I AM the Manager

Behind the scenes of working resale

My amazing friends and coworkers Trisha and Britt!

Hi friends!

Today is going to be a little different. It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks and currently we’re bunking down for a record-breaking snowstorm to hit CO so this post is going to be short and sweet.

Last week I talked about transitional outfits for spring and this week I want to talk bit about my experiences in working resale and show a little bit about what I do at work.

Outfit details: A New Day sherpa coat; Anthropologie Brynne sherpa pullover in green tartan; Frame le original straight leg jeans; Frye Veronica combat boots; Burberry plaid wool scarf; Gucci Dionysus supreme mini bag; vintage gold coin necklace.

My Experiences: the good, the bad, and the ugly

My 25th birthday has been my favorite one yet all thanks to these amazing gals <3

I have worked at a resale store for over four years. I’m currently a store manager and marketing manager. I do everything from help customers on the floor, authenticate items, and work on social media. It’s not a glamorous job by any means and my feet are always sore at the end of the day but it’s a really amazing, chill environment and I have learned so much of over the years. It’s helped me hone my personal style and allowed me to be a part of the fashion world without breaking the bank to get there.

Working my way up from sales associate to sorter to buyer to shift leader to manager, I’ve gone through each of the steps and learned a ton about authentication, different brands, and styles and fabrication. One day I’ll explain everything but today is just a synopsis of my time here.

It’s not picture perfect and the big downside to resale is people can get pretty pissed at you for not buying their items and customers in general can be a bit problematic. I promise, we’re really just trying to take what’s best for the store and there’s so much that’s out of our control but I have been yelled at and called names and let me tell you, the customer is most definitely not always right.

But that’s retail for you so this is your gentle reminder to be kind to retail and service workers, we deal with a lot.

I can laugh about it now but one of my hilariously, hardest interactions was getting yelled at by a customer when I called her to tell her I had found $20 that she had dropped on the floor.

My favorite interaction with a customer was when she came in and picked out a stunning dress we had and said she was using it as her wedding dress and was so excited. It’s fun being a small part of special moments like that and the great customers far outweigh the rude ones.

On the very bright side, I’ve met some of my best friends (one of whom just had a baby!) and these girls are the reason I’ve stayed so long. They make work a joy and now I can’t imagine my life without them. By far it’s been my favorite thing about my job.

Our last hurrah together, Taylor, Lauren, and Bella. I miss my loves and and our favorite thing to do was go to Fuzzy’s after work.

Creating Outfits

A typical post is an outfit, a caption, the sizing and pricing, and then some hashtags. It’s so much fun coming up with captions - we all take our turn trying to come up with the punniest or cheesiest ones we can.

Lastly, a huge part of what I do at work is upload new arrivals to our website and create outfits to post on Instagram (@clothesmentorfortcollins). I spend a long time putting together outfits and taking pictures to help promote our items on social media. I mostly just wing it but it’s my favorite part of the job and an amazing creative outlet.

The following photos are just a small selection of what I’ve uploaded over the past couple years so you can get a good idea of:

a. some of the fantastic things that you can get resale

b. some inspiration for outfits you can create with your own wardrobe!