Chicago drafter leaves corporate role for Yellowstone sewing job

Zoe De La Paz, 26, left a corporate drafting job in Chicago for a seasonal seamstress role at Yellowstone National Park, where CNBC Make It reported she earns $19.25 an hour repairing employee uniforms. The move reduced her hourly pay compared with her former corporate salary, but De La Paz told CNBC Make It that subsidized housing, meals and lower day-to-day costs have allowed her to save more than she did in Chicago.

De La Paz works for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the concessionaire that operates hotels, lodges, restaurants and other businesses in Yellowstone. She began the job in June and is expected to remain through around October, according to CNBC Make It.

Her work sits inside a large operating system that depends on seasonal labor. Xanterra employs thousands of workers across functions including housekeeping, security, food and beverage, and lodging support. The uniform department maintains that workforce’s clothing by sewing patches, repairing snaps, and replacing buttons and zippers.

From drafting to wardrobe work

Before moving to Yellowstone, De La Paz worked as a drafter for an engineering construction company in Chicago. She had learned to sew as a high school hobby, but did not initially pursue it as a career, according to CNBC Make It.

While still employed in her corporate role, she took evening and weekend work at music venues. She started with tasks such as ticketing and catering, then moved into stocking dressing rooms for visiting artists. That gave her access to wardrobe staff working with touring productions.

De La Paz told CNBC Make It that her first wardrobe-assisting opportunity came after she catered a Detroit concert for The Weeknd. A crew member mentioned that the tour needed a seamstress at its next stop in Chicago to repair backup dancers’ costumes. De La Paz said she wrote her phone number on a napkin and explained that she had sewing experience.

She described the break as a case of luck shaped by preparation. “I knew that if I wanted to be in wardrobe, I needed to figure out a way to be in the same room with people that were in wardrobe,” she told CNBC Make It.

A seasonal labor model

De La Paz said she decided in January that she was ready to leave her 9-to-5 desk job for full-time sewing work. She remembered visiting a friend who had worked a seasonal job at Yellowstone, then found the Xanterra seamstress opening online. After applying and completing a phone interview, she was hired.

Jeanne Holmes, a retired educator and fellow Yellowstone seamstress who helped hire De La Paz, told CNBC Make It that De La Paz stood out for her sewing background and ability to manage several tasks in a fast-paced workplace. Holmes said her own first season at the park in 2023 included hemming more than 1,000 pairs of pants.

The role requires adaptation because each repair differs, Holmes told CNBC Make It. The department also repurposes damaged or outdated inventory into new items, including converting old backpacks into fanny packs for staff.

De La Paz works 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday, generally from about 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. with breaks, according to CNBC Make It. Away from work, she spends time hiking, horseback riding and joining free or low-cost employee activities in the park.

She told CNBC Make It the Yellowstone job is part of a longer plan to move to New York City and seek wardrobe and costuming work in Broadway, film and other productions. Reflecting on the shift from her former corporate life, she said: “Two years ago working in corporate, I would have never dreamed this would have happened.”

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.