me, and I don't do well, and you want to fire me, I promise I won't file for unemployment.

He looked at me and started to die laughing.  I was on the verge of tears.  He said that he would give me another chance and let me go through their strenuous interviewing process of seven interviews and a project.  It took three months, and I called him EVERY single day for three months.  I drove him crazy.  Finally, I got hired, and a year later, he told me that I had been in the top five choices but not the number-one choice, but he couldn't take me calling every day.  So, he gave the job to me!"

Angie prospered at Nike, Inc.  After a year there, one of her bosses was assigned the "Come-Back Michael Jordan Collection" to design.  It was as high profile as high profile could be with company execs traveling in from around the globe to view results.  "I asked if I could design a few things," says Angie.  "My boss said yes, so I stayed all night long and got started.  I didn't know anything about basketball except there are rules for designing uniforms.  I reviewed the rules and drew a "capped-sleeve" jersey, which was totally different from the current uniform.  When I showed my sketches the next day, they went crazy for the new capped-sleeve silhouette.  No one had done that before…. My styles were produced for the new Jordan line, and when they came out, everyone started doing the new cap-sleeve."

And though Angie often worked all night long as in this case, she's definitely no overnight success.  She'd long practiced the perseverance that earned her the Nike job and the chance to create her break-through designs there. 

In fact, she began sewing up her future while still a student in UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.  For instance, for her second cooperative-education quarter, Angie set off for London.  She had no money, no prospects, no place to stay.  She had nothing but her determination to work with London designer Vivienne Westwood.  "Every day for two weeks, I called her studio.  They told me they had a year-and-a-half waiting list for an internship.  Finally, they said that they would let me come in to talk, but that I wouldn't get an internship.  I got there, and said, 'I'll sweep the floors.'  And I did," said Angie, who also helped with cuttings and fittings, all while working part time in a clothing store to pay her rent.

She did the same thing for her next co-op, returning to London with an empty wallet but a growing portfolio.  "I did the same thing.  I called every day to Helen Storey's studio."  Eventually, Angie won a place as an intern and began working on a Storey collection.  "I worked verrrryyy hard because I wanted to prove myself worthy!  I eventually had a lot of stuff in their store that sold well!  At the end of my internship, they let me pick anything from the store.  I chose the most expensive leather jacket in the line…I had been drooling over it for months, and they let me have it!  I cried like a baby because I had absolutely no money.  I was working seven days a week between Storey's and a part-time job…and living in a convent for foreign girls in London."

For all of her success, Angie, 32, credits three people, all connected to UC, who took the time and interest that helped transform her life, including making college possible for her.  No one in her family had ever gone to college.  Few of her fellow students from her high school in Blanchester, Ohio, had the chance to go beyond the 12th grade.  Angie recalls, "Blanchester is a tiny town.  I'd never been anywhere.  I'd only been to Cincinnati a few times in my life.  I had no role models for going to college, much less studying fashion."

Angie figures her life would have consisted of living and working at a blue-collar profession in her hometown had it not been for a former UC Board of Trustees member Robert C. Bott, who, as a friend of her grandparents, paid Angie's way through UC.  The second person Angie credits for her success was teacher Margie Voelker-Ferrier, coordinator of UC's fashion program, and the third was New York fashion designer Anthony Muto, who has been a long-time supporter of UC's program.

Of Anthony, Angie recalls, "When we knew he was coming for a critique, we would strive to make sure the garments reached a new level.  His criticism is pointed, concise but constructive.  He doesn't miss a single detail of your garment, and he made me want to be a better designer.  He made me see the difference between having a good garment or having the best garment."

And now, Angie is repaying all three.  As a senior designer working for American Eagle Outfitters, she finally was able to pay off her student loans, her car and, then, save a little.  With the first $2,000 she's saved, Angie's made a gift to UC's fashion design department in Anthony's name.  It's to be awarded over two years as $1,000 gifts to help two current fashion students.

"I've dedicated the donation in Anthony's name, but also, it's for Margie and Bob.  Bob was killed in a car accident right before he got to see me graduate and how his…gift paid off, and Margie has been a tremendous mentor.  She teaches  with such grace and dignity.  In hindsight, I could not have chosen a better place to go to school.  I love them all so much.  They helped me to reach my goals…"

Angie Prewitt's professional background:

While still a UC fashion student, Angie interned or co-ooped with:

• Caron Dresses, Chicago
• Vivienne Westwood Studio, London, England
• Helen Storey Studio, London, England
• Study abroad quarter traveling through Greece, Italy, France and England
• Another study abroad quarter in Europe
• Hind Apparel, Los Angeles

After her 1994 graduation, Angie worked for:

• Nike, Inc., Portland, Oregon
• Oilily in Alkmarr, Holland
• Abercrombie & Fitch, Columbus, Ohio
• American Eagle Outfitters, New York City

Throughout, persistence has paid off: 

"When I called Oilily, they told me they'd never had an American full-time employee, and that they would not consider the prospect.  I asked if I could send my portfolio just for input, and they said, 'yes.'  They called me a few weeks later…They told me that if I wanted to pay my way over and work for a week…so they could see if they liked me…that they would be happy to try me out…thinking I wouldn't do it!  I booked my airline ticket immediately.  I took a week's vacation from Nike and went to Holland.  I worked for a week and loved it.  They offered me a job on my last day there."

But in Holland, Angie lost her confidence and her creativity and then, her dream job.  She recalls, "It was the first time I had wanted something and failed…"

Angie recovered and went to work for Abercrombie & Fitch.  She was eventually promoted to senior designer in the boy's division, growing the division by 180 percent in sales increases in a year's time, working a dedicated 80-90 hours a week.