New Job(s)!

I’ve been looking all over Philly for a part-time job to make some money and I finally found one! I applied at West Elm in Center City. I have always loved their home goods and I am so excited to be working there! The Center City store is the prototype store for West Elm, which means that during store closing where all of the higher ups and designers set up the store and use it as the floor-set for all of the other West Elm stores. During my interview they mentioned they need someone to help during these periods of time, in addition to working as an associate. I expressed my excitement in visual merchandising, and they offered me the sales position as well as support during these occasions!

Also, last week a friend from class reached out to me last week, saying her cousin owns a spa and needs an intern to help with social media. I sent my resume and cover letter and had a quick phone interview with her. We hit it off and they offered me the spot! Unfortunately, it is unpaid, but she definitely throws in some perks such as free services! We had our first in person meeting yesterday and discussed the social media goals. I will be posting at least 3 times a day and just cleaning up their appearance and making everything cohesive.

I can’t believe I went from 1 job to 3 in just a week! I am really excited and I hope I can keep up with it all!

Celebrity or Fashion Designer

This is a poster that I see everyday at work. Normally I pass it by without a second thought, however, today was different. I stopped in front of it and looked at it today… really looked at it. It made me realize that fashion designers are becoming more like celebrities rather than artists of fashion. Their faces are everywhere and they are becoming extremely important to the media. It also is ironic because very few famous designers are actually the designer for all of their products. Some use licensing, but many have designers under them that do the majority of the creative process. Many of these celebrity designers just finalize the decisions, without dealing heavily with the products themselves.

Purchase Orders

This week and last week I spent a lot of time completing purchase orders for new styles and flow orders to existing styles.  I also created new style numbers and entered new style information into our system for orders that will be completed by December and January. When I first learned how to do this I found it pretty confusing. The program my company uses to complete orders electronically is a bit complicated and requires you to open and close many pages and input all sorts of information. I have gotten used to the program and no longer find it difficult, but the work can get a bit tedious, mainly because you have to place a separate order for each shipment. It has shown me though, that practice makes perfect and what I used to find confusing, with a few weeks practice, is now easy.

Three Things to Remember

Now that a lot of students are already out for summer, new interns have been starting at Lividini for the summer season. It’s nice to have some extra help again, because the other winter/spring interns finished a couple weeks ago. As the intern who has been here the longest, it’s my job to help the new interns acclimate and learn how things at Lividini work. In light of that, I’ve been thinking of my three top pieces of advice I would give to them and all new interns really.

1.     Go with the flow!

At Lividini we get a list of  to-do’s each morning, but that can change in an instant. If some new pressing project appears, that comes first and while you may think your morning is going to be spent on a press recap, you could end up running around the city on an emergency errand.

2.     Ask questions…a lot of questions.

The only way you are ever going to learn to do your job or how the company runs is to ask questions. A lot of them. It can be really intimidating to ask your boss, but I know that from my experience it is a lot better to ask than do the job wrong and have to re-do it. Also if you’re nervous to bother your boss, ask another intern first.

3.     Ask for challenges

If you are improving quickly and find yourself finishing tasks early, ask for a new challenge! Every time I finish something quickly, I let my bosses know that I’m done and ask for more work. This shows my work ethic and competence to quickly and efficiently finish tasks. Because of this, my bosses have become comfortable assigning me new and challenging projects so that I learn more, and they get some extra help. But they would never have done that if I hadn’t taken the initiative.

How to Deal with The "Difficult" Customer

Have you ever encountered a person who just never seems to be satisfied? This can occur anywhere at any time, especially while working in a clothing store. It is common to hear that an employee should always agree with the customer in order to keep a positive relationship with them. At times, this can be extremely difficult because the customer is not always "right," but an employee should make them feel as if they are.

Dealing with this type of person at work can cause a negative and frustrating feeling for the employee. I personally have felt stressed out because I could not meet the needs of this "difficult" customer. As I usually work with women who are above the age of 40, I have felt belittled or useless to them because of the age difference. Some women do not want my advice or do not want to ask me for help because they simply cannot connect with me. Some things that have been said to me while trying to assist a shopper are; "You wouldn't understand, you're only 20," "You don't know, you don't have the body of someone who has given birth 3 times," "This would look on someone your age, not mine," "Can you ask one of the other sales people to come tell me what they think?" The list goes on.

I have found that the best way to deal with a situation like this is to at least attempt to connect with the customer in a different way and to continuously have a friendly personality. It has taken me awhile to get used to hearing this type of feedback while trying my best to sell an item, so I have come up with a few ways to avoid any awkwardness or feelings of defeat. Some phrases that I've used (and switch up depending on the person) are...

"Yeah, it is a more youthful look, but you can definitely get away with it!"

"I may only be 22, but I have always helped my mom with deciding what to wear, I can tell when something looks right or not."

"I'll ask someone else, but I am telling you, you look amazing and I guarantee that they will agree with me."

"That top flatters your body in all the right places!"

As long as the customer earns your trust and you avoid disagreeing with them, the sale should run smoothly. Worse comes worst, you don't sell anything to that person, but you gained more experience and can be better the next time you run into a more challenging customer.

Much Needed Break

This past week was absolutely insane. We had the grad fair last Tuesday. The grad fair is an event hosted within the bookstore. At the fair students can get their regalia for the first time as well as talk to other vendors such as framing companies and class ring companies. It's a very large event that only last one day. I was distributing regalia all day. The day went by so fast. We handed out 600 pieces of regalia before 2pm! It was insane. I was extremely exhausted from Tuesday on. After having such an extremely busy week I was so happy to have yesterday off. Happy Memorial Day everyone! 

Tight Deadlines

Today I had a really busy day. I had to create a Step and Repeat (like a large backdrop you see at red carpet events) and a large vertical banner for an event we have in June.  At the event we will be interviewing people for a promotional video, so we needed some banners to have as a background, and we can use it for future events during Ciao Philadelphia!

It was a lot of work and stress, but it all was completed by the end of the day. I’m really glad that I get to create a lot of materials, which will be great for my portfolio. Plus, I generally have full creative freedom and then go over the ideas with my boss. I only have to get it approved by him, so it cuts out all of the different middle men and other levels of management, like you may find in other businesses.

I’ve also begun work on redoing our website. I wanted to clean up the navigation and give it a more contemporary design. I’ve used WordPress in the past, and I’m excited to learn more. I will be working with an outside company on the website so they can help me if I ever have questions.

This is a draft of the vertical banner which will be roughly 8 feet tall

Organization is Key

When beginning to work in the fashion industry I want the people I am working with to see me in a positive manner. One thing that I have found that has impressed my co-workers is keeping my desk clean. It is such a simple easy part of my day, but I clean my desk throughout the day so that it always looks presentable. I have realized that at work a person’s desk can say a lot about them, and I am proud that mine says I am organized. Our desks are all that we really have to call our own at work and it reflects who you are. For anyone who is starting in the work force and wanting to make a good impression I would suggest keeping a clean space. A disorganized desk is a disorganized person.