Dreams do come true, even for girls from Small Town America.
Such is the case of former Iolans Kate and Molly Stanley, daughters of MaryAnn Howland and Steve Stanley, who each have pursued lifelong dreams and found success.
Take Kate, who since childhood took even playing with dolls as a serious task.
Today, Kate is a senior designer for Genexus, a fashion house in Los Angeles. The company markets Kate’s exclusive Bobi BLACK line, which has been previewed among the glitz and bling of Hollywood premieres and become a favorite of fashion-conscious women.
MaryAnn said Kate has always had her sights set on fashion design.
“She had Barbie dolls, just like other little girls,” MaryAnn said, but when Kate dressed her dolls she then asked mom and dad to critique their looks.
“That’s all she ever wanted to do, be a dress designer,” her mother said.
Marriage also has put Kate in the midst of Hollywood’s glamour. Last weekend, she and husband, Wayne Lemmer, were in England to attend the annual British Academy Awards, where he was nominated for a sound award. He is supervising sound editor for 20th Century Fox Studios. His nomination was for work on “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” “Whiplash” was the winner.
KATE, 31, attended Allen Community College after graduating from Iola High School in 2002. She learned the intricacies of her craft at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.
Next came the road frequently traveled by aspiring designers. Kate began as an assistant designer with Genexus before becoming a co-designer and then moving up to senior designer with her own Bobi line.
As a senior designer Kate has her hands in all phases of production — “total hands-on all the way through,” from design table to when the dress is model-ready, MaryAnn said. “She even selects materials for her dresses, which requires quite a bit of travel worldwide,” including journeys to China and other exotic places.
While most of what she designs quickly finds its way into the wardrobes of other women, Kate has had a couple of special projects in recent months.
When she and Wayne were married in Hawaii last August, Kate wore a wedding gown she had designed. Last weekend she wore a dress to the British awards ceremonies of her conception.
Kate-designed dresses are a hit in the United States, and also have found a broad niche in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Just recently two mega European department stores picked up the Bobi BLACK line.
WHILE HER sister occupies herself with what goes on the body, Molly, 26, is more concerned with what goes on within the body.
She is studying for a doctorate in neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis, after having done undergraduate work at the University of Kansas. Her current project has to do with glucose levels in brain cells and their relationship to Alzheimer’s disease.
A 2007 graduate of Iola High, Molly was recipient of a 2013 National Science Foundation Fellowship, which led her to being a graduate research fellow at Washington University. Molly’s appetite for a high-level career in science was whetted by her inclusion in a summer session through the University of California, Berkeley, Amgen Scholars Program, which permitted her to pursue research opportunities.
Molly also finds time to work in the community, encouraging inner-city kids to excel in school.
“That’s what Molly does,” MaryAnn said, being her own person in all she does.
Their mother thinks having been involved in sports, 4-H and a variety of school and community activities during their growing-up years gave Kate and Molly confidence to be bold and to set and achieve goals as young adults.
For Kate and Molly no challenge has been too daunting, nor is it likely any will be.
