I have no children, so my story is one of connecting to a far part of the world and becoming a mentor to a young Russian woman, who is now living and working in Los Angeles after interning with me.
Antonina Grib first emailed me about two years ago, telling me of her admiration for my costume design work on the TV show Santa Barbara, which had a huge impact on the people of Belarus.
She wrote: I grew up in the former Soviet Union exactly during the times when the communist state collapsed and our country began opening itself to the rest of the world. I remember I knew very little about Europe and America but it fascinated me to hear about it and see how other people lived. It was also a very tough time. My country entered and still is in a great state of depression. Santa Barbara was one of the first TV series that was showed on the Belarus (the country where I reside) television. I remember watching it with my whole family. We watched people, how they were dressed, their houses, we saw beautiful ocean. I could hardly believe that such beautiful world could possibly exist, because what I saw around me was destruction, despair, inflation, freezing weather, endless lines in the stores, shortage of food, sickness, alcoholism.
We corresponded some more, and spoke on the phone. Antonina was now in the US at The University of Georgia, studying fashion and costume design, having been able to come to the US on a tennis scholarship. She decided to do her thesis on my costume design career, and she did an excellent job, finding out things I didn't even know or had forgotten about!
As she approached her graduation, she found the courage to write me this:
It took me a while to finally break myself from my shyness and the fact that I dislike to bother other people with my unsolicited e-mails.
Thus my question is what is the likelihood for me helping somebody like you in any way or shape or form?
I for some reason laugh at what I just wrote...all of it sounds almost funny. But the truth that I
have learned is that if I don't knock on the door there is a little chance for it to open. And it is
much better to try and fail than never try at all.
The wonderful news is that I was able to invite Antonina to Los Angeles to intern with me for the summer on my TV show Passions and she proved invaluable to me, both professionally and personally. Professionally, she is artistic, extremely hard working, talented, and funny! I have been able to mentor into a professional career in costume design, and she is currently working, making costumes at one of the leading Costume Shops in Hollywood. She calls it "a dream come true." Personally, she and her husband have visited my husband and I at our home on many occasions, and we love them both.
In fact, Antonina and Kenny were only married a few months ago, and having no family here in California, they came to the Wardrobe Department at Passions right after their ceremony, where we had a small reception for them, surrounded by costumes and fabrics!
