Now in its 21st year, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund has become a rite of passage for scores of designers looking to make their mark on the American fashion landscape. Last week, the finalists found out they had been chosen, and this week, they descended on One World Trade Center to present their work to the jurors at Vogue’s offices.
This year’s “class” is full of seasoned industry professionals who have put in their time working at other companies—and sometimes even other industries—before they decided to follow their vision and launch themselves into the unknown. Inside the Vogue fashion closet the energy was buzzing as the designers walked in one-by-one clutching a rolling rack filled with clothes (and in some cases jewelry or accessories) that represent “the past, the present, and the future” of their brand, along with a model/muse who showed off their work. Get to know them below:
Ashlyn, Founded in 2020
Ashlynn Park, 42
From Seoul, South Korea, now based in New York, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
First, I started studying architecture and I learned it’s quite a male-dominated world. My aunt was a designer, and she ran her business on her own. I was quite inspired by her and decided to move into fashion. At the same time, almost as a hobby I started taking illustration classes after school. I submitted my sketches to a competition and won first prize, so I changed my major and moved to Japan to study fashion design. After school, I began my career as a patternmaker at Yohji Yamamoto in the menswear team at Y-3. I moved to New York to work with Alexander Wang; the studio manager saw my potential and she grew me to be the main patternmaker of the collection.
What made you decide to launch your label?
Even though I super love fashion, I am also a human being. So I decided to marry and have children, and it was hard to continue my career with a baby, to be honest. [Eventually] I went freelance, then an offer came in to work with Calvin Klein and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work with Raf Simons, so I went there, and then right before COVID they laid everyone off. I wasn’t able to find a new job, and I was stuck at home, but since I was a patternmaker, everyone sent me lots of fabric to do the samples, so I just used that fabric to create my own collections—I had quite the big basement. It was 2020.
Was this your first time applying to the Fashion Fund? What are you hoping to get out of it?
This is my second time. This brand was discovered quite in the early stage, I was super-lucky because I was doubting myself: I’m not too young, I’m not an emerging designer, and my background is patternmaking. I know how to make clothes but I wasn’t sure if my idea was fresh enough, so I challenged myself to apply to the LVMH Prize. I thought, okay, if I’m selected as a finalist I can continue this brand and I got confidence from the award. I applied to the CFDA but didn’t get it, so I had some time to build from the ground-up, make this business be more profitable, work on building the community, and create strong relationships with the retailers. I received an email from the CFDA inviting me to apply, and I said okay, let’s do this.
What do you think are some of the obstacles currently shaping the industry?
Doing business in New York City is very costly. I’m self-funded and I’m not from a rich family, but somehow I have to make this brand healthy and help it grow organically. The solution I’ve found is not making too much inventory. We work from pre-orders and just make what we need.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
Thom Browne. I got an offer from them a long time ago, and learned how lean his business is, how he manages, the studio….[seeing] that, I decided, let’s not scale the business too much in the early stages, let’s keep it small and manageable. From Nili Lotan, [whom I worked for] I also learned a sense of business.
Aubero, Founded in 2022
Julian Louie, 41
From Santa Cruz, CA, now based in Brooklyn, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
I fell in love with fashion through magazines—I always paid attention to my mom’s Vogues as a child but I never thought about it beyond that. I moved to New York to study architecture and it was moving that really made it real for me—I decided that I didn’t want to be an architect and shifted my way. I graduated in 2007 and had my first internship with Imitation of Christ.
What made you want to launch your own brand?
I launched Aubero in 2022, though I had started working on it a year before in 2021. It was really a kind of confluence of opportunity and timing and a moment of quiet during the pandemic. I moved to Tucson for six months, staying with a friend and I set up a studio at his house and I was just working with material that I got through Desert Vintage—it was a kind of purely exploratory process, and the brand grew out of that.
Years ago, in another lifetime, I had a women’s line. After school I was selected by Francisco Costa [the then-creative director at Calvin Klein] to do the Protegé Project, which was organized by Franca Sozzani. It was Franca, Francisco, Donatella Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, and Paul Smith, and they each selected a young designer, and we did a collection sponsored by Australian Wool and that was shown during Pitti Uomo in Florence, then Tokyo, and then Sydney. That was my first big-jumping into the deep end, and after that Francisco said to me, “If I could do it all over again, if I was in your position, I would start my own thing,” so I took his advice. I’ve consulted for other brands, and worked for a number of different projects over the years but finally it was time to do something for myself again.
What do you think are some of the obstacles currently shaping the industry?
All the challenges are the same thing [as always]: it’s funding, it’s production, it’s cashflow, it’s all of that. They are challenges, but they’re also not necessarily a bad thing, especially for brands like mine and for a product like mine. I’m working within a scale that really makes sense for the brand and for the product I’m making. Everything is made in New York, and there’s a tiny bit of the embellishment that is done in India. Especially given the economy right now, I feel so blessed I’ve kept it local and kept it contained because it means that I’m quite agile right now.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
This is my first time. I was a finalist for the LVMH Prize last year, and I thought this was obviously the next step. I’m really excited to meet all the judges and work with everyone within that group and beyond; I know that the network and community this program fosters is so strong and so important in New York.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
I always say Rick Owens and Dries Van Noten. There’s so much clarity in what they’re doing: it’s so direct, it’s very honest, it’s really balanced. There’s pragmatism, romance, character; a range of ways to enter into their world. It’s very clear. Thom Browne as well. I’m impressed and inspired by these businesses that can balance volume and scale and specificity and fantasy.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV, or a movie, who would it be?
My first thought was Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love, but maybe also Keanu Reeves in Point Break.
Bach Mai, Founded in 2021
Bach Mai, 36
From Houston, TX, now based in New York, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
God, I don’t even remember. I fell in love with fashion and haute couture when I was very young, really, because of the work of John Galliano. I started making clothes for my friends and cousins and classmates when I was 15 and I’ve been doing it ever since.
What made you decide to launch your label?
I feel like I’m such a Capricorn, I have such tunnel vision; I’ve always had this plan laid out, micro and macro goals. I moved to New York to go to Parsons, and worked at Oscar de la Renta after I graduated. It was always my dream to become a fashion designer and move to Paris, learn from a master, and come back to be an American designer. That’s always been really important to me: so I moved to Paris, got my master’s, and then got to live the dream and actually ended up being first assistant to John Galliano. [The plan] was to move back when I was 30 to start this next phase of my own label. Then Covid happened and there was a bit of a delay, so we didn’t actually launch until 2021, which is when the first collection came out.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
It’s my third time applying. Again, it’s always been so important to me to come back and be an American designer. I think the fund is so iconic and important for establishing American design talent, and it’s not only such a stamp of approval, but the process and the mentorship and all that you gain from being in the program just really helps set you up for success.
What do you think are some of the obstacles currently shaping the industry?
Everything—what isn’t an obstacle or a challenge right now? I think [looking to] 20, 30 years ago, it’s even harder now to be an emerging brand. There’s so much power being held by these large brands, it’s definitely tough. And then the luxury retail sector itself is going through a lot of change and upheaval. But it’s also the same challenges of being an entrepreneur of any kind; and then on top of that you have the industry having a moment right now of reckoning and change. But at the same time, that’s what makes it interesting to be an emerging designer now; because things are changing and we could be building a new vision of fashion.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV or movie, who would it be?
The first person that comes to mind is Leeloo from The Fifth Element. She’s a fashion icon—all those Gaultier costumes! But I love the idea of a courtesan, so someone like Madame de Pompadour.
Bernard James, Founded in 2020
Bernard James
From Brooklyn, NY
How did you first get into jewelry?
I always had a very entrepreneurial spirit but also a creative spirit. I knew I wanted to design something, I just didn’t know what. I would say ignorance was really a catalyst to my journey—I was like, Oh, jewelry is small, so it has to be easier than clothing (laughs). I had a family friend who was a jeweler and he changed my life, he taught me everything I know.
What made you decide to launch your label?
I had spent a decade growing my career in different luxury brands—more on the business end. I had filed [to begin the company] in 2019, but then the pandemic happened and when things slowed down and we couldn’t go anywhere, I kind of poured all my anxiety and frustration and just confusion into my work and things progressed from there.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
We applied last year. I think there’s so much that comes with this idea of being involved, not only the community aspect, but being able to work alongside and have the mentorship of so many people that have been so successful in this industry is something I really look forward to.
What do you think are some of the obstacles currently shaping the industry?
Aside from the obvious things, I think it’s navigating being a self-funded business, not being a part of an institution and doing things slightly differently. I feel like a lot of industries are fairly antiquated in the way things are done and run, and there’s a lot of expectations for brands no matter what level you’re on. I think because of our product, the things we’ve accomplished, they have a high level of expectations from us—and I am the type of person who always likes to meet those expectations—but because we are a small team, it definitely takes a toll. For me personally as an “emerging brand,” it’s a challenge to find the balance between presenting the way we want to, while also reminding people that we are still a small brand just trying the best we can.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
Hands down, it’s Thom Browne. There’s several reasons, but mostly because he’s been able to cultivate this community and this cult following around his brand, and he still stays true to his artistic approach. His fashion shows help you dream, he’s keeping alive the spirit of what fashion represents—that it’s a sort of escape. But there’s also this grounding element where we can actually wear and live and be inspired by the things we put on our body.
Don’t Let Disco, Founded in 2021
Ashley Moubayed, 36
From Cleveland, OH, now based in Brooklyn, NY
How did you first get into jewelry?
It’s always been in me. When I was in high school me and my girlfriends would go to the thrift stores I always gravitated towards the jewelry counter, and I would buy these vintage and antique pieces and I would take them apart and make pieces for my friends. I really liked this idea of creating things from what already existed, I found it to be so therapeutic and it really caught on. I kept doing it in college; my university had this thing called “Market Fridays” where people would sell everything from tutoring services to baked goods, and I would be there selling jewelry. I would go thrifting during the week, I’d make things in my dorm, and on Fridays we would be a couple hundred bucks richer and we’d skip the dining hall and would get sushi.
What made you decide to launch your label?
I studied literature at school, I thought I was going to go to law school. When I graduated I started working in advertising because it felt like a perfect blend of my interests—it was creative but also business-focused. I ended up on the marketing team at Sotheby’s—covering everything from Renaissance paintings to rare books and manuscripts to 20th-century design and furniture—which was probably the best job for me because it opened my eyes and my world in a way that I hadn’t felt before. At the time, my grandmother sent me one of the bracelets that I had made in college and she was like, “Do you remember when you used to make these?” and something just clicked in me. I started beading again, it was really cathartic. One of my girlfriends noticed one of the bracelets I was wearing and she loved it, so I began making them for her. She also was the person responsible for my first big project when she asked me to make 25 for her sister’s bachelorette trip. Then it took off and I was working a full-time job and then doing this at night. I got an opportunity to have a storefront for a small amount of time and that’s when I sat down with myself, and I looked at my numbers and was like, okay, I think I can do this.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
This was my second time. I knew that this year we had a really incredible story to tell and I also find that taking on new challenges really pushes me and the business in a way that’s rewarding—it usually pushes us towards innovation in some way. We’re growing at the point that it’s almost outpacing us, and this opportunity would be an incredible moment to have guidance and mentorship to make sure that we’re steering this in a way that is sustainable and scalable so the business truly has a healthy foundation.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
I think what Aurora James has done is just so incredible. I don’t even know how she does all the things that she does, but she’s had this incredible business, and then she was able to parlay that into a platform to help other designers. Her career has been so thoughtful and seeing people like her is really inspirational.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV or movie, who would it be?
Snoopy. He’s always wearing his little red collar, but I would love to design him something really sweet.
Gabe Gordon, Founded in 2019
Gabe Gordon, 26 and Timothy Gibbons, 28
From Ridgefield, CT (Gordon) and Belfast, Ireland (Gibbons), now based in Brooklyn, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
Gabe Gordon: I was always a fan of Project Runway as a little kid, I would watch it with my mom. We used to have this dog and my mom was like, “Her brindle reminds me of a Missoni sweater,” and that got me into sweaters and textiles and knits. I was also a painter when I was a little kid so I went to RISD and studied textile design; it was a good conversation between the two.
Timothy Gibbons: I’ve always traced my love of clothing back to Halloween when I was child. I’m Irish and that’s where Halloween was born—it’s a Celtic tradition—so from a really young age I would always make my costumes with my auntie and my extended family. I was always making stuff to the point where all the photos of me as a kid, it doesn’t matter if they were taken in October or in the height of summer, I’m in a costume of some sort. When it was time to figure out higher education I applied to Central Saint Martins in London, and I did the costume and performance course.
What made you decide to launch your label?
GG: I started while I was in school. I worked with Gauntlett Cheng one summer, and I was working at Cafe Forgot. I think they were just excited about my work and that I was a student and they offered to sell some of my pieces in the shop and it just gained a lot of eyes from their store and a few other retailers picked it up. This store in Los Angeles, Maimoun, which is also in New York now, started selling the brand and then celebrities started wearing it, the Kardashians were seen wearing my pieces…I was still a student so I was like, “Oh my god, what is going on!?”Then Ssense started placing some orders. It was really fun and exciting, this challenge of navigating starting a business and not really knowing anything about it while being a student and trying to get the most out of my degree. I graduated in 2022, and immediately came to New York and was just doing this full time, but it was impossible, I had no idea what I was doing and no business background, so I took a season off to reassess. I realized I wanted to continue making this work and I met Timothy right after and it was just magic timing. We realized we wanted to do this together.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
GG: I had applied two years ago, but I feel like I was way more prepared and excited to apply this time. We’ve heard so much about the sense of community within the fashion industry, and I think [running a brand] can feel kind of isolating, and we can feel pessimistic about what we are doing sometimes. It’s so hard. Just knowing that there’s other creatives our age, or brands also starting out this small, all working together feels really amazing and exciting. We’ve also really strived to keep things sustainable, and I think it’s just been scary figuring out how to scale properly, so finding those solutions is really one of our biggest priorities with the mentorship.
TG: I think also having the CFDA amplify the voice of our brand means more than we can actually conceive at this point. It’s such a stamp of approval to have the brand’s name aligned with that. We’re so grateful for it.
How are you navigating the precariousness of the tariffs as an independent brand?
GG: This season already the tariffs are really hitting us hard. It’s created so many delays, we’ve already had cancellations—it’s not losses we can afford. Navigating the pricing work and thinking about wholesale value versus wanting the work to be more accessible—I think what’s exciting about the brand is that we cater towards our own age group, and we want our work to be worn by our friends, but it’s impossible, just based on how we’re making things, to price them in a way that is sustainable for the brand.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV or movie, who would it be?
TG: It would be someone from a Tim Burton movie….the Mad Hatter probably.
GG: Coraline. I love dolls—and I feel like that’s kind of a core thing in the brand.
TG: Wait, no, I want to change mine, Pinhead from Hell Raiser because that is such an amazing look!
Heirlome, Founded in 2022
Stephanie Suberville, 40
From Monterrey, México, now based in New York, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
I never wanted to do anything else. I vividly remember being in first grade and we had to draw a self-portrait and when I gave the teacher my sketch she was like, wow. She was so impressed and I think I realized, oh, this is what I’m good at. Then I got really into fashion and my mom researched all the schools and she found Parsons. I was in sixth grade already telling people, “I’m moving to New York and going to Parsons.” It’s the only school I applied to. I’m glad I got in because I didn’t have a backup plan.
What made you decide to launch your label?
I graduated from Parsons in 2008, I was designer of the year that year, and at the time they gave you a story on Style.com. My first job was at Rag
Bone. Marcus Wainwright and David Neville went to the Parsons show and they saw the collection and they hired me and took care of me—got me an immigration lawyer, sponsored my visa, the whole thing. I was employee 25 and by the time I left there were maybe 300 of us; my desk was right next to theirs. It was a great time for the company, crazy growth just hitting all these milestones as a team. Afterwards I worked at Elizabeth and James when Mary-Kate and Ashley bought it back from the licensee, and when the brand closed down I was pregnant and I took time off and then freelanced. All this time in the back of my mind, I was thinking that I wanted to do my own brand. Now, I also work as the creative director for this brand called Argent—I’m very busy but very grateful—but when I met the founder she was like, “What do you need to come work for me?” and I said, let me do my brand and I’ll do your brand, and you might not see me a lot but everything will get done.’ I’ve spent the last three years doing both.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
I applied last year, but I felt like maybe I could have waited because the brand was so young. When I applied this time around I felt better knowing the process and all the things I needed to go. Obviously the money would be great and helpful, but I think also the sense of community, networking, brand awareness. There’s so many reasons to do it but I think that’s why I did it.
What do you think are some of the obstacles currently shaping the industry?
The biggest challenge for us is my husband and I are both cofounders, and we both have full-time jobs. We work a lot because we are self-funded and we want to keep that way for a while, it’s just hard not having more hands on deck. We ship all our wholesale orders, we’re shipping to four different countries; it’s crazy. We have a pretty good wholesale business, but the cash flow with some of the stores is just very hard when you’re a smaller brand because you don’t have as much leverage. We put our savings in three years ago and the company sustains itself through sales and wholesale orders; our goal is always to pay the factories immediately.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
I’m always amazed by people like Maria Cornejo and Ulla Johnson, who have maintained their independence and are self-funded, because it is so hard. When things get hard, I look at them and think, wow, they’ve been doing it for so long.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV or movie, who would it be?
Diane Keaton in almost everything she’s ever been in, but also specifically Baby Boom.
Jamie Okuma, Founded in 2018
Jamie Okuma
From La Jolla Indian Reservation, CA
How did you first get into fashion?
I don’t know if it was any one thing, because I’ve been doing it forever. Starting with cultural dancing at Pow Wows; I learned to do every piece of clothing for the required outfits from a very, very young age. While I was at community college I went to the Santa Fe Indian Market—it’s the biggest Indian art show in the country, and to place or win awards is career changing. I was doing soft sculptures; miniature people with our attire, our outfits. So it was making clothes on a very small scale, doing all the beading and silver work and whatever goes into it. I received the biggest award, and so the demand of my work outweighed my desire to get a degree; so I learned what I needed to learn and dropped out.
What made you decide to launch your label?
I went into fine arts but then having a family and more responsibilities, I wasn’t able to concentrate on the fine art—it was very intense work where I was only producing a few pieces a year, and the demand was just that great. It just naturally moved into fashion where I was able to take pieces from my artwork and put them into clothing. I started out with scarves printed with images of my work, and then those scarves became scarf dresses—I made them by hand and then sold them. Then the availability to place my artwork on other types of clothing came into play. It was all very organic, I had no plan, I have zero business background, everything was just one foot in front of the other.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
This is my first time applying. A few friends pushed me and said, “You need to do this,” but knowing the challenges that it comes with, I was a little hesitant; the demanding nature of it. I remember seeing it on television once and thinking, wow, that is amazing; seeing what they went through was very, very intimidating, but I thought, what’s the worst that can happen? Nothing. I’m still working, I’m still doing all these things so let’s just see. The experience is the most important thing to me; being around other creatives, hearing advice and feedback on how I can navigate this world better because I don’t have that roadmap of how the fashion industry works—especially on the business side. I have this very niche area and clientele, but to open that up and see the bigger world of fashion…I’m very excited for that.
What do you think are some of the obstacles currently shaping the industry? How are you navigating the precariousness of the tariffs as an independent brand?
I don’t have enough hours in the day to do everything, that’s my only challenge, but I don’t even look at it as challenging just like getting over that hump to the next thing. I don’t know how to answer that question because I don’t know what’s available or what’s not available to me.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV or movie, who would it be?
Tilda Swinton—she’s like a walking art piece.
Meruert Tolegen, Founded 2021
Meruert Tolegen, 34
From Almaty, Kazakhstan, now based in New York, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
So I’ve actually always liked anything creative—I don’t think fashion was particularly it. Sometimes I get obsessed with little things and subjects, and at some point I began collecting garments, but not as a “collector.” I just would buy pieces that I really liked, and loved to see how they were made. I was fascinated by how much work goes into it, and then I started to develop this fascination with the actual craftsmanship of it.
What made you decide to launch your label?
After giving birth I was at home with my daughter. I thought I was going to go back to working in research labs, but I couldn’t. I started a children’s boutique—just curating some of the things I had found. Then I thought I made some childrenswear pieces and then moms started asking for matching ones. I would use very elaborate fabrics, velvets and French embroidered tulle with flocking, which were, like, $80 per meter, but at the time I didn’t realize they were insane prices. And again, I had to learn all the ropes of this business myself. Over time I thought the garments I was making were just too elaborate, I was using couture fabrics, so I thought it needed to be something separate from the childrenswear. So I created a different website and then I just posted to Instagram.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
I applied several years ago. I got encouragement from people to apply this year. I think for me, the most important part is mentorship. I need help in understanding several aspects of building it as a business. I think in terms of design—I have the will and the creativity, and I can create my own world—but how do you depict that world to others? How do you move forward and make money and support the business going forward? I think a brand can only survive for so long on just kind of whim and luck. And after that, you have to take it forward with an actual business perspective.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
Zac Posen who designed for his brand, and is now working as creative director at Gap, or the Proenza Schouler guys who are now designing at Loewe—they’re all very encouraging for designers like me to think that it’s possible to start a brand, it’s possible to grow and it’s possible to become a creative director somewhere.
If you could dress a character from a book, a TV or movie, who would it be?
I think my answer doesn’t make any sense, but I really like this book called Surely You
re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by the physicist and professor Richard Feynman. He’s really funny, very inquisitive, and brilliant. He did this thing where he went into a chamber and tried different experiments to try to understand why ants move in a certain direction—actually, they follow smell, so he began to smell the floor to try to understand. He was able to trace the scent, which is very weird. It’s non-fiction, but I make womenswear!
Peter Do, Founded in 2018
Peter Do, 35
From Boen Hoa, Vietnam, Based in New York, NY
How did you first get into fashion?
My grandma taught me how to sew at a very young age—patching up buttons and fixing things that were broken. We had a lot of hand-me-downs when I was growing up in Vietnam. In high school [in Pennsylvania], I remember we put on a fashion show for the art club, and my mom bought me a sewing machine from Kmart for 20 bucks and I learned how to sew from there.
What made you decide to launch your label?
I went to Parsons and FIT and after I worked with Celine and Derek Lam. I wanted to do so much more than just designing and sketching—I had more that I wanted to say. I started Peter Do right after Derek Lam.
Was this your first time applying for the fashion fund? What do you hope to get out of it?
Yes, we wanted to apply three years ago, but then the Helmut Lang job happened [Do was creative director of the label from May 2023 to November 2024]. The brand is growing and we are still very small—the team is four or five people—and I know now what I want to do. After all my experience working at Helmut, and doing this brand for seven years, we’re a lot clearer about where we want to go and we wanted to seek support to get to the next level.
Is there somebody in the industry whose career trajectory you look up to?
Rick Owens. He’s very singular. I’m sure it was really difficult to get to where he is right now by saying no, and staying true to himself; but it’s really inspiring to see somebody who sticks to what they believe and push through, finally achieving success through their own trajectory, their own community, their own way of working.
What do you think are some of the obstacles or challenges for an independent brand right now?
I feel like everything’s sort of affecting it in terms of the wholesale structures, the decision to show and not to show; there’s just so many things happening with the tariffs every week. I feel there isn’t a lot of support; I’m not sure there was more support before my time or anything like that, but I do feel like there was the industry before COVID and then there’s the industry after COVID. We started the brand right before the pandemic, so it’s just a very different time and a lot of the multi stores are gone now, payment terms are getting worse and worse, and the supply chain is the biggest puzzle of all time. So, yeah, I think all of those things make it incredibly hard to just focus on the work.
