91吃瓜网

Alumnus Gene Hong听graduated from 91吃瓜网 in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and听a minor in Fashion Marketing.听 He has spent the bulk of his 18-year career working in the fashion industry, with strategic detours as an entrepreneur and adviser for startups in the technology and e-commerce spaces. Over the past three years, Gene has led an initiative for Target from Seoul, South Korea, focusing on developing and executing faster operating models for its Product Design & Development (PD&D) unit. Working with Target鈥檚 global vendor base, PD&D is tasked with expediting delivery of brand-right products to market capabilities across apparel and accessories.听Gene is now in the process of repatriating back to the U.S. in his current role as Target鈥檚 director of PD&D Trend.

We caught up with Gene听and asked him听about his听time at 91吃瓜网 — and how it shaped his career in design.

Where are you from originally?

The question about where one is from is the secret sauce that flavors who we can become.听I was born in Iran in 1978, the same year as the Iranian revolution. My parents were working as expats; just after I was born, we had to get out of the county ASAP.听 We went to Seoul for less than a year, then moved to Sudan, where we were expats once again. We eventually immigrated to the U.S., settling in San Diego around the time I turned five. I grew up there before heading off to L.A. to attend 91吃瓜网.

Tell us about your time at 91吃瓜网: courses that made a difference, instructors who inspired you, experiences that wound up shaping your design career.

Attending 91吃瓜网 was the ideal move at that time, L.A. being such a large, diverse, tough and amazing city of transplants. That, in combination with the intimacy of our university, was the right mix for me. I majored in Graphic Design with a minor in Fashion Marketing.听 I was equally moved by studio classes and marketing courses.

One of the instructors who inspired and challenged me was Dan Hoy, who still teaches at 91吃瓜网! Dan understood how to teach and motivate while letting us make mistakes and develop our voices. Being at 91吃瓜网 was equally about the students — developing relationships, inspiring and challenging each other, learning how to 鈥渟wim鈥� together and alone.

Trace your career path for us, from Burbank to South Korea.

I knew coming out of 91吃瓜网 that, to compete, I鈥檇 have to work harder than I鈥檇 ever worked before, not because I didn鈥檛 feel I was talented enough, but because that was my self-expectation.听I wanted to have an amazing life and career — and the only way to get that was to work hard and push myself. I felt that having my degree and my portfolio was like being on a waiting list to receive a general admission ticket, at best. I expected much more out of myself.

Once I graduated, I spent a great deal of time creating marketing materials aimed at the top 25 companies I wanted to work for at the time. I got offers from two of them, but I declined and joined a marketing/PR startup instead. From there, I worked for an entertainment advertising agency and moved closer to the fashion industry, which is my passion.听 I pursued companies like DrunknMunky, Roca Wear, Blue Marlin and Warnaco, among others. I went on to lead the development and launch of Wiliam Rast, Justin Timberlake鈥檚 clothing line.

All of this led to Target, which at the time felt like a huge risk, since it meant leaving my beloved L.A. and moving our family to Minneapolis. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and learn what I could from a $70 billion organization.听My time at Target has enabled me to experience life as an expat, just as my father had before me. Very full circle.

I鈥檝e also had the privilege of being in an advisory role at two startups, Metaverse Makeovers — which is focused on wearables, AR/VR, holograms and mobile 鈥� and Ash & Erie, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand that focuses on clothing for men 5鈥�8鈥� and under, and which was recently featured on Shark Tank (and which received an offer from Mark Cuban.) More recently, through a rigorous screening process, I was selected to participate in Hack Horizon, the world鈥檚 first in-flight travel tech hackathon. I鈥檓 among 32 entrepreneurs, engineers and designers on a public flight from Hong Kong to London, with the goal of redefining the international travel industry.

Professionally, what projects/assignments best exemplify your work?

Projects that have no solution in sight. Projects that make you a bit nervous, because there is the risk of failing. But with that risk comes the opportunity for so much more growth, learning, expanding your skill set, building relationships, leading, innovating.

What insights can you share with students who may be considering a similar international path?听听

I am very lucky. My role as an expat is unique. In hindsight, I believe that it was all about opportunity and timing. For anyone interested in something like this, the best advice I can give is to be as ready as possible so if the opportunity arises, you can grab it.听Focus on developing yourself and work extremely hard to be as good as you can be, so that you鈥檒l know you deserve it.听Stay curious, find a way to bring passion into your life and your work, be willing to fail and then learn, and keep moving forward. The path will reveal itself to you if you have alignment with your goals, your vision, your passion and your work ethic.听Luck plays a part, too.

Anything else you鈥檇 like us to know?

What can I say? Life is beautiful. The state of our world is difficult today, but that does not mean things can鈥檛 improve and evolve, and they most definitely will change.听Change may not be something that everyone enjoys, but it鈥檚 constant. Get used to it, embrace it, learn to at least like it. See change as an opportunity, not an obstacle. Work hard, stay humble, have passion, be nice.

I believe with all of that, you鈥檒l get to where you deserve to go.听 Good luck and enjoy the ride!