To New Beginnings and New Empires

What it do empire supporters,

Empire in the Air recently added two new additions to the empire team, Kathrine “Kat” Garcia and Aljhecia “Jesse” Alolor as interns.

Welcome to our first blog post where we will be talking about our latest retreat, more insight on how we came to be interns, what we are excited about being on the team, and what we define as our own “empire”.

Empire in Air’s team originally met through SJSU’ Pil-Am organization, Akbayan in 2013. Today both Kat and Aljhecia are both heavily involved in Akbayan, however it wasn’t until LEAD Filipino’s Fly Pinay Summit, where they were both paired with ChiChai as their mentor (different years). From then on, they were asked to be the new interns for the brand as a great opportunity to develop their skills, experience, and relationship with their beloved mentor.

During a weekend in July, the entire Empire team came together for our annual retreat. We all met up in Santa Cruz and ate a homemade brunch together as we all got ready for our long , but productive weekend. In the beginning, we had some team bonding activities as a way to get to know everyone on the team. During these activities, we were able to learn about each other's empire journeys and discussed the growth of our brand and as a team. Later we began to plan for the future of Empire in the Air and some fun collaborations. To finish the day, we had dinner then walked to the beach for a fun time and a team photoshoot. As we came to the end of our retreat, we had lunch together and said our goodbyes until the next meeting.

Here's a fun little video of our time in the beach, created by Raymond Baltazar

INTERN'S THOUGHTS:

Get to know what we're most excited for as interns and about our empire!

Kat: "It’s an honor being a part of this team. This opportunity will definitely push me to grow in my ideal profession, build connections/network, and as an individual. I remember seeing this brand before joining Akbayan and learning that the founder was in my fam and that my own grand is a part of the team. I was just scrolling through Instagram, looking for some fun street brands, and encountered Empire in the Air. I thought it was cool and all, but once I became one of ChiChai’s mentee and eventually an intern for the brand, I was able to learn so much more, especially about the core values that Empire in the Air has. This brand not only embodies what it means to create your own empire, but also in community, which is something I value so much.

This empire of mine has definitely grown and allowed me to accept myself for who I am. My empire is to continue to believe in myself and to do what I love to do, no matter what struggles I so happen to come across. This is my safe space that I would love to share with others as well."

Jesse: "I’m really grateful to have this position with a clothing brand that I admire a lot because of how it started and what their core values are. I am most excited about learning various things through my experience as an intern from behind the scenes of designing clothes to how we utilize our social media/networks.

My “empire” is developing as I grow and continue on this journey of finding myself and what I want to become. I realized struggling is inevitable through this journey of mine. However with great supporters by side and the passion I have in me, I know I can overcome anything to reach my ideal personal "empire". Currently my empire is whatever I create whether it be sticker designs to creating a friendly environment with my presence."

Now that we've shared our empire, we'd like to know WHAT'S YOUR EMPIRE? Go ahead and share a post, then #myempireintheair

Thank you all for stopping by and keep an eye out for what's new on #empireintheair