About Claudia

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Claudia Arroyo is a fashion designer, marketer, entrepreneur, educator, and community leader whose career has been shaped by creativity, resilience, and a willingness to continually reinvent herself.

Born in Acapulco, Mexico, Claudia moved to Chicago at 16 without speaking English. With limited educational opportunities at the time, she entered the workforce immediately after high school and gained experience in industries ranging from restaurants and retail to printing, customer service, sales, and operations.

After more than a decade in the workforce, Claudia reached a turning point. Determined to pursue her creative passion, she returned to school and earned a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design from the International Academy of Design and Technology in 2007.

Life soon brought another adventure—motherhood to triplets. After returning to the United States, Claudia combined her creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to co-found ClaSha, The Fashion Art Boutique. What began at local markets in 2010 grew into a brick-and-mortar boutique in downtown Lombard in 2013, where she gained firsthand experience in entrepreneurship, branding, sales, marketing, e-commerce, and community engagement.

Her involvement in the Lombard community also opened the door to service and leadership. Through the Lombard Service League, Claudia has held several leadership positions, including serving as President from 2022–2024, while supporting community initiatives and contributing her skills in marketing, website management, and social media.

In 2019, another major life transition led Claudia to close her boutique and begin a new chapter. She returned to school once again, earning a Master of Science in Marketing from DePaul University in 2022.

Today, Claudia serves as a Program Manager with Junior Achievement of Chicago, collaborating with educators, volunteers, businesses, and community partners to create meaningful learning experiences for young people. Through programs centered on entrepreneurship, career readiness, financial literacy, and real-world learning, she has discovered an especially meaningful part of her professional purpose: helping young people recognize their potential and prepare for their futures.

Her experience has also expanded into public speaking, workshops, mentoring, personal branding, web and graphic design, and community leadership—bringing together skills that once seemed unrelated but have become part of the same story.

Claudia believes that careers and lives do not always follow a straight path. Sometimes the experiences that seem disconnected become the very skills that prepare us for what comes next.

Outside of her professional and community work, Claudia is a proud mom of triplets, a runner, yogi, snowboarder, traveler, designer, and lifelong learner who continues to embrace new experiences and new possibilities.

At the heart of everything she does is a simple purpose: to create, to connect, to keep learning, and to use what she has learned to help others move forward.