COWGIRL Empowered: Teresa An

An artistic child with a love for math, Teresa discovered that she could merge her two passions in the fashion industry.  “In deciding to attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, I balanced the right and left sides of my brain with majors in Fashion Design and Merchandise Product Development,” she says.  “While being creative and crafty with my hands, I was able to learn about the business side of the industry and the history and logistics of it, too.”

Teresa grew up in the Bay Area in a bicultural environment, developing many of her values from her Korean-American heritage.  “I learned to be humble but confident, genuine, and true to myself and to others.”

She’s sincere when she speaks on her love for her position at Wrangler. “Designing and building a team for Wrangler Western has been a huge accomplishment! I’ve been given the ultimate opportunity to share my experience, knowledge, and talent with my teams and help build them up in their careers as well.”

It’s taken her a lot of self-reflection, courage, and time to get to a position she loves.  “I’ve had to learn and live through several jobs to understand what I deserve as a designer and what my worth is as an employee,” she says.  “Through all of it, I’ve been honored to have had great mentors and talented peers giving me sound advice.”

Through her years in the fashion industry, she’s collected plenty of her own knowledge about the professional world.  “Do something or be in an industry that you’re passionate about,” she advises.  “Always keep your mind, heart, and perspective open to learning new ideas and new ways of working.  There’s never just one way of doing one thing.”