We had the good fortune of connecting with Sylvia Magana and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sylvia, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Since I was a little kid I had a passion and enjoyed anything to do with an artistic and creative background. My parents always supported expanding my creativity and allowing me to express myself. During school I took art, dance and music classes. After graduating high school I was going to go to school for nursing but a phone call from a school changed my life I got accepted into the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, and majored in Visual Communications. What I truly love about that major is that it has so many different routes you can go in.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After graduating from FIDM I was doing freelance styling for photoshoots and videos. Then I got my first job in the corp world and started doing visual merchandising for a retail store and was able to work my way up into a management role. I currently have a full time job as a human resource manager in a retail store (JCPenney) along with managing my small business. Some days I need an extra coffee to survive the long days but I wouldn’t have it any other way

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would have to go eat and shop. There is this breakfast place in Hollywood where they have really yummy red velvet pancakes called The Griddle Cafe.. we would probably be in a food coma after breakfast haha. I would take her to Santa Monica or Malibu but if it was during the months of March-April I would take her to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad it’s a must see.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband and family for supporting me every step of the way and joining me on the late design nights My dear friend and mentor Mireya that inspired me to start by own business when I took one of her classes after the pandemic.
It wouldn’t be possible without them

Instagram: Stemsbysem

Linkedin: Sylvia Magana

Other: Tiktok -Stemsbysem

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