My friend, Jiaqi brought me to this program. I’ve learned machine sewing, hand sewing and how to make Sweet Dreams products. I keep coming back to the program because I like to sell Sweet Dreams products. I also enjoy being part of this lively community. In the future I’d like to have my own small business, to make my own products and sell them. Being in Sweet Dreams has shown me that this is a real possibility as a career choice after I graduate Lincoln High school and then college.

I am a 27 year-old San Francisco native with roots in Guanajuato, Mexico. I became a teen mother at 19 years old and upon my daughter’s birth, my interest in sewing grew. A counselor at Horizons Unlimited linked me up with Turning Heads to explore economic empowerment through Sweet Dreams. My favorite job at Sweet Dreams was hand and machine sewing the lavender eye pillows. I am currently a Case Manager who works with teen parents to graduate from Hill Top high school. Thanks to Turning Heads in providing a sewing program for teen moms, I now support my community by referring many interested young women to the sewing program.

Hey all, I was part of Turning Heads/Sweet Dreams for four years, and had a great growth process. Sweet Dreams gave me skills I didn’t know I had, and created an avenue for me to express my creativity. I am from a disadvantaged background, the resources available to me were slim. I believe Turning Heads gave me the support that helped me get to the place I’m in today. Sweet Dreams is a love of mine which involved working with young women from all over the city, and developing products that everyone can use. I enjoyed business the most and calculating our gain and growth. Also as a struggling college student, the profit we shared helped me tremendously. I invite you to come on this journey with the Sweet Dreamers in the busy world of craft fairs, holidays, and the day-to-day.

]]> https://www.sweetdreamsproject.com/samantha-sherman/feed/ 0 1092 https://www.sweetdreamsproject.com/shirley-xu/ https://www.sweetdreamsproject.com/shirley-xu/#respond Wed, 20 Sep 2017 23:55:46 +0000 http://www.sweetdreamsproject.com//?p=1003 19 years old

Sweet Dreams was recommended to me by a good friend Carrie, who knew I had interest in learning to sew and make my own products. I never knew Id take away such great skills while attending the program, such as operation management and COGS. Working alongside awesome new peers has to be one of my highlights. I give many thanks to Sweet Dreams for teaching me skills I can take with me anywhere. Very soon I will be attending San Francisco State University in the Fall and can’t wait to see what there is in store.

The first time I heard about Sweet Dreams was when I met Dee at Thurgood Marshall High School Club fair. Dee was offering an after school sewing program, which caught my attention because i really wanted to learn how to sew beforehand, so i joined. I learned the necessary steps to process an order, as well as the beginning and end stages to make a product. It was all a bit intimidating before but with practice I got so much better and now I can even fix my own garments from home.

When I first learned about Sweet Dreams as a freshman in my first year of high school, I found the program to be so unique that I decided to join. During the weekly meet ups at the studio, I have learned to operate a sewing machine and have become an avid hand sew. Although I am shy, through active communication in Sweet Dreams I have grown confident in group settings and production projects. I am graduating from Thurgood Marshall High school and with the skills provided by Sweet Dreams I feel ready for San Francisco State University this Fall in 2018.

I currently attend SFSU for fashion merchandising and I attribute my career goal to Sweet Dreams Co-op. I first took note of Sweet Dreams when I was in high school. I quickly realized the program really emphasized positively building  young women and giving them the tools to be successful entrepreneurs, which resonated with me. In learning various skills at the coop and with the environment they provided, it became important for me to recognize that fashion is what I want to be doing in the future. Thus in a year I will be graduating from the fashion merchandising program at SFSU.

I learned about Sweet Dreams through a friend. She raved about a program that taught young women how to sew and I was immediately excited about learning a new skill. Through Sweet Dreams I learned COGS, labor, overhead utilities, how to manage social media accounts, and customer service outreach. I realized I was capable of anything if I set my mind to it. Before i had difficulties in math, but while in the program i was presented with real life experiences which i then applied in school. Sweet Dreams gave me the tools to be a successful woman and entrepreneur. The mentors were not only teachers but life long friends, and should i need any help in the future, they will be there.

Visit the links above to learn more about all the amazing things the San Francisco Sustainable Fashion Week is doing and buy your tickets for the Brunch and Swap above!

Watching the young women at work in the cooperative brings me to reminiscing about the days when I was in high school, wide eyed and eager to learn a new trait. I was around the same age when I began my journey with Sweet Dreams. In all honesty, Sweet Dreams allowed me to find my career focus in the fashion field of study.

One of the major beauties through looking around the room is the apparent diversity, in language, culture and background. In this city, San Francisco, people from all around the world and neighboring states flock to this place because there is nothing like it. San Francisco is a sanctuary for many families from all over. The amount of learning from different cultures is within every corner you turn. Let alone in the room I sit in writing this, there is a plethora of exposure to culture. This is where my sanctuary is, can you describe or visualize yours?

Comment below!