{"id":494980,"date":"2026-10-13T20:02:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494980\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T20:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:02:34","slug":"how-z-supply-is-investing-in-csulb-students-and-their-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494980\/","title":{"rendered":"How Z Supply is investing in CSULB students and their future"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Catherine Yi graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BFA in illustration<\/a> in 2012, she took a few odd jobs here and there. But an illustration professor at The Beach, Mark Michelon<\/a>, recommended her to a professional friend of his, who had just started a women\u2019s clothing line in Costa Mesa.<\/p>\n

Yi interviewed and got a full-time job at Z Supply. Twelve years later, she\u2019s still there, creating textile art for various pieces of clothing and accessories. Meanwhile, the company has grown into a leading brand in women\u2019s chic casual dress, selling its 2,200 styles in 3,000 boutiques nationwide and in Canada.<\/p>\n

Z Supply has also become a working home for CSULB alumni, employing more than 18 graduates over the past decade and sponsoring a robust scholarship program since 2022. CSULB was the first university in that program, and 13 Beach students have received scholarships since 2022, underscoring the company\u2019s belief in and commitment to CSULB, which has seen this partnership grow stronger over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like (Cal State) Long Beach is very creative,\u201d Yi said. \u201cWorking in apparel is very creative. So much about working is just communication, and being able to work with people and understand people. I think Cal State Long Beach taught me a lot, and basically just how to grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine Yi ’12 works as a graphic artist at Z Supply.<\/p>\n

Mandy Fry, president and co-owner of Z Supply, launched the Z Supply Foundation in 2021. Since then, it has granted more than $1.5 million in scholarships to students at six colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

She said she sees something special in CSULB students and graduates, whom she has described as \u201cvery loyal, positive and optimistic.\u201d She mentioned the connection between Michelon (now emeritus) and co-founder Greg Garrett, as well as the \u201cwonderful experience\u201d Z Supply has had with Yi, as reasons for the ongoing CSULB partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach and every one of them has a real talent for the department that they’re working in,\u201d Fry said. \u201cThey\u2019re extremely competent, very professional. And there\u2019s no substitute for hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, CSULB grads are working in all aspects of Z Supply\u2019s business, from graphic design and product development to marketing, sales, accounting, web design and information technology.<\/p>\n

College of the Arts<\/a> Dean Royce W. Smith<\/a> stressed the impact and benefit of the partnership between Z Supply and Cal State Long Beach. \u201cIt\u2019s really important for students who come into our college to know that there are people that believe in them,\u201d he said. Students \u201cneed that kind of hero \u2014 someone who\u2019s made it, someone who\u2019s been successful, because it\u2019s difficult being a creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that scholarships help students focus more on their studies, so they don\u2019t have to be working an outside job \u201c70 hours a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Z Supply connection \u201cjust kind of completes the circle for our college, and it sets a great example for other folks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fry observed that CSULB and its College of the Arts are \u201cdoing a phenomenal job setting students up for success, and that\u2019s really hard to do.\u201d She said she had to figure out the fashion and clothing industry on her own when she was younger.<\/p>\n

\u201cCal State Long Beach is nurturing and preparing students to be in an environment like ours, and they\u2019re doing a great job at it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Melanie Vo \u201925, who got her BFA in graphic design<\/a>, is another Z Supply success story. A foundation scholarship helped her finish an extra semester at The Beach, as required by her major. She then obtained a summer internship at the company in 2025. Today, she\u2019s a full-time associate graphic designer, a job she started in February 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing how much they\u2019ve invested in me, in my personal and professional growth,\u201d Vo said. \u201cIt\u2019s not lost on me how difficult it is to find a job. I\u2019m really grateful for my CSULB experience, and the way it all panned out. The experience I collected there definitely helped in my professional journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melanie Vo ’25 works as an associate graphic designer at Z Supply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Catherine Yi graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BFA in illustration in 2012, she took…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1818,1820,7,1815,1821,1822,1819,131,133,132,1817,1816],"class_list":["post-494980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-49ers","tag-cal-state","tag-california","tag-college","tag-csu","tag-csulb","tag-dirtbags","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-beach-state","tag-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}