Recent Belle graduate, Hailey Shannon started one of the coolest jobs ever last month and is having an amazing time in the city of Chicago. As a prior communications major, Hailey could work in many different realms of the real world, but was intrigued when she heard about Trunk Club.
Trunk Club has 3 parts to the service: Trunks, In-House Shopping Appointments (Chicago, NYC, DC, Dallas, LA–and growing!), Custom– The custom program is the fastest growing part of the business. The company takes 26 measurements and creates custom garments from scratch for guys, anything from shirts and sportcoats to full custom suits.
Trunk Club has a full service bar where members can come in, hangout, have a drink, and shop with their stylist. According to Hailey, this creates a really cool, relaxing environment for all members.
With a little bit of networking and a lot of SMC-grown enthusiasm, Hailey was hired as a one-on-one stylist with the company and LOVES it, so we wanted to hear more!
1) Congrats on graduating! Can you already see your Saint Mary’s education benefiting your professional life so far? Are you missing SMC?
Thank you!!! Yes, I absolutely can. Above all else, Saint Mary’s taught me to be confident and be myself. In my job specifically, these are two incredibly important qualities. Also, my office feels like Saint Mary’s most of the time! I work with so many amazing, young, professional women and it was incredibly easy for me to make that transition coming from SMC.
2) How did you land such an awesome job?
The Saint Mary’s network of course! My good friend, Taylor Romens (SMC ’13) who was also a Commuication Studies major, started working at Trunk Club a little over a year ago. She encouraged me to apply and recommended me to her Sales Director, and now we are on the same team!
3) In your own words, what is Trunk Club?
Trunk Club is an awesome clothing service for guys. We take the hassle out of shopping and help guys look and feel great.
4) What is an average day with Trunk Club like?
My day at TC starts at 9 or 9:30 in the morning. I come in, grab a coffee (we have an awesome coffee bar in the office), and then sit down at my desk and check my calendar and email. That usually entails following up with clients, answering questions, and other general housekeeping stuff. Then I check my tasks for the day, which is usually phone calls and trunks to pack. I start making calls and reaching out to clients, where I explain the service and get guys excited to use Trunk Club.
Around 12/12:30 I break for lunch, sometimes I eat at my desk and sometimes I head up to the rooftop and eat with friends/co-workers (especially on sunny days with our amazing skyline view!). In the afternoon I usually make a few more phone calls and pack my trunks. Packing trunks is when I actually pick the clothes to send to the members I have talked to previously that day.
This week in particular I have been really busy in the evenings, I had two in-house appointments at 7:00pm. In-house appointments are when members make an appointment to shop with their stylist at a Club House, I am in Chicago but we have offices in NY, DC, LA, and Dallas. During these appointment members come in, grab a drink at our full complimentary bar and shop with me.
In-Houses are so much fun and definitely one of the best parts of the job! If I don’t have any appointments, I usually wrap up my day by finishing phone calls/emails and head home around 6/6:30. But if it is a Friday, I might head up to the rooftop and have a drink with potential clients, friends, or co-workers :)
5) Why do you think more Saint Mary’s Belles should check out this company?
Trunk Club is such an awesome company to work for. We are a start-up that is only 5 years old, so the potential for growth if you work hard is endless. You work with really cool people, mostly women which is just too easy for us SMC girls, and everyone is so positive and excited to come to work every day! The energy here is reason enough to want to work for TC.
6) What is your individual role at Trunk Club?
I am a stylist. So basically, I work one-on-one with my members to take care of their wardrobe needs. I talk to them, get to know them, and pick out great items for them to add to their closet that make them look and feel great. I want to make my guys’ shopping experience as easy and convenient as possible. I am responsible for managing my own book of business, which is challenging and exciting.
7) How do you like living in Chicago?
Chicago is awesome! I just moved in to my first “grown-up” apartment (Sorry, University Edge) with two fellow Belles (Shout out to Courtney MacDonald and Brittany Dazel) and it has been great. As everyone knows, summer time Chi is the best time to be here! It is so fun exploring the city, checking out new restaurants and bars, and of course running into other ND/SMC alumni all over the place. I have also been making an effort to get involved with both the SMC and ND alumni networks in Chicago, so I will be attending some of those events in the coming weeks!
8) In three words, how would describe post grad life?
Exciting, challenging, and fun!
9) What were you involved in at SMC that relates to being with Trunk Club (do you think)?
I wasn’t involved with many things specifically that have related to this job, but overall having a lot of one-on-one interaction with faculty members and administrators has helped me because we interact one-on-one with clients right off the bat at TC and being able to hold my own in those situations has been really cool.
If any SMC girls are interested in working here or learning more about TC email me at hshannon@trunkclub.com or look me up on LinkedIn. I am happy to help in any way that I can!
For those guys who are dedicated HC readers, (we know you all love it) you can sign-up for a consultation with Hailey at www.trunkclub.com/hshannon !
Photo 1 and cover photo, Photos 2 & 4, Photo 3
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