From Jolin Huang, Internship Supervisor

As a marketing intern, Sofia played a crucial role in supporting our donation center and retail departments through various creative and strategic projects, including graphic design, social media marketing, photography and videography.

One of the things that stood out about Sofia was her ability to take initiative and bring fresh ideas to the table. Whether she was crafting compelling social media content, designing eye-catching flyers or capturing engaging visuals for our stores, she consistently approached her work with enthusiasm, creativity and attention to detail. Even when given open-ended or ambiguous projects, she tackled them with confidence and problem-solving skills — delivering results that exceeded expectations. 

Beyond her technical skills, Sofia's reliability and adaptability made her an invaluable team member. She always met deadlines, remained flexible with shifting priorities and handled feedback with a positive attitude. Her passion for fashion was evident in everything she did — whether she was brainstorming ways to enhance store displays, writing engaging copy to promote inventory or personally visiting our stores and donation centers to film dynamic content that helped increase foot traffic and engagement. 

She was so excited about her work that she asked to extend her internship by two months, which we happily accepted. Her dedication and energy made a lasting impact on our team, and I have no doubt she will continue to thrive in any creative or marketing role she pursues.

From Edith Montoya, Dance Precisions and Kinetic Threadz Owner

I have known Sofia for more than 15 years, and it has been my pleasure to witness her growth into a polished, professional young lady ready to start her desired full-time career in fashion. 

Sofia is a talented dancer who was on my Dance Precisions competition team for 10 years. During that time, I saw that she had a great eye for design and styling, so I was happy to cultivate her interest by training her as a dance costume design associate for my business, Kinetic Threadz. She has worked for me on an as needed basis since 2020, taking on increasing responsibility across the years until now when I trust her with the key to my shop.

When I ask Sofia to complete a project, I know it will be done on time and correctly. She is highly computer literate and caught on quickly to using Optitex, a digital patterning system. She has a keen visual sense and prides herself on staying current with fashion trends. This has contributed to her ability to select just the right fabrics and accessories that match both current looks and the dance/music style. She loves to stay organized, even taking on categorizing and boxing up countless fabric samples.

Among the many hundreds of young people I have worked with, Sofia stands out for being grounded and reliable yet creative and driven to innovate. Her mix of skills and values will be an asset to any company she works for.