Interview with Elizabeth Carlock

I met Elizabeth Carlock four years ago when we were both presented at the International Debutante Ball of New York... and I looked up to her!  She had the best "Texas Dip" (a curtsy the girls from Texas do where their nose has to touch the floor)!! She has style and grace, a laugh out loud sense of humour, and a philanthropic business all at the age of 22!  We sat down to talk about her career, wedding plans, and a few of her favorite things!


KS: How did you get started as a jewelry designer? 
EC: I started making clothes and jewelry for fun when I was around 13. As I made and modeled things, people wanted to buy them, so I began selling my creations. I started a company, Love.Joy.Peace with a friend in high school. I then interned with Elizabeth Showers and was inspired to go out on my own.  I started Elizabeth Carlock Jewelry during my years at SMU, then that became Elizabeth Carlock Designs in 2010 after I graduated from college a year early and had the flexibility to pursue entrepreneurism. Long story short, it's a long story...

KS: What is your mission with the UAPO?

EC: I got involved with The UAPO when its founder Brittany Merrill and I got connected during my college years at SMU through Kappa Kappa Gamma when I was chapter philanthropy chair. I am currently a board member of The UAPO, and I am particularly involved in their Akola Project.  As a fashion designer and with my education in Corporate Communications & Public Affairs (CCPA), I am able to lend my advice and guidance to the project and the 160+ women The Akola Project equips through vocational training in areas such as fashion-related crafts, village savings and loans, health, and agriculture.  It's an amazing organization and I'm blessed to be a part of it! I spent about 3 months in Uganda last year and am going back this August!  In the meantime, I help with product design and general organizational operations from afar.

KS: Did you always know you wanted to be in fashion?

EC: Fashion is my art, but I didn't know for sure it would be my career until it was!  I have a handful of other business I want to start. I guess my real passion is entrepreneurism and philanthropy, especially combining the two.  Right now, the venue to do that is Elizabeth Carlock Designs but that could change in the future! 

KS: You are planning an upcoming wedding, do you have any advice for the busy brides?

EC: I always say planning a wedding is "fun stress."  I can switch gears pretty easily, but sometimes I just have to have a "business" day or a strictly "wedding" day...Now, I have "moving" days too because my fiance and I bought a house!  The wedding takes a lot of focus upfront but then it gets more fun, especially after the invitations go out!  I don't know what I'd do without my amazing team of wedding professionals. Don't try to do it all alone: I guess that's my main advice. And other than that: it's about the marriage, not the wedding! Focus on who's at the end of the aisle and not everything else along the way.

Elizabeth's favorites:

Charities: The Ugandan American Partnership Organization (The UAPO), Reconciliation Outreach, Council for Life, and The Elisa Project    Colors to wear: White (makes me look tanner) or Black (makes me look slimmer)Hotel: The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, especially their spa and Fearing's!  I like Palomar's Exhale Spa too for Core Fusion classes :)Lipstick: Burt's Bees...does that count?
Vacation Spot: My family's lake house in Athens, Texas

Flower: Hydrangea 
Book: Changes every month or so. 
Memory: It hasn't happened yet, but my wedding on May 7th 2011!

Quotes: "For of those to whom much is given, much is required." -Luke 12:48;

"God calls you to the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." -Frederick Buechner;"No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." -Theodore Roosevelt

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