What is your title and how long have you been working here?

 

Director of Digital Marketing, almost exactly two years at Jonathan Louis.

 

 

What did you dream of doing when you were young?

 

As long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fashion. I spent hours drawing opulent gowns and detailed outfits on stick figures. My favorite fairytale was Cinderella–not because of the prince or the fairy godmother, but because of the sheer number of gowns featured, and described, in every version of the story. When I got my first and only Barbie, I was determined to create a wardrobe for her from scraps of fabric and rudimentary hand-stitching (which I did terribly, I might add, as I sewed my first attempt to my parents’ comforter). 

 

When I realized that being a designer meant needing decent sketching skills–and recognizing that I drew about as well as a epileptic rhino–I changed the goal to become a fashion editor. Still in the realm of fashion, but leveraging skills that I do have. 

 

 

Quick overview of your career path.

 

My career path was pretty non-linear. What it wasn’t: graduate college, get job in chosen field, climb the ladder in that chosen field. I wish I had the kind of clarity that those people do, but I don’t regret the winding path that I’ve been on. My career runs the full gamut of Marketing functions, from copywriting to social media, to event management, to ad buying to digital marketing to analyst to content producing…to landing my-then dream job of working as Brand/PR Director at a luxury apparel company, producing fashion shows for NYFW and working with top fashion editors and celebrity stylists. Ecommerce happened because the people at the top figured “a website’s a website,” and ecommerce was just rolled under me since I was handling digital marketing. Every job has been invaluable in imparting some skill, hard or soft, that prepared me for the next role. Opportunities came because I took that job that may not make logical sense in a linear path, but gave me the opportunity to learn some aspect of business to which I would otherwise not be exposed. 

 

I’ve also interrupted my career because one day I looked up and was like, there has got to be more to life than this. I resigned from my job to travel, traveling to 11 countries in three continents over the next year. Coming back, I didn’t want to go back to mindlessly ladder-climbing/hamster-wheeling again, so I decided to work for myself. Hustling to find customers, managing their expectations, managing payments (and taxes!), and producing quality work that’ll keep current customers and snag new ones.... It was an eye-opening, confidence-building (and sometimes soul-crushing) experience. If you’re able to do that, you know you can stand on your own two feet with no safety net. That you are your own safety net. 

 

But here’s the elevator pitch: Strategy- and solutions- driven leader with 16+ years experience in CPG, with an emphasis on luxury fashion and footwear. Career spans ecommerce, digital marketing, and traditional marketing; includes full P&L responsibility, strategy development and execution, managing day-to-day operations, event and content production. Strategies balance brand development with optimizing performance to reach sales goals.

 

 

Tell us about the struggles you faced/opportunities you lost in the workforce because you are a woman. 

 

I know that my male peer at my last job earned more than I did. We were both VPs, and I had more years of experience than he did. He started at a higher salary because he was better at and more consistent with negotiating, because it was expected of him. I hamstrung myself by so many years of not negotiating for what I was worth, because I didn’t want to be perceived as ungrateful or arrogant–and even if I did negotiate more, I would still have less success (but that’s not a reason to not try!).

 

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Who do you admire the most?

 

Anna Wintour. Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Trailblazing, unapologetic, forces to be reckoned with. Both spoke softly but carried a big stick–they have/had rather reserved personas, but had a massive impact–not just in their respective arenas, but also in the world. 

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What do you think is the single biggest issue currently facing women in the workforce?

 

There is no singular issue–like racism, it’s insidious on multiple fronts. Women still earn less than men. Women lose out on opportunities because they potentially could have children, nevermind actually having children (no one thinks to ask men if they’re able to be a good employee because they might become a father). Behaviors and traits exhibited by men that are considered positives and “leadership material” are considered “not a team player” or “aggressive” in women. Women are often tasked with the unpaid, unacknowledged, or non-promotable work in addition to their regular workload. The pandemic clearly illustrated that there continues to be inequality on the home front–women are expected to take care of the majority of home care and child-rearing even while working full-time. All of these factors impede a woman’s ability to focus on and move forward in their careers. 

 

Even though we have made certain discriminatory practices illegal, they can be circumvented; tokenism can be employed to create an illusion of equality. All we’ve done is drive it underground so it’s harder to confront and combat, but still has every bit the same effect. 

 

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In the span of your career, what has changed the most for women in the workforce?

 

I am thrilled to see the next generation of women working together to lift each other up. The generation of women leaders that came before me often worked against each other because at that time there was only one seat for a woman at the table–the token representative so that companies could claim that they’re not sexist. It’s changed significantly–more women are in positions of power, and are now looking to bring on and raise up other strong, ambitious women. 

 

And I want to mention our male and NB allies. More people are realizing that gender inequality isn’t a problem for women–it’s everyone’s problem. We need more people, especially men (who still represent the majority of leaders in companies), of all generations, to help close the gender gap.

 

 

What advice would you give the next generation of women leaders?

 



You are your best advocate. Don’t let society’s expectations keep you from speaking up. Know your worth; and it’s your responsibility that other people know it too (and I don’t mean go nuts and be a braggart, just don’t sell yourself short).  


There’s not any “right” way to get to where you want to go. It can be a straight path or a winding one. Give yourself the space and grace to change your mind–you’re not stuck on any one path. Live your life for you. If you’re happy where you are, great. Don’t let anyone shame you into feeling like you need to reach the C-Suite, be a mom, have it all. And if you do want to the top job, have a family, do it all, push past the doubters, the haters, the naysayers. 


Which absolutely goes for how you approach gender disparities in the workplace. If you want to be the rock upon which antiquated notions are broken, great, we need more people like you. If you’d rather play into gender norms to make your life easier–that’s your choice too. Not everyone has the appetite or wherewithal to be a trailblazer. Most successful women probably take a little from column A and a little from column B. But, at least, educate yourself. It’s never too late to start speaking truth to power.


Which leads me to the next point–learn to pick your battles. Not all of them are worth fighting. 


Learn to cut your losses. My biggest regret has been exiting jobs, relationships, situations way after their expiration date. The sunken cost fallacy is real. Always be assessing your situation, because if you don’t, you’ll wake up with years having passed as you’re not paying attention. If what you’re doing now no longer serves you or your goals, now is the time to make a change (but do it with a plan). Identify if fear of the unfamiliar is holding you back. The grass is greener–sometimes it's real, sometimes it's Astroturf, but at least you’re not standing on the same patch of lawn, wishing your life was different.  


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