Her Story
About Stephanie
I've loved fashion since I was a little kid, which led me to take 4 years of sewing and fashion history classes in high school. I later earned my associates in fashion merchandising from McKinley College, and I've been working in the fashion industry for about 22 years. Since January, I've been working as a luxury sales advisor for luxury menswear, where my focus is on advising clients, visual merchandising, and inventory management. Every day is different - I could be emailing or calling clients to let them know about the new spring collection, doing a complete floor set and rearranging the store with all the new merchandise, or receiving and transferring merchandise to different stores or sending items directly to clients. My store is very small and everything's jam-packed, so I have to move quickly because most clients don't like to wait. A couple years ago, I worked at Marissa Collections, a family-owned luxury jewelry company, where they covered the cost for me to get my GIA Applied Jewelry Professional certificate from the Gemological Institute. I finished it in record time and learned all about jewelry, gold, different stones, and how sapphires aren't just blue. I've always been interested in the numbers side of retail too - I would always look at the end-of-day reports at every store I worked at, which led me to study for my Google Data Analytics certificate. When I worked at Saks, I saved the company thousands of dollars because I realized we were getting in merchandise with the wrong underpriced prices on them, and it was happening throughout Saks, not just my store. I feel like I'm very passionate about everything I do, and networking and leaving positions on a good note and being friendly with everyone I meet has helped me move into different positions, even the one I'm in now.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Stephanie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say never giving up and just doing your best every day. I think it's important to always start off the day positively, and remember that every day will be different, so just go with the flow. Even with my endometriosis, which has been a major challenge throughout my career, I've pushed through it and haven't let it stop me. A lot of people didn't believe I was in pain because I was always dressed nice and looked fine, but I kept going. I think definitely you need to take care of yourself first, and then help others around you - you need to be your best self first.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think just to always start off the day positively, and remember that every day will be different, and just to go with the flow. Though honestly, that's more my advice - I don't know that anyone's ever really given me advice that really stuck with me.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's definitely hard work, but if you put in the time and do your best every day, you will get further in your career. I think networking and leaving a position on a good note is really important. Being friendly with everyone that you meet has been a good thing for me - it's helped me move into different positions, even the one I'm in now.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I'd say the biggest challenge I've faced is definitely the endometriosis. Even wherever I worked, I was always dressed nice and looked fine, so a lot of people did not believe me that I was in pain. For my first job, I remember I couldn't go in 2 times that I wasn't even scheduled, and they let me go. It's like, just because they can't see it means it must not be happening. As for opportunities, I think networking and leaving a position on a good note, and being friendly with everyone that you meet has been a good thing for me. It's helped me move into different positions, even the one I'm in now.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think definitely take care of yourself first, and then help others around you. You need to be your best self first. I feel like I'm very passionate about everything I do, and I like to keep my hands and mind busy. One of my top reasons for wanting to be featured is to help other women - that's really important to me.
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