The following podcast is a DR Media Production.

Welcome back to the life with Maryanna podcast. I'm your host, Maryanna Hewitt.

In this episode, I'm chatting with Jasmine Larian Heckmat, founder and creative director of

CultGaya. She's sharing her design process from conception to launch, what it takes to stand out

as a fashion brand on social media, and advice for people wanting a job in fashion.

Thank you so much Jasmine for joining me today. I am so excited for everyone to hear from you.

So if people don't know about you, tell us who you are and what your brand is.

Thanks so much for having me, Maryanna. I am the founder and creative director of CultGaya,

and we are a lifestyle brand. We started with, you know, flower crowns and headbands and then bags,

and now we do shoes, clothing, accessories, and the whole gamut.

And everything is so good. Like everything is so, so good. And I've been a fan of the brand for

so long when I came to a preview at your house in your backyard. Yeah, and so long ago.

The pieces are so beautiful and they're so recognizable. But I want to start with like the

beginning of your fashion career. So you went to FIT, correct? Yes. I went to Otis for a foundation

year here in LA and then I transferred to FIT. And then when you went to FIT, what was it that

you majored in or studied in school? I did fashion design and I minored an international trade

and marketing. Oh wow. When you went to school, was your plan to start your own brand?

Or when you went to school, did you want to work as a designer for another brand?

I always wanted to start my own brand. You know, there was nothing I ever wanted to do other than this.

And I consciously decided I didn't want to design for anyone else. First of all, because I was

too insecure, I think, to do so. And second of all, I always thought that the second I got into a

career of being a designer for someone else, it would be much harder to start on my own.

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