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Valerie Hlavaty has always loved fashion and drawing, and she has taken on the task of teaching that love to Texas Tech students in the nutrition, hospitality and retailing department of the College of Human Sciences.

“When I was in high school, I had a student teacher that was majoring in fashion design, and I decided that’s what I was going to do,” Hlavaty said.

As a Tech student, Hlavaty interned at Hemphill Wells, a department store that used to exist in downtown Lubbock. At first, she drew ads for the newspaper, but eventually her internship turned into a full-time job, and she worked her way to becoming fashion coordinator and advertising artist.

After starting her family, Hlavaty went to work part time as the special-event coordinator at Skibell’s, a women’s clothier, and freelanced fashion shows for Skibell’s and South Plains Mall.

“I had said in college, ‘I will never marry a farmer and stay in Lubbock.’ I let God lead me and I stayed in Lubbock and married a very handsome farmer. Never say ‘never!’ I was very blessed to marry Doug Hlavaty and stay in this awesome city.”

Hlavaty is the mother of three grown children.

In 1996, Hlavaty earned her master’s degree in merchandising and began teaching marketing to students at Lubbock-Cooper High School, where her children were students. 

“It was fun to share with those students what I had learned,” said Hlavaty, who served as the advisor for DECA, an association of marketing students, while at Cooper. “For fundraising events we did fashion shows, and other events that took us to DECA competitions.”

DECA students were treated to many school-sponsored competitions that  took them all over Texas and the United States, including Austin, Galveston, Orlando, Nashville, and Anaheim, Cali.

“It helped get students out of the four walls of their schools and do something exciting,” Hlavaty said. “It put them in the line to making more money and gave them great experience to have on their resume.”

Hlavaty left Cooper in 2005 to pursue a career in public relations and landed a position in the Mass Communications College at Tech, working as the assistant to the development officer.

“I have seen the fashion retail industry in Lubbock grow and change and remain very exciting,” Hlavaty said. “I love the creativity and the change and how it makes the people look and feel.  And the people in retailing are fun and open-minded and friendly.” 

 She soon moved to the nutrition, hospitality and retailing department, where she teaches four classes: retail promotion, teamwork, contemporary issues, and introduction to retailing.  Her students get to participate in many hands-on projects, including customer service, fashion camp, fashion shows and internships.

“I have seen Lubbock grow and prosper into a wonderful city. I have accomplished all of my dreams here.”