I manage and create all content that is dispersed through our website, social media, and newsletter. This involves keeping up with industry trends to understand our target customer, writing blog articles, success stories, and other promotional pieces. I analyze, follow, and report on marketing metrics regularly for the sales and marketing team with suggestions as to what strategies should follow. Most recently I have been working on a campaign featuring stories about business owners in the Food and Beverage sector of the Hudson Valley. This initiative aims to create a space where people in, and interested in the industry can learn about one another’s passion and inspiration.I have been involved in website development and organization, and am continually working to manage SEO through link building, keywords, digital content strategies, and creating overall strong content.

As a visual keyholder I still held all the managerial responsibilities I had as a supervisor, but was also responsible for the commercial presentation of the store. This included partnering with the management team in planning store campaigns, with weekly follow-up and adjustments. Daily planning was also necessary to ensure department rotations and campaigns were set properly and within time frames. As the “eyes” for the store, I continually trained the management and sales team on proper garment presentation to ensure good customer service and sales.I learned the importance of taking the time to make detailed plans, adjusting when necessary, but sticking to them. With work that was about perfecting meticulous details under a constant time crunch, the feeling of, “if anything can go wrong, it will” was generally present. Being proactive and keeping communication consistent was necessary to meet deadlines while maintaining good customer service and smooth operations.

After moving into the Supervisor role, I became responsible for following trends and reacting to sales within different departments in the store. This involved making business decisions based on an understanding of the key differences in the ideal customer/shopper to optimize sales. In addition to administrative and department duties, I helped with the on-boarding of new employees. As the lead sales coach I was responsible for showing new sales advisors the ins-and-outs of our day to day work, communicating our values, and giving constructive feedback on a regular basis. While in this position, I truly learned to value and appreciate each role that the members of my team played. I learned to love the four D’s, most importantly delegation, because before this time I thought I could get everything done by myself. I realized that delegating not only reduces my own stress, but gives someone else the opportunity to feel empowered and grow.

As a sales associate, the most important part of my role was providing customers with the best shopping experience that my team and I could. The location I worked in was smaller than most, having fewer associates, we were responsible for knowledge of all department products and campaigns. In a frequently busy store, I needed to always be aware of the customers’ needs. Staying attentive and switching between different functional tasks regularly was a skill I had to master.I learned that there is much more to customer service than being friendly, attentive, and organized. Through my appreciation and understanding of a brand, I was able to convey much more to customers than “where they could find that black dress they’re looking for”.

My core job responsibilities involved taking and fulfilling customer orders as well as maintaining a clean and presentable dining area.As a working high school student I learned the importance of customer service particularly in a fast-paced environment. It taught me how to manage multiple tasks in a given day, as well as balance my responsibilities in school and extracurricular activities with a job. These basic skills have carried across to my personal and professional life since then.