Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.
At Tory Burch, we take pride in providing a supportive and dynamic environment where team members can grow and advance professionally. Cara Rubin is a case in point. She joined #TeamTory over six years ago as a member of the Financial Planning & Analysis team, preparing annual budgets and quarterly re-forecasts, supporting monthly closes, and generating other analytical reports to guide decision making. Along the way, she worked across several business units, including North America and Europe Retail, Wholesale, Licensing and Sport. It was her exposure to the other business units, she says — coupled with the company’s “collegial environment” and “innovative culture” — that enabled her to parlay her knowledge and skills into another role. “Finance provided a great foundation for understanding the business,” said Cara, who is now a member of the Retail Strategy team. “It was exciting to take my analytical experience and apply it to a new role.” Joining the Financial Planning & Analysis team opens doors to exciting opportunities across the company.
Last week we welcomed 44 women and men from 27 colleges and universities across the US to work in our NY offices and at our Distribution Center in Atlanta. The excitement was palpable. “I’m feeling a lot of positive energy,” noted Nailah Muhammad, an economics student at Spellman College. Allie Foxx, a finance student at Penn State, shared how our Foundation plays into her passion for the brand: “I love that, at Tory Burch, there is something behind the numbers.” Over the next 10 weeks, our interns will have a range of learning opportunities and experiences, including a Q&A session with Tory, CEO Pierre-Yves Roussel and members of our executive team. “It’s exciting to have our Summer interns in the mix—we all appreciate their hard work and the fresh perspective and energy they bring to our company,” said Keisha Smith-Jeremie, Chief People Officer. “It’s incredibly rewarding to provide them with new experiences and help them develop skills that we hope will serve them well as they prepare to launch their careers.” Here's to a memorable and impactful learning experience!
Who wore it best? #TeamTory is right up there. When it comes to styling our collection, no one puts together a look better than our Retail team. To tap their skills and grow our community online, we recently created our Style Council, a super-chic squad of 15 insider influencers -- members of #TeamTory who are gifted a few products each season to develop localized content and share with their fans and followers. “Being part of the Style Council is a tremendous joy!” said Zahra Sahebzada, Assistant GM at our #151Mercer Street boutique in New York City. “We are able to experience the product first-hand before we introduce it to our customers and our sales team.” The rest of us are taking notes. As Social Media Manager Gigi Garrison said: “It’s inspiring to see how the team styles our product and makes it their own.”
Brittany Brown joined #TeamTory last summer as the Talent Acquisition Manager recruiting for the Global and Corporate Logistics & Distribution positions at our Distribution Center in McDonough, GA. As a new member of the team and a recruiter, she has a unique perspective that she shares here: “When I first started interviewing with the company I was drawn to the level of excitement around Tory Burch – the amazing growth of the business, the diversity of its leadership team, and its mission to empower women and women entrepreneurs. I felt empowered the moment I walked through the doors at the DC! The team is so welcoming and caring and there is so much opportunity. Our leaders are incredibly inspiring and are always looking for ways to give our junior associates the opportunity to grow. I love coming to work every day and feel so fortunate to be part of building the team that will help take us to new heights.”
Before her internship at Tory Burch, Parsons MFA student Ari Parasrampuria felt like she was “working in a bubble.” Or a laboratory. Her project: creating biodegradable beads and sequins using kelp, a process she developed at a Brooklyn lab, and weaving them into textiles. Eleanor Jinks, VP, Design, suggested Ari expand her palette beyond charcoal and ivory. “It has to desirable, otherwise, why buy it?” explained the designer, who is mentoring Ari and Lelia Bacchi Curotto Levy as part of our partnership with the School of Fashion at Parsons. “Color has a huge impact on how things are viewed.” Ari began dyeing the beads with a protein extracted from jellyfish, creating a range of colorways from yellow and pink to iridescent green. Because the protein is activated by sunlight, the beads change color and, like a jellyfish, glow in the dark. (She is patenting her process.) The internship was no less impactful for Lelia, who developed a new textile by layering biodegradable plastic over embroidery. “Getting feedback from people who are so good at what they do is amazing,” she said.
Problem solvers. Decision-makers. Coaches extraordinaire. These are hallmarks of Admired Leadership®, a program we rolled out in 2019 with CRA, and the prism through which we view leadership at Tory Burch. So what is an “Admired Leader”? “Take a moment to think about the best leaders you’ve ever worked for,” said Chief People Officer Keisha Smith-Jeremie. “I’m going to bet that they had a few things in common. They made you feel valued and respected. You knew they had your back. They inspired you to do your best work, and you felt like you were always learning from them.” This year we’re celebrating 10 members of our global team who received the highest scores for leadership during our annual performance process, including (from l. to r.) John Nelson, Jenny McGrath, Quyen Phan-Karas and John Branca; not pictured: Andrea Allegretti, Carol Chiu, Chrissy Jackson, Eric Zhou, Mario Douglas and Nery Rodriguez. Congratulations and thank you to our Admired Leaders. Your contributions to our company and our culture are beyond measure.
With Mother's Day on the horizon, two members of Team Tory decided to get a running start on the festivities. While out West last weekend, Mariel O'Brien, VP & GM of Tory Sport, and Gillian Gorge, Director of PR, participated in the Big Sur International Marathon running events in support of Every Mother Counts, a non-profit dedicated to maternal health and a cause in keeping with Tory Burch’s women’s empowerment mission. “It was a thrill to run through breathtaking Big Sur for such an important cause,” said Gillian, who together with Mariel raised more than $3,000 on behalf of the nonprofit. It was her first race since the birth of her youngest in 2020 and she’s glad to be back on track - wearing Tory Sport, of course.
What happens when a software engineer designs… softwear? In advance of a recent off-site, our Technology team decided to create a t-shirt to mark the occasion. For Shina Pellegrini, VP of Engineering, the design inspiration was instantaneous. “We’re hiring engineers. What do engineers do? They write software so… zeroes and ones. It’s fundamental,” recalled Shina. Fundamental if you’re an engineer. It’s Greek – make that binary code – to the rest of us. Can you decipher the message?
Talk about joy rides! More than 200 cabs in London’s legendary fleet of boxy black taxis were wrapped in our brand’s #TMonogram last month, part of a 360 campaign celebrating the iconic pattern, inspired by traditional Pennsylvania Dutch quilting. Adding to the fun: the local team engaged in a friendly “spot the cab contest” where they were invited to take a photo of every cab they saw throughout the month of March for the chance to win prizes. Congratulations to our cabspotting champions Evelin Bagdan and Amrin Uddin! “I loved this competition,” said Evelin, a Visual Sales Supervisor at our Bond Street boutique who snapped 12 cabs during the competition. “I run from work to home a couple times each week and it can sometimes be a little boring but spotting the cabs during my runs gave me the extra motivation.” She took home the £100 grand prize but getting a photo with one of the cabs was its own reward, as you can see here. Even our CEO Pierre-Yves Roussel couldn’t resist!
Shelly Bartholomew, our VP, Talent Development Partner for Finance and Global Logistics & Distribution offers advice for job seekers and shares some of her experiences. Best advice for job seekers at Tory Burch: Be clear on what’s most important to you at work and pursue opportunities you are passionate about. This will help you stand out from the other candidates. Three qualities we look for in prospective hires: Strategic mindset, inclusive, results-driven When preparing for a job interview: Think about past experiences that are relevant to the job and be specific on what your actions were and how you added value. During the interview, be genuine and try to make a meaningful connection with your interviewer by going beyond the standard answers; show your passion and let your personality shine. Why I love being part of #TeamTory: “Culture” is not just a buzzword here. The company walks the talk and truly cultivates an inclusive environment that inspires you to be your best authentic self.
