Last week at Macy's

During the fall of my junior year, I knew I wanted to land a summer internship in New York City. NYC was the only thing on my mind especially since I wanted to focus on modeling, be back in my birth town and just be in a new environment for the summer. I believe everything happens for a reason and I am glad I got the Store Management Internship with Macy's in Atlanta, GA. The importance of internships is for experience in that field and to see if you would want to work in that field as your career.

My performance during my internship was good in some areas and excellent in some. On having a positive attitude, being friendly, open and engaging to the management team and employees, I can say I performed well in those areas. As an intern, we have the advantage of not being responsible for knowing some things that the managers and the Executive Develop Program (EDP) students, the program after the internship, should know. So, while I was knowledgeable of the work going on, some things I still don't know because it'll take time and practice. Practice makes improvements. I don't know things like reading the sales sheets. I can also work on taking initiative--this is my biggest improvement. My greatest ability would be making MAGIC in Macy's. I really connect with customers and the associates. I take time out everyday to walk around the store and say hello to everyone in each department on the first floor. Instead of jumping right into work, I ask about their day or just make plain conversation.

I think my biggest "career lesson learned" is too not skip steps in the process. As mentioned previously, my store manager was a buyer then became a store manager. She never had the role of a Merchandising Team Manager (MTM), which made her new role as a store manager a little harder. Another career lesson I learned is not settling for a job that doesn't make you happy, which goes with the overused and cliche (BUT TRUE) saying 'follow your dreams.' I will use both of these lessons to apply for jobs and internships that I really want and not to settle for something because I got accepted. These lessons will help me choose wisely in my future career and may even blossom an entrepreneurial spirit within me.

Over the course of my internship, I integrated myself into the company by acknowledging everyone and recognizing everyone's success. During the first few weeks when I introduced myself to Aleksa, macy's personal shopper and one of my networks, she said she'd heard of me. She'd heard that I was a joy to work with and I really felt happy hearing her say that. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how successful you are, if you aren't a pleasant person, no one will want to be around you. I think my greatest contribution has been being a friend and a manager. Another great contribution of mine was bringing a fresh attitude and perspective to things. I honestly feel that I encourage people around me to do and be better.

I enjoyed my time at Macy's as a Store Manager Intern. There were times where I wished I had a more fun internship like my friends whom I saw on snapchat, but the stability that Macy's provides is worth more than a fun summer. Macy's has a great intern and EDP program that has been around for years and has helped so many students after college find their niche and move up in the company. I am thankful to my internship coordinator, Claire, my college relations recruiter at Macy;s, Andrew, and my mom for constantly sending me emails about internships. All three of these people sent me the macy's internship and I applied at the last minute and thankfully was accepted. One major lesson I've learned throughout college is that networking is one of the most important aspects in life. Networking will get you through many doors, but it's up to you to remain in those doors.

Communication: Ayana Sears

The most effective form of communication for Macy's is written and direct. Every morning, the early managers update the board by the employee entrance with pertinent information such as: the MAGIC score, the credit and sales goal, the names of the managers who open and close and their extension numbers. Each morning, a manager also prints out approximately 60 copies of the 'Start Daily', which consists of detailed numerics about the previous day sales. Each day, the managers attend two meetings and they do a great job of communicating information from one meeting to the next. They also do a great job of keeping each manager updated. I rarely see a manager that is out of the loop.

Even when there can be improvements with Macy's, the company likes to take the negative and make it a positive. So, instead of focusing on the negative and saying "we need to work on this" or "we need to fix that", a manager will say "Our opportunity is..." That simple phrase makes a big difference. An opportunity for communication at Macy's is to create a new way for the employees to see the sales for the previous day. The Star Daily isn't effective at Macy's because some employees don't take the time to read the Star Daily. Also, some registers may accumulate a lot of star daily packets throughout the week which makes employees not bother to figure out which one they need to look at.

My mentor is on vacation for the next 10 days, so I plan to go above and beyond to bring success to the shoe department and I did just that today! As I probably mentioned in previous blogs, associates have to do an audit every morning in the shoe department. Unfortunately, the machines used for the audit weren't working for the past 5 days, which is NOT good. The machines were fixed yesterday, on Saturday, and today was the first day the audit was completed in almost a week and I took leadership in my area and delegated what to do and made sure the task was completed. I even grabbed another associate from another department and asked her to assist us and she did a fantastic job. I was supposed to leave work at 3, but I stayed until 5:30 so I could make sure the audit was 100% complete and that no shoes were missing. While also making sure the audit was being completed, I had to make sure that MAGIC (great customer service) and selling was occurring on the sales floor. The store manager and another manager recognized my leadership and thanked me for my work. Even though today was difficult and busy, it was the best day of my internship.

I can say that a new difficultly, as I take on more management roles, is approaching the other associates. Since I felt like a friend and sales associate in the beginning of my internship, it was a little hard crossing roles and asking the other associates to complete a task because they still saw me as just an intern. But that all changed today! If any associates in my department had a question, they came to me. They referred other customers to me. It was definitely a great feeling.


Note to Know: If you feel like you aren't being used to your full potential, or if your mentor isn't giving you enough to do, find something to do on your own and OWN it!

Procedures of Ayana's Job.

I am the Store Manager Intern for the Shoe Department, which is one of the highest sales manager positions in a store. My mentor, the manager of shoes, was promoted to shoes sales manager a week before I became an intern! She has been working so hard to get the shoe department back into shape and get it back to where it should be. There are so many daily tasks that take place in the shoe department that a regular department, like junior clothes. would not have to go through. Every morning, one or two associates completes the audit. This means they scan every shoe on the sales floor. After the audit, they should have a certain number of shoes accounted for. If not, they have to find those "missing" shoes throughout the day. Majority of the times, the shoe is not missing, it just didn't scan properly when audited. Then the associates go in the back stock room (shown in my flipgrid video), retrieve the missing shoe, place a new sticker on the shoe and place the shoe on the floor.

Another procedure of my job is called Fulfillment. When customers shop online, purchase items and request to pick them up in a store, associates and managers go through their departments and pick the items for the customer. We then prepare the item for pick up so the customer won't be waiting long. One last main procedure is selling the shoes on the sales floor. Each associate walks around with an iPod and assists customers with shoes. I am learning how to run a team while also being a part of a team. I don't want to just delegate tasks, I work right along side the associates when I have ample time. I am also learning the logistics of the shoe department.

In the majority of my fashion classes, I always learned of companies like Nordstrom having  excellent customer service. Macy's also has excellent customer service. Some of the employees in my department have said that Macy's will take back anything. While I have not seen a manager accept just anything, we want to keep the customers happy. That is the number one objective at Macy's. My experiences with customers and customer service has been great so far because Macy's has such a easy and smooth return policy even without a receipt. If a customer used their Macy's card, the money automatically goes back on the card after the return merchandise is scanned. This also goes with credit cards, our system keeps track of the cards customers used. Since consumers lose receipts a lot, Macy's has small stickers placed on EVERY merchandise in the store when purchased, called "customer return label (crl)".

I recently sat down and talked one-on-one with the Store Manager, Sheila. The best advice/lesson I've learned from her is to not skip any steps in your career, enjoy your career and don't rush anything. She was originally a buyer in Atlanta, but then the company went through some cuts. She either had to move to New York to continue her career as a buyer or stay in Atlanta and take a store management position. The reason she said not to skip any steps in your career is because all the steps will pay off and be useful in the long run. Sheila has had almost every position in Macy's except Merchandising Team Manager (MTM). So when she became a store manager, there were some blurry concepts about the MTM role so she went back and taught herself everything about being an MTM.

Note to Know: ENJOY your internship. Sometimes we get caught up and stress ourselves out like it's a real job, AND while you should treat it at such, build a strong foundation from now: Don't let your work life stress and take away from the enjoyment of your overall life :-)

Macy's sells almost everything from clothes and jewelry to kitchenware. There's also a Macy's furniture store near our location. I do not carry my phone on the floor during work because I feel like it's unprofessional, so I was unable to take pictures. There's some things that I do differently as an intern that I would do as a sales associate, especially since this is a managerial position. I try not to stand around and socialize with the other associates because I never know who's watching and observing my behavior. I have attached some of the things macy's sells from their website.

Coach Shoe

Steve Madden Shoe

Macy's is one of the World's largest retailers and has been around for 158 years! It takes great marketing, excellent customer service, selling valuable products and understanding the target market for a major retailer to last that long and Macy's has excelled in these categories. Macy's is an innovative company and have achieved things that other retailers have failed to do. Some companies have to merge with other companies to stay in business or some companies have to sell their shares and profits.

I believe I fit in with the culture at Macy's. I want to work in a large environment where I am constantly meeting new people and experiencing new changes; I like change and I look forward to it. I have had some great customers so far. To differentiate yourself from competitors, you have to form relationships with customers and see them as more than just dollar signs. This is why I engage with customers and this is why Macy's does the same. This is where the MAGIC of Macy's starts. Macy's does a great job of bonding with customers through MyClient and by using Personal Shoppers in the store. The most important thing is to form a connection with the customers. Last week, I formed a bond between two 50 year old women. I was helping helping the first customer, Jess, find some shoes for a Black Tie event. I was also helping Kristin look for sandals. These ladies started talking about marriage, some surgery procedure they both had done and how I should enjoy being young (Lol). I enjoyed their company so much I helped both of them for almost 2 hours! I could tell they didn't want to leave Macy's. I could also tell they wanted to exchange numbers, but I assume at that age, it's harder to become friends with someone you don't know.

My co-workers in the shoe department are a joy to be around! I have to remind myself that I can't stand around laughing and socializing because it's so easy to lounge around sometimes. When I feel myself hanging around my co-workers for too long, I will drift away and find a customer to help or make sure the shoe department is looking good. My manager, Cathleen, is about 3 weeks new to the shop department, which I didn't know at first! She is such a hard working and energetic woman. We jokingly call her the energizer bunny because she's always in a hurry walking somewhere. Even though she's new to the shop department, I know she will whip it into shape. I have heard nothing but good things about her work ethic.

Note to Know: As an intern, you should make yourself stand out. You are NOT suppose to fit in with the other associates or people working because your intern position could lead to a higher position so act as such. Like the saying goes, "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." Conduct yourself for the job you want, not the job you have.

Ayana's First Week at Macy's!!

After stressing for two semesters (well, really one, because I figured I'd be set by December 2015), I landed an internship with Macy's the last few weeks of school! I am doing the Store Management Internship at Macy's in North Point Mall in Alpharetta, GA. I was extremely excited and grateful when I got the news, because I know how important of a role internships can play in your future success after college.

The Friday before my first day, I decided to take a test drive to the Macy's location in Alpharetta, which was 35 minutes away from my house. . .without traffic! On Monday, my first day, I arrived almost an hour early with my friend and schoolmate, Sahara Calderhead. We waited in my car and did last minute beauty preparations and ate the last of breakfast. Since the mall does not open until 10 during the week, employees had to enter through a side door. We arrived before most of the managers and waited.When the managers arrived, introductions were made and everyone was so excited to meet the two new interns! Everyday at 8:30 and 3:30, the managers have a meeting. At 8:30, we entered the conference room and waited for the meeting to being. Usually, a manager spoke about sale goals, credits, how well a department was doing, how many percentages a department was up compared to last week, and other issues that I am still wrapping my head around.

Three of the managers (Cheryl, Lynn and Cindy) took Sahara and I to the Cheesecake factory for lunch on the first day and that's when I learned about their careers. Two of the managers, Lynn Wade and Cindy, have been with Macy's for 25+ years, such a great accomplishment! Cheryl has worked at almost every Macy's in Georgia and she's been with the company 13+ years. Before lunch, I was paired with this girl named Ali, who graduated from Alabama State about a year ago, She interned in New York and is now a manager at Macy's--she didn't go through the internship and EDP program, so I think that's pretty cool. For the rest of the summer,I will be paired with Cathleen, who's the sales manager for the Shoe and Intimate Apparel Department.

The most difficult task so far for me has been understanding my role in the company, learning how to work the cash register and the other technology they use in the Shoe department. The managers understand that we're new, so we took training lessons on the computer on our first and second days. We watched lessons about earning credit (rewards cards), working the register and how to be the MAGIC at Macy's. I perform and learn better by actually doing. Since I am doing the Store Management Internship, I felt like I should know everything quickly, but it's okay that I don't. When new associates see my red tag, which mean indicates a managerial position, they seem confused as to why they're helping me with basic stuff then I explain my story of being an intern and they go "ahhhhh, okay." To be a manager, you have to understand the roles of sales associates. So I know for the first few weeks we will be doing more work that associates do, but over time, we will hopefully do more managerial work.

The most humorous thing that happened this week was more relaxing than funny. It's just nice being able to laugh and joke around with the other managers, especially the young ones, but also know when it's time to be serious. I am mostly looking forward to going to Houston in July with Sahara and meeting other interns in our district! I am also looking forward to doing more managerial work. I know the only thing I don't look forward to is the traffic! Between 2:00-7:00 p.m., it will take me an hour to get home. However, the good thing about retail is that my schedule will fluctuate so some days I'll be off at 9:00 p.m.

Note to Know: Be grateful for every opportunity given to you and give 100% because you never know where that opportunity can lead you to in life.

Nothing better to do than take a selfie while in Traffic!

First Day Outfit Chronicles

Sahara and I

All the managers kept asking if I was going to make it through the day in those heels...8 hours later, I surely did!