Nora is Del Busto the first to trade in another career to pursue her passion for design.  She attended University of Michigan, receiving a degree in psychology before receiving her JD from Loyola, whereafter she practiced law for several years in the Chicago area.  When asked about the transition, Del Busto indicated “it wasn’t really a stretch.  If you look at my notebooks from law school, they were full of sketches.”  In her late 20s, she decided that she didn’t want to spend the rest of her career practicing law.  And, with her husband-to-be’s encouragement, she gathered the courage to enroll full-time in a fashion program and focus all her energies towards becoming a designer. 

Del Busto represents one of the many students getting out of Chicago-area fashion programs who are looking to launch their fashion careers.  Graduating students are lucky to find paying entry-level design positions of $35,000 a year in Chicago.  Even with the support of family in getting her third degree, Del Busto has amassed steep student loans, comparable to the investment of pursuing a business or law degree where the starting salaries and opportunities for new graduates are of comparative abundance.  So, scholarship programs like Chicago Fashion Foundation are a significant help for area students in meeting the high costs of education, supplies and equipment, while perhaps helping them with the flexibility to find the right professional opportunity. 

Del Busto has held a number of internships with local companies including Lauren Lein and Beta Boutique.  And, though Del Busto dreams of launching her own line someday, she is now ready to take some of her “winning” ideas for an entry-level design position in Chicago.  “My dream is to work for Nike.  I hear they encourage their employees to workout and run when they need a break.”  Well, we hope that Del Busto will be able to combine her interest in sportswear and stay here in Chicago… perhaps with the chance of a 2016 Olympics in Chicago; she just might have this opportunity.