Even though our teenage days are long gone, every team has a class clown, a bookworm, an artsy crew, and of course, a pair of ride-or-die besties. So, we asked the MOTHER crew to dole out superlatives for their modern “classmates,” from the aux cord hero to the office party-starter. Then, we interviewed the winners to get the scoop on their true school personas (with the pics to prove it). Find out who skipped class, who made straight A’s and who’d rather be in the art studio. Class is in session. 

Saylor Petzoldt

Title: Graphic Designer
Years at MOTHER: 2
Go-to spot when skipping school: Crescent Bay in Laguna
A or C student? A!
On time or tardy? On time
Library or Gym? Art room
Detention or Model Student? Model student
Favorite band: I was in a girl band in high school called Kleinahexa (lol) but my favorite at the time was The Cardigans

Andrew Steiner

Title: Art Design Manager
Years at MOTHER: 8
Go-to spot when skipping school: “The secret spot"
A or C student? A
On time or tardy? On time
Library or Gym? Art room
Detention or Model Student? Both
Favorite band: Talking Heads

Sally Bao

Title:  COO
Years at MOTHER: 10 years
Go-to spot when skipping school: Ximending
A or C student? A
On time or tardy? On time
Library or Gym? Library
Detention or Model Student? Model
Favorite band: Bee Gees in the 70s

Tim Kaeding

Title: Founder/Creative Director
Years at MOTHER: All of them
Go-to spot when skipping school: Taco Bell
A or C student? Straight B
On time or tardy? Always on time
Library or Gym? Art wing
Detention or Model Student? Neither
Favorite band: The Smiths

Sherry Cameron

Title: VP Human Resources
Years at MOTHER: 6 ½
Go-to spot when skipping school: A creek nearby
A or C student? A, mostly…one D in PE during a semester of hockey
On time or tardy? On time
Library or Gym? Library
Detention or Model Student? Questionable. Regularly sent to the principal’s office because my skirt was too short…we had ridiculous dress standards back in the day!
Favorite band: High school—hard to name just one! Jefferson Airplane/Buffalo Springfield/Cream.

Elaine Pascua

Title: Senior Sales Director - International
Years at MOTHER: 8 years
Go-to spot when skipping school: I didn’t skip school
A or C student? A
On time or tardy? Early
Library or Gym? Sizzler
Detention or Model Student? Model Student
Favorite band: TLC

Julia Harry

Title: Creative Producer
Years at MOTHER: 3, 4 in January!
Go-to spot when skipping school: Any clothing or art pop-up happening in LA
A or C student? Straight B-ish student
On time or tardy? Truancy
Library or Gym? Library
Detention or Model Student? Neither
Favorite band: No Doubt

Vincent Ha

Title: Director of Marketing & Communications
Years at MOTHER: 5
Go-to spot when skipping school: I would usually ditch school at lunch to go to the nearby Thai restaurant. Or the American Apparel on Main Street.
A or C student? A student
On time or tardy? Mostly on time
Library or Gym? Library
Detention or Model Student? Model Student
Favorite band: At the time – Rilo Kiley, Frou Frou, hellogoodbye

Autumn Dumont

Title: President of Sales
Years at MOTHER:  15
Go-to spot when skipping school: Kwik Stop
A or C student? B
On time or tardy? Tardy
Library or Gym? Neither
Detention or Model Student? Somewhere in the middle
Favorite band: Madonna

Francisco Villanueva

Title: Operations Coordinator
Years at MOTHER: 11
Go-to spot when skipping school: Mall
A or C student? Yikes, C
On time or tardy? Tardy
Library or Gym? Gym
Detention or Model Student? Detention
Favorite band: A Tribe Called Quest

Alejandra Dibos

Title: VP of PR & Marketing
Years at MOTHER: 11
Go-to spot when skipping school: Nowhere specific, just drove around town with friends.
A or C student? C
On time or tardy? Chronically tardy but always there.
Library or Gym? Gym
Detention or Model Student? Detention
Favorite band: Guns N’ Roses

Lela Rose Becker

Title: President
Years at MOTHER: 15
Go-to spot when skipping school: Dragons Pit & Rose Garden
A or C student? C!
On time or tardy? Tardy
Library or Gym? Neither
Detention or Model Student? Detention
Favorite band: AC/DC

Anna Dembling

Title: Senior Art Director
Years at MOTHER: 12
Go-to spot when skipping school: An upper classman’s car
A or C student? B+
On time or tardy? Tardy
Library or Gym? Neither, Studio Art
Detention or Model Student? Model Student. But I did purposely get detention once to see what it was like after watching 10 Things I Hate About You.
Favorite band: Blink-182, Weezer, Radiohead

Dane Vaughn

Title: Art Director
Years at MOTHER: 4
Go-to spot when skipping school: I was either at the beach or Mr. C’s Records in Old Town Orange
A or C student? Straight A’s except math
On time or tardy? A bit of both
Library or Gym? Library
Detention or Model Student? Depends on who you ask
Favorite band: It’s hard to narrow down just one, but I was listening to a lot of MGMT, Ratatat, and Crystal Castles during those years. I’d also be lying if Lil Wayne wasn’t mentioned here too.

Grace Caspino

Title: Social Media Coordinator
Years at MOTHER: 1 year
Go-to spot when skipping school: Didn’t skip
A or C student? A
On time or tardy? On time
Library or Gym? Library
Detention or Model Student? Model Student
Favorite band: Taylor Swift

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