Crystal Packard: America’s Next Top Fashion Journalist
If you ask any little kid what they want to be when they grow up, most of the time you will get caught up in a whirl wind of imaginative answers. Astronauts and cowboys, for example, seem to be in the future for little boys and occupations like actresses and fashion designers seem to light up the faces of little girls.
Looking at these same kids 15 years later you might see that their imaginative careers have been replaced with degrees in business or science, mixed with the occasional doctor or lawyer.
But for Crystal Packard, a fifth year senior at East Carolina University, the childhood dream remains alive. Growing up she always had an interest in fashion and unlike a lot of kids with wild imaginations, she has carried this passion on to make it a reality and career.
Starting out as an apparel merchandising major, Packard realized that the job market for that career was declining, so she changed her major to English. Like many students, she found herself searching for a different career path and this time she hit the jackpot.
Combining what she learned in apparel merchandising and English, Packard declared her major for the final time. In 2008 she will graduate with a degree in journalism specifically designed for fashion journalism.
Packard’s mother wasn’t surprised when she was told about her daughter’s career aspirations.
“Crystal has always loved playing with Barbie’s and as a little girl her grandmother used to always take her to the mall. Even in high school she was interested in writing and design, so I know this is the right career for her,” Patty Packard said.
Like any girl interested in fashion, Packard is a devoted reader of “Vogue” magazine.
“I’m obsessed,” she said with a smile. Although she admits her ultimate career goal would one day be writing for the magazine, she admits that it’s not the only thing on her agenda.
In addition to being a well known fashion journalist, Packard would love to do fashion design herself. Michael Kors, Chanel, and Vera Wang are all on her list to collaborate with, even though she admits she doesn’t have much of an “artistic view point.”
She hopes to learn more about sewing and design in the near future, but for now she’s concentration on the journalistic aspect of her future career.
“I may not be good at making clothes yet, but I know what’s good and I know what’s bad. I don’t like it when people accept something as fashionable just because it’s the popular thing at the time,” she said.
Packard’s hard work has helped her succeed throughout college, but her friends have also been there supporting and encouraging her with her ambitious career aspirations.
“I absolutely believe that Crystal will be a successful fashion journalist. She is such a true friend and such a genuine good hearted person who puts her all into every single thing,” her best friend Maggie Robertson said.
Maggie does admit that one of the best things about being the best friend of a future fashion journalist is of course, the clothes. “I can always find something cute to wear in her close,” she said.
“She really is a fashionable girl. She went from being a trend follower to being a trend setter and that is why she is going to be successful,” she said.
For now, Packard is working at Reeds Jewelers as an office manager and sales associate. After graduation she plans to move to Charlotte where she will carry with her the sales experience that she has gained through her job to work with her uncle in sales and marketing.
“It doesn’t matter what Crystal is doing she will always do her best at it. She is such a positive person and that’s what I love about her,” Packard’s mom Peggy said.
Although working with her uncle is not the most ideal job for a recent fashion journalist graduate, Packard knows that it’s a starting point before Vogue or Elle calls and her fashion dreams become a reality.
“I can totally see Crystal living in a big city like New York and working for a fashion magazine. I would love to see her to do that and I know that if she wants to, then she will,” said Packard’s former roommate Erin Edwards.
“I just want to work doing something I love. Even if it’s not writing for Vogue, I just want to be happy and live my life to the fullest,” she said.
Filed under: Classmate Profiles