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Reyome Intertwines Fashion and Business

Business Minor Gives Alum Edge in Fashion Career
Reyome Intertwines Fashion and Business
Kate Reyome, ’20, uses what she learned from her business minor to excel in the fashion industry.

Kate Reyome, ’20, came to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a fascination for fashion and a goal of one day owning her own women’s clothing boutique. After earning her business minor at the College of Business, she takes what she learned to put her a step ahead in the fashion industry.

Everyday Reyome finds a new way to utilize what she learned from her business minor in her role as a buyer for Ash & Ash Co. She is responsible for bringing trend-setting merchandise to the store for customers to purchase.

“While I was at MAGIC, a fashion tradeshow in Las Vegas, I took what I learned in economics courses to help determine our budget and a cost structure for what we were buying there,” she said.

As a graduate from the Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion program in the College of Education and Human Sciences, part of the requirement for her degree entailed earning the business minor for non-business majors. Originally, a business administration major, a chance encounter with a student her freshman year opened her up to a new path at Nebraska.

“One of my good friends that I met freshman year was a textiles, merchandising and fashion design major. I hadn't heard of the program at the time, and so she introduced it to me. I took a couple of classes as electives to try it out and decided to switch majors,” she said. 

The transition to a new college, with new courses and material to learn, made Reyome feel uneasy, but she thought the new decision served her best.

“I really liked being in the College of Business, so it wasn't easy to leave it, but it was a decision made based on what I’m more passionate about,” said Reyome.

As a buyer for Ash & Ash Co., Reyome is responsible for bringing trending merchandise to the apparel store.
As a buyer for Ash & Ash Co., Reyome is responsible for bringing trending merchandise to the apparel store.

Amid the transition, Reyome’s nerves were eased due to conversations with her former sorority chapter advisor, Kim Smith, associate director of Communications, Marketing and External Relations at the College of Business. Smith showed Reyome a silver-lining in her new major – its integration of the business minor.

“In one of our conversations, Kate said she wanted to become a buyer and one day have her own fashion boutique. We talked about the business minor and how that could help her reach those goals,” said Smith.

After seven years working at the College of Business, Smith knew the value and versatility the business minor could have with any major.

“I shared with Kate how I wish the business minor were available when I was a student because everyone makes business decisions. The minor with her textiles, merchandising and fashion design major enables her to approach her work in a way that makes good business sense,” she said.

Reyome immediately saw how what she learned in courses from her business minor applied directly into building her own business someday. She noted how her business law class was particularly helpful.  

“My business law course stuck out to me because it wasn’t something we really covered in the fashion program. Learning about property law was interesting and beneficial for me since I want to someday own my own storefront,” she said.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Reyome pointed at how her business minor also helped her increase in online shopping at Ash & Ash Co.

“Over the past couple months there was a lot more pressure to do effective marketing online, since our main income for a few weeks was coming from online sales. The minor helped me in the marketing aspect of my job, just knowing how to do trend research or how to market towards a certain age group, gender or location,” she said.

The business minor not only helped Reyome bring a level of business expertise to what she does in her job at Ash & Ash Co. but also set a solid foundation for her future in fashion. She encourages all fashionistas serious about owning their own business someday to pursue it. 

“The business minor was really helpful, especially if anybody out there is in a fashion program and wants to own a business one day like I do,” she said.

To learn more about the business minor, visit: https://business.unl.edu/businessminor/.  

Published: June 24, 2020