It doesn’t seem so long ago when Elleyse Gemondo decided to pursue a master’s degree at LIM College in Manhattan.

 

In May of 2018, she achieved that goal, graduating with a masters of professional studies in fashion merchandising and retail management.

 

She is now joining the LIM teaching staff, serving as an online adjunct professor teaching retailing fashion.

 

“I am currently enrolled in a pre-requisite course through LIM College for teaching," Gemondo said. "This course must be taken by anyone wanting to teach at LIM. It’s a three-week course where I learn different techniques on how to be more accommodating in my teaching to students.”

 

She believes teaching will be a great move for her career. Not only will she help others fulfill their professional dreams, but also continue to fulfill hers.

 

“I’ve wanted to be in fashion since I was a little girl,” said Gemondo, a 2010 graduate of Bridgeport High School.

 

She remembers traveling annually to the Big Apple with her family; shopping, sampling the fare and taking in a Broadway show, but perhaps her favorite NYC memory is watching the runway shows on the big screen at Saks Fifth Avenue.

 

By the time she attended Bridgeport Middle School, she knew she wanted to go to fashion school in New York. It didn’t work out exactly the way she had planned. Her dreams took a little detour. She landed at WVU to study fashion merchandising, but still had opportunity to travel to NYC for fashion tours, giving her opportunity her to meet designers and sneak behind-the-scenes peeks of showroom operation. She even traveled abroad, studying in Italy for an entire summer. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Gemondo found employment at The Gap and Macy’s and was ultimately hired as a merchandise assistant for Gabe’s headquarters in Morgantown.

 

It was important to her to climb the industry ladder in hopes of attaining the position of buyer someday. So, she held onto her full-time job at Gabe’s and pursued her post-graduate studies online with LIM. 

 

“I expected being an online MPS student to be a lot easier than taking classes in the flesh, but I couldn’t have been more wrong,” she said. “The program pushed me to my limits, especially since I was working full-time while completing it.”

 

Gemondo said there was good rapport with professors, who were always approachable and ready to assist.

 

“I learned about fashion, but also everyday life skills. The experience took many of the things I learned as an undergrad and went more in-depth on each subject,” she said.

 

To attain more of a “presence” at LIM, Gemondo got involved, becoming a blogger for the college Web site and volunteering for New York Fashion Week

 

“Being a remote student, I found it was important to put myself out there as often as possible,” she said. “This approach really helped me along my path to earning my MPS degree, which I know will aid my growth in the fashion industry and help my future success.”

 

Gemondo continues to work as a merchandising assistant for Gabe’s while teaching at LIM. She hopes to not only work as a buyer for the retailer someday, but perhaps also work as a full-time professor.

 

In addition to looking forward to the next chapter in her fashion industry pursuit, Gemondo continues to find little treasures. Next up is serving as an extra in the movie, “Unsinkable,” coming to theaters in 2020.  Directed by Cody Hartman, the film delves into the sinking of the Titantic and stars Fiona Dourif (“The Blacklist”), Jayne Wisener (“The Inbetweeners”) and Cotter Smith who has starred/appeared in dozens of films and TV series, most recently “The Post,” “Mindhunter” and “One Dollar.”

 

Gemondo auditioned for the film in Pittsburgh, where most of the filming is taking place. She will appear in the train station scene, she said.

 

“Filming ‘Unsinkable’ was quite the experience because I was the only person on the set that day who had a completely different full-time job,” she said. “Everyone else either lived in New York City, LA or London and focused mainly on movies, Netflix shows or commercials; even the makeup team.”

 

It was pretty cool stuff,” she continued. “While on the set, I made many great connections and there are plans in the works for me to be in a music video.”

 

Though it is her first movie experience, she is among West Virginians featured in a state tourism ad, set to be televised this year. She can be seen in the Tamarak scene as a shopper.

 

Though it has temporarily taken a backseat due to other endeavors, Gemondo continues to model for magazines including “Gladys” and plans to take part in New York Fashion Week in the fall of 2019.