Lauren Draffin's major has led her to her dream job.
Draffin graduated with a fashion merchandising and professional studies degree at The University of Memphis in 2009, and has since held countless internships and jobs in New York and Memphis, one of which was a personal buyer.
She credits her success to fashion merchandising professor Peggy Quinn, but her resume boasts otherwise. During and since her studies at the distinct fashion programs of The University of Alabama and The U of M, she has held seven jobs in the industry.
Currently, Draffin works for Wardrobe Management & Design where she specializes as a men's personal stylist in Memphis.
"This job is a lot of fun. I've only been doing it since February, and it's just another aspect of the industry," Draffin said. "The buyers would travel to and from New York about eight times a year where we got to buy and view all the new trends first."
As a buyer, she said she learned a lot about merchandise planning, buying and budgeting. Her favorite job, she said, was an account executive position she held during an internship with Seamless Showroom where she managed buyers' and manufacturers' deals for a high-end showroom out of New York.
"It was cool to be directly in contact with Japan, and all those crazy fashion capitals," Draffin said.
Draffin said her second favored job was working with a startup fashion and technology company called JOOR.
"Every job played its course, and then led to the next job, and I was very blessed with how all of that worked out," she said.
Before JOOR, she landed her internship in New York at Seamless Showroom and Workshop Showroom.
"Professor Quinn really, really pushed me. Had she not pushed me so hard, she wouldn't have helped me realize the potential I had to succeed in New York and after that. She really made me soul search and put things in perspective." Draffin said.
Getting out of Memphis was the most important decision Draffin ever made, she said.
"In New York, they have the mindset that no one is irreplaceable. I worked hard and essentially had no life during my time there. It really made me appreciate Memphis even more as a city because I came back with so much knowledge that I just wanted to share so badly," Draffin said.
