Sheena Adam’s career path follows in the footsteps of a family legacy and a desire to honor her grandmother. After graduating high school in 2004, she struggled and faced a period of uncertainty following the death of her grandmother. “Education was such a big thing to my grandmother,” she recalls. “I wanted to go to school no matter what to honor her dream for me.”
She enrolled in art and general education courses while trying to figure out her career path. Soon she discovered Mesa Community College’s fashion design program but still wasn’t quite sure fashion was the career for her. So after learning about Walt Disney World’s internship program, Adams jumped at the opportunity and was accepted into the program, “I told the recruiter I wanted to learn everything about costuming and fashion,” she says. “And then I almost stayed at Disney and became a manager, but I kept telling everyone, ‘no I have to finish going to school.'“
Curious about her own inclination toward fashion, Adams spoke with family members and discovered generations of relatives who had worked in the industry—from her great-grandmother sewing for the White House to her great-aunt designing for Motown stars. “I just learned that fashion and entertainment kind of went hand in hand in my family and that's probably what was kind of calling me to get a degree in fashion,” Adams said.
At MCC, she credits faculty like Evonne Bowling for guiding and supporting her, plus she thrived in the program’s courses, volunteer opportunities and end-of-year fashion show. “I got to invite my mom and my dad to come in and see the show and what all my friends and I had been working on and it was just such a fun, memorable event that I will never forget,” Adams recalls.
“What do I say about Sheena—everything wonderful,” said MCC Fashion Merchandising and Fashion Design faculty Evonne Bowling. “She was an amazing student and always volunteered for extra experiences in our community. She found a way to use her fashion talents here. She is a true example of ‘grow where you are planted!’ Her joy of life made her career here exceptional and she brings that same joy of life to all she works with. She continues to help me offer similar experiences to a new generation of students and I am forever honored to know Sheena.”
After graduating from MCC in 2010 with an Associate in Applied Science in Fashion Merchandising and Design and a Certificate of Completion in Costume Design/Production Adams continued her education, earning a degree from Arizona State University. She has spent more than a decade in the fashion industry, working alongside high-profile designers and models at FORD/Robert Black Agency. She also coordinates fashion events, including Scottsdale Fashion Week. In fact, it was Bowling who suggested Adams apply for an internship there years ago.
Reflecting on her time at MCC, Adams says she still keeps in touch with former classmates and Bowling, and “I always want to give back as much as I can. That’s how I learned. I know other fashion students out there are looking for solid opportunities and I try to provide that. She also adds, “I never would've received a degree in fashion if it hadn't been for MCC being so affordable, and I really appreciated that because I probably would've ended up in something else that I wouldn't have been very passionate about. Nobody believes that I was able to get a fashion degree in Arizona at a community college, but I did it and made my dream career come true.”