Melodee Chen is a classic example of a fashion designer living the American Dream.
"When people ask me where I came from, I tell them I got off at the wrong airport," said Chen, head fashion designer for Provo-based Jo Lene - an international girls' dress manufacturer. She said Provo isn't exactly where people picture an aspiring fashion designer making her mark.But for Chen, a Taiwan native, being a fashion designer in Provo has brought more success than she imagined.
She married a Utahn who brought her to the States over a decade ago. When that marriage ended in divorce, Chen was left with a child, unable to speak English - and unemployed.
"That's how I ended up in Utah. I couldn't speak, read or write any English. It was really frightening," said Chen.
She got a job sewing in a factory in Provo. But as a fashion-design graduate of the University of Taiwan and former model, Chen felt her talents were going unused because of the language barrier. She quit the sewing job because of bad employee relations and applied for another sewing position at Jo Lene.
"I desperately needed a job to support my daughter. When I was pulling up to go to my job interview [at Jo LeneT, I pushed on the gas pedal instead of the brakes and ran into their wall. I also didn't know how to use the complicated sewing machines at Jo Lene's. I don't know why, but they gave me a job anyway," she said.
That proved to be a good move for the company. During her past three years as head designer, Chen's innovative ideas have helped triple the company's revenue to a whopping $30 million.
But before her success, Chen had to prove herself.
"I said to myself, `Being a sewer is not my goal or my dream. I've always wanted to be a designer, and that's what I'll do,' " Chen said. "I knew I had potential."
When a pattern designer at Jo Lene quit, Chen was given a chance. She began designing patterns and then moved up to assistant designer, a position she held for three years.
"That was frustrating. The head designer seemed jealous and put me in the background. I loved to design and I knew what I could do. I just wanted a chance to show my line," Chen said.
She got that opportunity when the head designer quit and she was given the position. But Chen said everyone was nervous that a young woman in her late 20s was taking over at the company.
"Salesmen kept telling me I couldn't do it. But the president of the company, Don Geis, was on my side. He gave me a chance, and after awhile the salespeople's attitudes changed," Chen said.
Chen's designs were instrumental in the creation of the Jo Lene label that now accounts for half of the company's production. Before Chen, the company only made private labels.
"We created a look for older girls who want to be grown up. We kept a lot of the traditional stuff Jo Lene's is famous for, but we created a look that children wanted," Chen said.
That was difficult because in the older age group designers have to please both the parent who will buy the clothing and the child who will wear it, she said.
"From newborn to size 5, we have to make dresses special for grandmothers and mothers. The dresses for this age group are generally really pretty, fluffy and cutesy. From size 5 to 14, we design more for the girls. By that time they have their own ideas about what they want to wear. They start recognizing what looks good on them and they pay more attention to what others - especially older people like their mothers and older sisters - are wear-ing," Chen said.
With this theory, Chen has been the key player in making Jo Lene an international success. In 1994, the company that is now producing about 15,000 pieces of clothing each day plans to bring in $50 million.
And Chen, who as a young girl aspired to be a women's clothes designer in a big city, is perfectly happy where she is.
"I enjoy it so much. I would never quit," said Chen who is currently working on the spring '94 line that will include an even more elite line called "Melodee."