TONL x Chromebook: Gabriel-Bello, Teacher and Fashion Designer
Meet Gabriel-Bello Diaz! Teacher and Fashion Designer/Owner of Efficio. Hear more about his day in the life as he integrates both the Acer Chromebook 15 CB515-1HT and the Samsung Chromebook Pro.
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By blood I am a proud Puerto Rican as both from mother and father are from there. I was however, born in Hendon, London, UK but raised in New Jersey. I have been all over as you can tell. I moved here to Seattle from Spain where I was for a few years.
My profession is teaching young kids and facilitating classrooms to collaborate with the industry. Honestly, I didn't really decide to teach; it was more like I needed a job and the opportunity presented itself. I also own my fashion company called Efficio, where I make unique fashion that predominantly taps into my culture and has a huge emphasis on collaboration with other community members.
Handling Discrimination...
I am always being discriminated against-even in my current job. People look at me and assume I am uneducated or that I got to where I'm at because of luck. Being a Puerto Rican, I've had co-workers look at me with the most surprise when I share simple things like: "No, I don't have kids" or "Yes, I do hold 2 Master's degrees in Architecture and Robotics". I am always expected to be less than which is why I over work myself to do the most I can to combat that oppression. There's no real overcoming with these things. I just pick my battles of voicing my opinion and move on. What I do to combat racist organizations and oppressive institutions is I start developing conversations around equity with the youth who are still finding their POV.
A Day in the Life...
A day in the life includes me waking up at 5AM, teaching by 7:30AM, in my studio by 5PM and home by 8PM. This is almost every day. In the summertime, I go HAM on fashion though! It's nonstop developing products and working with my community to create fashion shows and events that respond to our current time. "Ancestral Future" was key in kick starting that.
The goal of Efficio is to be fluid and inclusive. Fluid in a way that I don't pin myself to one style or "fashion line". Rather, I want to use fashion to tell stories. This method becomes inclusive because I am reaching out to my community for these stories. Hyena Culture is an online fashion editorial that focuses on this specifically. It's important to tell our stories. Between teaching and owning my own business, I want to show my students my path and how I got to where I'm at but, also be a mentor for them to explore their academic goals.