Elyce Arons, cofounder and chief executive officer of Frances Valentine, was the keynote speaker at LIM College‘s 87th annual commencement ceremony held at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center Sunday.
Approximately 500 students received master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees at the event. Arons received a Distinguished Achievement Award as well as an honorary doctor of commercial science degree at the ceremony.
Arons, who is a member of the board of the LIM Fashion Education Foundation, which provides scholarships and educational enhancements to LIM College students, opened her address by sharing a story of how, as a high school student, she was introduced to Earl Nightingale’s “The Strangest Secret,” which had the powerful message, “We become what we think about.”
“Gradually, through our own thinking, through the choices we make, the habits we form, and the actions we repeat, we become what we think about. That idea stayed with me throughout my life,” said Arons, who was also one of the cofounders of Kate Spade and wrote the memoir, “We Might Just Make It After All: My Best Friendship With Kate Spade.”
Among the advice Arons doled out, she advised graduates to take risks early in their careers. “Move somewhere unfamiliar. Try a role that stretches you. Say ‘yes’ before you feel ready. Some risks won’t work out, but that’s OK. Regret usually comes not from trying and failing, but from never trying at all.”
In closing she reassured the graduates, “You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to decide what kind of person you want to become and take intentional steps toward that every day. The world needs your creativity, your unique ideas, your determination, and your imagination.”
President Ron Marshall advised students that they are graduating into a world that is vastly different from the past. “Be consistent and trustworthy in a time of noise, be human in a time of machines, and leave people and places stronger than when you arrived,” said Marshall.
Tamika Young, from LIM’s Class of 2005, now chief marketing and communications officer for Hinge, received the Maxwell F. Marcuse Award named for LIM’s founder. It is the college’s highest alumni honor.
