Fall 2020 Trek Recap: Day One
Written by Marina Malyarenko
Last week, Ross Retail Club kicked off its first trek of the year with two incredibly enthusiastic representatives from Lululemon and LVMH. Both Mackenzie Henry and Michelle Lee offered valuable insight into their experiences in the industry and gave our members great advice about entering the retail world.
Prior to graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in communications and political science, Mackenzie spent a great deal of time working as a peer career specialist. During her time at the career center, Mackenzie thrived off of the competitive atmosphere, learning how to market her versatile degree to fit various business roles and working several marketing and public service internships. She then went on to assume a management and communications strategy role at IBM’s Washington, D.C. location, working through a two-year leadership and development program where she gained a deeper understanding of business and solved strategic problems for various companies. Finally, Mackenzie spent several months traveling Southeast Asia and ended up in Vancouver, after which she spontaneously decided to move to the city in favor of its adventurous climate. Once there, she applied for a position on Lululemon’s strategy membership team, where she has been working ever since.
Over the course of her time at Lululemon, Mackenzie’s primary focus has been the development of the company’s new membership program. She compared this experience to working at a startup, as she focused on details such as program renewal and member development in order to support the program’s long-term growth. Though her previous experience as a consultant has helped her in her current position, she stressed the importance of an overall strategic mindset as opposed to prior experience. The key to success in a long-term strategy role, according to Mackenzie, is the ability to approach a problem from many different angles. She attributes most of her critical thinking skills to Michigan’s academic curriculum, where she learned to ask the right questions and accumulated the level of confidence necessary to clearly communicate her perspective.
Mackenzie’s favorite part of her job is the atmosphere at Lululemon, which, compared to that of IBM, came as a culture shock. The company places emphasis on vulnerability in its day-to-day operations, inviting employees to share what is going on outside of work in order to ensure maximum productivity. She also enjoys Lululemon’s fitness culture, noting that her co-workers are representative of the company’s athleticism and truly enjoy what they do. As Mackenzie’s session came to a close, she urged our members not to worry about the major they choose to pursue: at the end of the day, she picked communications because of its broad applicability to other industries.