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Lisa Bradkin, Senior Stylist at LOFT

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Bernice Chuang Student Contributor, University of Texas - Austin
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Lisa Bradkin
Age: 39
College, Major: UCLA, Design
 
HC Texas: What is a typical day like for you? Is there such thing?
 
There is no typical day for Senior Stylist Lisa Bradkin, but every day of work is certainly fun. Her job doesn’t entail buying or designing clothes. Bradkin gets to put together outfits and styles for different purposes such as look books for editors, looks for LOFT’s online store, marketing photography on mailers, and photos around the perimeter of the store. 75% of her time is spent in her office in New York where she gets assemble different pieces using a visual studio. The other 25% of her time is spent out in the field at events such as the one LOFT had in Austin on Thursday and Friday or assisting in photo shoots.
 
HC Texas: What was your first entry-level job?
 
Bradkin was an Assistant Accessories Buyer for Takashimaya New York, a Japanese department store. Bradkin moved to New York right out of graduation in 1993 without a lead on jobs, no apartment, and found her job through the Village Voice,  the Craigslist or Internships.com of the time.  
 
HC Texas: Who is someone who has affected your professional life for the better?
 
As a Fashion Editor for Accessories magazine, Bradkin’s Editor-in-Chief empowered her and allowed her to take over the fashion department of the magazine. Bradkin feels that her Editor-in-Chief enabled her to experiment and even learn from mistakes.
 
HC Texas: What got you interested in becoming a senior stylist?
 
Bradkin confesses she can’t remember a time when she was not interested in fashion or styling. As a child, she would draw outfits and loved putting different pieces of an outfit together. Accessories are her favorite. As young as age eight, Bradkin knew that she wasn’t interested in creating. Instead, she wanted to assemble different pieces, but who knew there was such a job as a stylist? 

HC Texas: What advice would you give to a 20 something year old with similar aspirations?
 
Be willing to start at the bottom and know that it’s an extremely competitive field. It’s a lot of hard work and you’ll feel underappreciated but if you’re persistent and nice and smart then you’ll get there eventually.

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Bernice Chuang
Bernice Chuang is a fourth year double majoring in Broadcast Journalism and Communication Studies-Human Relations and doing the Business Foundations Program (aka business minor) at the University of Texas at Austin. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Bernice is a fan of good country music and yummy barbeque! At UT, Bernice is a resident assistant at an all-female residence hall and currently serves as a senator representing her residence hall, Kinsolving, on the Resident Assistant Association. She also leads a small group bible study for Asian American Campus Ministries and sings with her campus ministries’ a cappella group. When she’s not juggling her various roles and commitments, Bernice enjoys exploring downtown Austin, shopping with her fellow RA staff members, reading books on faith and spirituality, learning how to cook and tackling various dessert recipes, and spending quality time with friends.