AN ICONIC BRAND
AN ICONIC BRAND
When Apple Recruiting first reached out to me, a new job hadn’t even been on the radar. We had just returned to Cincinnati and set up the nursery for our baby. My husband was only one year into his Architecture degree at DAAP. But the opportunity to be a part of something so incredible, both professionally and personally for our family, was irresistible.
Fast forward a few months: I’m doing my executive immersion in Cupertino. What a luxury to have this opportunity, immersing in the culture and the brand before going out to Asia. In fact, I learned so much from this time. I learned that this kind of time spent in-store is more than a luxury. It’s a necessity!
WHAT HAS TO BE TRUE?
Then I move to Shanghai. Where we built our first stores in Hong Kong. We entered China Tier two cities.
We introduced our first Chinese New Year seasonal campaign and other China-specific customer experiences. Importantly, I learned to take the word, “can’t” out of my vocabulary. Because there are very few things we truly can’t do. Rather, I learned to ask, “What has to be true?” I learned to push aside “can’t” and question what resource, time, manpower, or other support I needed in order to make something happen.
This shift in mindset opened new possibilities, and helped me learn how to think more laterally.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP
I came to believe that success as a Support Center came from striking the right balance between leadership and support of our store teams. Our department constantly considered how we might provide better support to enable our store teams through throughfully crafted customer experiences. At the same time, defining what leadership looked like and where we could add the most value in providing direction.
Since that amazing time at Apple, I’ve only reinforced this belief that corporate support centers must work side-by-side with our store partners. Our job is to create outstanding employee and customer experiences, and then stand back so that our front line can bring those branded experiences to life with authenticity and passion. We learned as we went… which means we made a lot of mistakes. But the fun of learning together and the understanding we afforded one another made that magical time such an unforgettable joy!
‘best of’ moments…
One of my dear mentees, Jess, started in Finance before transitioning to Marketing.
We were lucky to have some of the most passionate customers in the world! What a pleasure to serve them.
While at Apple, Luna and Ricky invited us to become godparents to darling Brayden.
What an honor!
Gary and I checked out new construction in Hong Kong. That was a crazy hot day!
Working for Christy was a delight. Here we after a delicious meal shared with the PR team.
Our team opened Apple stores in Hong Kong.
This first one was in ifc mall, in the heart of Central.
Ollie was an amazing partner-in-crime. A true Operational expert. I learned so much from him.
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