Today we’d like to introduce you to Michele De Loof.
Hi Michele, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My family emigrated to Florida when I was a young girl at the age of 4 from Venezuela. Our roots in Florida were from my grandparents on my father’s side. They were apple orchard farmers in Germany who emigrated to Kansas later settled down in Florida to focus on orange farming where they owned large groves all over Florida. I have always considered myself fortunate to have been born under two wonderful cultures which although on different sides of the world seemed so intertwined in terms of family traditions and unity. Throughout life, we moved across the Southern U.S. since my father was an oilman and pretty much followed the oil booms in nearby states where we ultimately landed in Texas for a good stint of time. During that time, we would always travel back and forth to Venezuela. Born with a traveling spirit I moved to Costa Rica way before paved roads were even a thought. I spent my time hopping about Central and South America submerging myself in culture and reconnecting with my Latin roots. This has always been such an important part of my life since I moved away from my country at such a young age. I ended up in California where I worked in film and television covering areas of music, surfing, BMX, skateboarding, and fashion moving from production to post editorial throughout the years. In a strange twist, it ended up bringing me back to Texas where I started a family of my own. My husband and I were afforded the best gift of one amazing daughter with an insane talent for ballet. This is what brought us back to Florida since she became a professional ballet dancer here. Talk about a full-circle moment.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Growing up was a super smooth road full of life and adventures with strong family background. My parents were married 50 years before my father’s passing five years ago. That’s not to say there weren’t struggles along the way. It’s different coming from two cultural sides because people at the time were not so diverse and didn’t know how to identify with that. Kids can be really cruel when they don’t understand another culture other than their own let alone this family with such a rich cultural background. I encountered it on the other side when I would go back to Venezuela to spend my summers with family. I was now a foreigner to them and had a whole different struggle with my identity since I was labeled a gringa which is slang for an American. That really played a number on me but it always was something that gave me strength among the challenges of diversity.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Creative Design Specialist focusing on the area of digital marketing with an ad agency here in Florida. In addition, I have always been an independent artist working in film, graphic design, and fashion. and theater sectors. Since I was a child, I always had a super creative designing brain and would conceptualize fashion designs that my mother would sew for me before learning them on my own. In California, I had my first crack in the fashion world getting the chance to work with the musical artist Mandy Moore on her new fashion label MBlem at the time. I had kept that side tucked away for a bit so it was exciting to reignite it. On the techie side, I got started during a really fun and exciting time when the X Games came about so was very involved with that through my friends who were professional boxers and skateboarders. The 90s were exciting times in that realm and go to me going in that direction. Now residing in Florida, I have a fun playing field being able to work in both areas with the many theaters in town and tons of tech. I worked at The Orlando Ballet in costuming before launching an adult dance division which was a ton of fun. They are like family to me since my daughter danced there for 3.5 years. At the same time, I have done costuming for The Shakes, the Rep, and Winter Park Playhouse among a few. Having a diverse background in the arts and media sector sets me apart from a lot of people and affords me the liberty of creating on both sides of the brain. Florida has it all for me.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Tenacity for sure! For me, it was a little hard at first getting into the market here since it was a heavy Disney town and it was a lot of who you knew to get into places in my area. I didn’t let that get me down and kept contacting the theaters and submitting my portfolios.
