My #LillyDreamJob
- Taylor Helton
- Feb 25, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 6, 2019
I remember when I tried on my first Lilly Pulitzer dress. I was in a local boutique with my mom and best friend. I had heard of Lilly before and just wanted to get my hands on a dress to try one on. My friend and I tried on the same dress, mine in pink and hers in blue. I felt so special wearing this dress walking around the store, and that's when it began. Overtime Lilly became a statement piece in my life. I got my first Lilly shift dress for my Sweet 16 birthday party. It was a pink and white print and all the guests wore all white. Since my first dress I got Lilly only as special gifts, like when graduating high school, my 18th birthday, etc. After studying abroad and finishing up my internship in the summer of 2018, I was looking for a job I could work while I was home. My best friend Maeve had started working at the Lilly Pulitzer in Kenwood earlier that summer and she is what led me to think Lilly could be more than a special occasion dress for me.
Applying to Lilly
I personally went into the store and asked if they were hiring. You can find the application at https://oxford.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/LillyPulitzer if your local store is but I wanted to go in so that I could meet the manager and make my name pop out when they received my application. I talked a bit to the workers and since it was August bought my new agenda while I was there. After I left, I filled out the application immediately on my phone while sitting in my car in the parking lot of the mall. I was so excited! I hung out with Maeve that night and told her I had applied. I had been worried that she may be bothered even though she had told me to apply. I was wrong of course; Maeve was so happy for me and instantly started telling me about each of her co-workers! A couple days after applying I was leaving my internship when the hiring manager, Colleen, called me to set up an interview for the next afternoon on Friday. Typically when being hired at Lilly there is a phone interview with the district manager also but she had been busy that week and they decided to skip that step with me. After the weekend, I called Lilly on Monday to check what was going on and thank them again for my interview. The next day I got a called from Colleen saying I was hired! I was so happy! My mom, boyfriend, grandma, and I all went out for a celebration meal at Brio!
Working for the Brand
Lilly is a brand that associates itself as a lifestyle and state of mind. "Not always sunny but in a sunny state of mind." When walking into a Lilly store or wearing the products consumers know that is true and as a worker there it is even more sunny. We come in everyday to help people find the right print, style, or outfit that makes them feel sunny even in mid-February. When a woman comes out of the fitting room in "the one" you can just tell and that makes the job even better. There are a lot of fun in-store activities that go on. Throughout the year there are many weekends that we offer gifts with purchase. We also have live events and pop-up shops. The Kenwood store where I work is about to have a white dress show where we will have 20-30 styles of white dresses brought in for women to shop for their rehearsal dinner, graduation, etc. The biggest brand event we have is the After Party Sale. The sale happens twice a year! It is huge for Lilly lovers because Lilly products don't go on sale at any other times besides this sale. As a worker it is fun because you are working with women who are just wanting to grab anything they can because they love Lilly THAT much. We also will color coordinate our outfits those days or even get to wear the Luxletic line which we normally don't get to wear to work! Speaking of the sales though; we don't find out the dates of the sales until a few days before they start so asking employees when they are won't get you a step ahead of anyone. : / Sorry!
The Lilly Perks
I would describe the perks at Lilly to be incredible. Although Maeve had worked at Lilly all summer, I had never asked her about the perks just whether she liked the job or not. This being said when I started working at Lilly I had no clue of all the perks attached to the job! Many people ask what the discount is and we aren't exactly allowed to share besides saying that we are well taken care of and that line is 100% true. We don't get any free clothes or items but we do have a great discount and sometimes all the stores will have competitions to promote sales or adding on items to a customers purchase which will result in something fun!
Besides the discount there is also the perk of being able to see all of the items that are coming out that season ahead of time. We get to see all the new prints and what products they will come in. Before heading back to school in January I was able to see all of the products coming out this spring before the catalogs went out to customers and we were shipped the clothes!
To sum it up, working at Lilly is one of my favorite jobs. I worked retail once before and swore I would never go back. I've worked in the food industry, life-guarding, I was a nanny, at a front desk, and other jobs but Lilly is by far a favorite compared to my other jobs. I love the people I work with; there are so many different personalities and my co-workers are a blast to be around. It makes long shifts in January easy to pass the time by because we are teaming up and helping a customer or taking care of the store together. All of my managers treat me equal and are the kindest human beings. I am a pretty shy person until I become comfortable in the environment or around the people. At my previous retail job I would go shifts where my co-workers wouldn't even have a conversation with me so I would just focus on keeping the store neat and helping customers. When I go to work at Lilly it doesn't even feel like work sometimes! If you are thinking about applying to a Lilly store near you, do it! You won't regret it!
xx,
Taylor
Comments