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After graduating from high school and attending Simon Fraser University for Computer Programming, Wendy landed a job at a telecommunications company, but her love of fashion remained an important part of her life. Wendy entered the Sew Creative Fashion Show at the Pacific National Exhibition for several years, placing First Runner-Up the first year she entered and winning the Grand Prize the following two years. After a co-worker heard of her accomplishments, she told her about how she "drafted" patterns from scratch for her porcelain dolls. Having never used anything but commercial patterns in the past, this intrigued Wendy. The co-worker told her about a Fashion Design Program at Kwantlen College .
During her 2-year tenure at Kwantlen, Wendy received the 1994 Kwantlen College Second Year Scholarship for outstanding scholastic achievement and the 1994 British Columbia Simon Chang, Phyllis Levine Foundation Award for outstanding scholastic performance in fashion design. She is now in the process of acquiring her Bachelors Degree in Applied Design, her Provincial Instructors Diploma and her Associate Certificate in Introductory Computer Programming. Click here to see her complete résumé. After graduating with distinction from Kwantlen University College, Wendy and a fellow student opened The Nemesis Clothing Company and shortly after, launched their Brown Eyed Girls (B.E.G) label that was featured on the BC Designers floor of The Bay in downtown Vancouver. They also garnered numerous mentions by the media including appearances on several local television shows and features in many local newspapers and fashion magazines.
Wendy and Lesley agreed to part ways in 1999 (and against all odds still remain friends!) Wendy proceeded to establish her next business, Moda de Vida Design, offering pattern management services, college-level instruction, interior decorating & home organization services and custom clothing & accessories. In November of 2004, Wendy had her first child – a beautiful baby girl whom she and her husband, Mike, named Antonia. She subsequently took some time off to be a mom. This sabbatical enabled her to complete the acquisition of hardware and software necessary to launch Moda de Vida's CAD services and thus finally merge her two loves: computers and pattern making. In January of 2007, Wendy and Mike were blessed with a second daughter, whom they named Michaela. Wendy nursed both her children and also chose to pump, primarily so that Mike could feed and therefore bond with the babies as she was. It was during these months and months of daily pumping that Wendy discovered the need for a product that wasn't readily available to her. After 3 years of research and development, Mike & Toni's™ hands-free pumping supports was born!
Wendy is a member of Ladies Who Launch and Apparel BC.
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Wendy's fascination with fashion started at a young age. In elementary school, she delighted in the fact that her mother loved to sew "original" outfits for her and would stand staring at her closet every morning wondering "what to wear today". At age 12, she took sewing in school and was finally allowed to use her mother's sewing machine. Many hours of her spare time, and money earned at her first job, were then spent making her own clothes. 
After attending a program information session and speaking with current students, Wendy learned that many applicants don't get accepted the first time around, but receive feedback on their portfolios and are instructed to try again the following year. With this in mind, Wendy applied for the program, believing that she had a year to save some money for school, but to her surprise, she was accepted the first time around! 
During the Nemesis Clothing Company's 4-year life span, Wendy and her partner, Lesley, worked on many high-profile projects including the design and production of the volunteers' uniforms for the XI International Conference on AIDS, the design of the warm-up suit for the North Vancouver Minor Hockey League, design and production of clothing for First Nations artist, Terrance Campbell, and working with the television industry for a Tic Tac commercial, an episode of the X-Files and an episode of Sliders. 
Since the launch of Moda de Vida, Wendy has had the pleasure of working on several outstanding projects with amazing people such as the Canadian Women's Olympic Curling Team along with Bruce Allen Talent and Sandman Hotels / Moxie's Grill. This project involved designing and producing the 2002/2003 on-ice uniforms for Team Law after their Bronze Medal win in Salt Lake City, Utah.
