Meet Our Summer 2021 Interns!

Meet our summer 2021 interns! Everyone is excited and ready to get working at PATTERN!

Leo Soyfer

Hometown: Carmel, Indiana
School: University of Indianapolis
PATTERN Focus: Photography & Social Media
Instagram: @l_soyfer

What’s your dream job? 
To be a fashion photographer or an aspiring rapper, that’s the ideal dream job. Or a music producer, I love making music. 

What’s your biggest inspiration for your work? 
Most of the time its film photographers doing portraits of musicians, models and artists. I like seeing another side of people you don’t normally photograph, who you can’t see without getting to know them personally or see them “in action.”

What made you want to intern with PATTERN? 
Finding out there was a real fashion magazine in Indy. I like showing off people’s fashion choices and aesthetics, so when I saw a whole publication dedicated to that I was right on it. 

What made you get into photography? 
At first, I used to photograph just cars, I hated photographing people  — I thought it was weird to take pictures of people. But over time, I saw the art in human expression and that each person has a unique emotion in their photos. 

Describe your taste in music — what about your preferences influence your work? 
There are two main genres, I like modern rap music and classical music. It’s not that I like a specific style of music but I like how specific instruments sound and I like to visualize it. I feel the same level of expression and emotion in music and photos, I want to express those feelings.

Curren Gauss

Hometown: Fishers, IN
School: Indiana University
PATTERN Focus: Journalism & Social Media 
Instagram: @currengauss

What is your favorite article you have ever written?
I wrote an article in high school before I joined the school journal about an annual mental health convocation run by an organization that poorly represented students with mental health issues.  Eventually, the articles lead to the school canceling the convocation.  I was happy to write an article that made a real impact.

What gets you in the mood to write?
Reading about journalism scandals gets me in the mood to write.  Stories like those about Stephen Glass, who fabricated articles for the New Republic, interest me and make me want to start writing.

Dream post-COVID travel destination?
New York City!  I want to stay there for some time and experience what it’s like to live there.  I am not much of a sightseeing person; I like the authentic experiences of the people that actually live somewhere.

What is your favorite journal to read?
The Atlantic and the Washington Post are my favorite journals, and I like to read from many different perspectives and opinions.  Besides current events and political news, I like to read short stories and poetry as well.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully still writing!  I like to write a couple of different things, including plays and short stories.  I’d like to work and live in a relatively big city someday.

Kaylee Williamson

Hometown: Crawfordsville, IN
School: Herron at IUPUI alumni
PATTERN Focus: Styling 
Instagram: @kayjwill
 
If you were a shoe, what kind of shoe would you be and why?
A platform shoe because I really like 70’s stuff so I feel like that fits. 

If you could create your own music festival, who would be on the lineup?
Blink 182, Alice Cooper, Mac Miller.

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions and have you stuck to them?
One of them was to wear more jewelry. I always forget to wear necklaces, but I have so many. I’ve definitely done that. 

What are your fashion essentials?
I like boots, I always wear boots. And probably rings, i feel like they add something extra if your outfit is kind of plain

What is your dream job?
Probably doing high-end magazine editorial styling, more of avant-garde looks. 

What is something you learned from the past year?
Communication is really important, especially being home and not being able to see people – even if it’s just online.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at PATTERN?
I hope to gain more connections and be more open with talking to people and finding venues, stuff like that. 

You sell vintage clothes online –– what inspired you to start that? 
In college I needed money so I sold my own clothes, then once my style developed I wore more vintage and would sell that, and that’s basically how I got into selling vintage.

Katie Freeman

Hometown: Vincennes, IN
School: Butler University
PATTERN Focus: Journalism & Social Media
Instagram: @notkatiefreeman

What is your Dream Job:
I would love to be the editor of a fashion magazine in NYC!

Favorite thing about Indy:
Before I moved to Indy, I never really visited the city and I assumed there wasn’t really anything to do. I love that I was wrong –– it was like a surprise element how much Indianapolis has to offer!

Describe your fashion sense:
It’s bold & maybe a little too dramatic. Whatever I want to wear, I just wear it!

Other things you enjoy besides writing:
Social media planning, photoshoots, cooking, traveling, going to concerts.

What do you hope to gain from your internship:
I hope to gain more confidence in myself and my own decision-making.

Have you had any opportunities within your major that you’re proud to share:
I get to write for my college’s newspaper, the Butler Collegian. I became a co-opinion editor recently.

What was the most exciting thing that has happened with that opportunity:
I was able to attend a Zoom press conference meeting with Katy Perry and listen to her talk about her new album. It was very exciting and I was able to write an opinion article about it!

Taylor Felder

Hometown: Havre de Grace, MA 
School: Butler University
PATTERN: Styling and Event Planning Intern
Instagram: @tayylorfelder

How would you describe your personal style?
It’s ever-changing. Every day, it’s a new thing. It just depends on my mood.

What would be your dream event to plan?
I’d love to plan a fashion show, especially one for a big event like NYFW.

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
Coffee. Unless it’s a milkshake! Then, it’s chocolate.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?
Lauren London. She’s gorgeous.

If someone offered you a million dollars to sing one song, lyric for lyric, which one could you pull off?
“God is a Woman” by Ariana Grande.

What’s your go-to coffee order?

A caramel iced coffee with cream and sugar from Dunkin!

Emily Wray

Hometown: Greenwood, IN
School: Purdue University
PATTERN Position: Creative Writing
Instagram: @emilymwray

How did you get started with writing?
I always liked to read as a kid. I skipped around from genre to genre, like poetry, fiction, and finally to TV and film, which is my favorite. I just always felt like I clicked with language. 

Who is your biggest writing inspiration and why?
I love Tina Fey. I just like how she’s so honest and has a lot of range. I loved her book!

Dream vacation?
I would have to say Scotland or somewhere in the U.K. I have a friend whose parents are from there and she always speaks so highly of it. I would just love to explore British, Irish, and Scottish culture. 

What color describes you best and why?
Light blue. It’s kind of chill, but it’s not too in your face. I feel like the color has a good balance, and that’s how I want to be.

Who are your top three musical artists at the moment?
Dayglow, Olivia Rodrigo, and Simon & Garfunkel

Dream job?
I would love to be a screenwriter for a TV show. I love comedy, like late-night shows or sitcoms, but I would honestly be happy writing whatever!

Thailand Burris

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
School: Ivy Tech
PATTERN Focus: Social Media and Styling
Instagram: @thainomansland

How would you describe yourself? How would your friends describe you?
I would describe myself as an anxious pop star, and my friends would describe me as a driven and sweet person!

Who would be your dream client to style and why?
Definitely Lil Nas X. He is both Black and queer, and we also have experienced some of the same trauma from the church. I would love to play off of some of the critiques to Christianity that he has been exploring lately. I just think I’d have so much fun styling him.

What are your fashion essentials?
Right now, I am mainly wearing blue, orange, brown, and white. I love a white t-shirt, white button up, and air force ones.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years? 
This is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’d see myself in publications and able to support myself in the fashion industry. I’d also love to lead a team within the industry.

Do you have a favorite social media content creator?
I’ve really been inspired by @ikxenna @toneclassic and @iamkurt lately.

What’s your biggest goal for this internship?
My main goal is to bring more diversity to PATTERN and create different types of content for the audience to hear. I also hope to diversify and broaden my network.

Julian Jamaal Jones

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
School: Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills Michigan
PATTERN Focus: Photography 
Instagram: @julianjones.studios

What is something you learned from the past year?
To speak up when it’s time for you to speak up, and to protect your brand and protect yourself. Having more confidence as well. 

What’s your favorite genre of music?
It’s a mix between hip hop and electronic music. 

What inspired you to get into photography? 
Fashion, fashion design, garments, textiles. Just the modeling industry, the art industry. Shoots are all about the styling and the story of the stylist — they need to understand me as a photographer and what I like. 

Who would be your dream person to photograph? 
Jaden Smith, I like his style, his edge, he’s different. I am attracted to different and unique people. 

What do you hope to gain from this internship? 
Working with others, meeting new people, and new connections. Getting a different perspective in the magazine industry. 

Senior Intern

Alexa Carr

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
School: IUPUI
PATTERN Focus: Events & Non-profit Management 
Instagram: @alexa_carr 

What drew you to fundraising?
I wanted to be a doctor but shadowing showed me that it wasn’t for me. However I still wanted to be involved with my community so I found another way to chase this passion without having to give people shots!

What’s your favorite charity?
Riley Hospital for Children. I’ve volunteered a lot and seen what the children go through first hand. It is important to me to not only fundraise but to advocate for better healthcare policies for these children. They deserve good experiences as kids despite being in the hospital.

Is there a particular cause you are most passionate about?
Accessible and inclusive healthcare is SUPER important.

If you could domesticate any animal what would it be?
GIRAFFE!!!

Name two guilty pleasures!
1. Online Shopping 
2. Pistachio Ice Cream

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