Pathways to Success: Defining the job market in times of change

This webinar is part of our Winter 2021 Success: A Digital Era Edition project.

The project lead for this webinar is Hanadi Alnawab, professor and program coordinator of the Digital Business Management, Bachelor of Commerce program at the Faculty of Business.

About the Webinar (Panel Discussion)

Join the Fashion Management BComm, Faculty of Business students as they host a virtual conversation on Pathways to Success: Defining the Job Market in Times of Change. This webinar features three guest speakers on a Fashion panel discussion on how the current pandemic has affected the current job market, the challenges they once faced or are doing so currently, and tips on how to not only adapt, but thrive during this new normal. We will also be focusing on how COVID-19 has affected different areas of the fashion industry as a supply chain, business closures, and the new trends that have evolved due to our new normality.

Takeaways

• Gain insight of the current state of fashion and where it is leading according to knowledgeable people in the field.
• Learn the tools and strategies needed to have a smooth entrance in the fashion industry working force post-graduation.
• Learn from experts in the industry how they have adapted to the constant evolving fashion industry and learn important strategies on how to navigate it successfully.
• Answer any doubts students may have when it comes to looking for jobs and where to find them.
• Learn current trends in the fashion industry, customer trends, business trends, and patterns the current pandemic has shaped the industry to adapt to.

About our Guests

Our first guest speaker is Evelyn Reynolds. With over thirty years in the industry, Evelyn has broad based international experience in luxury, mass and specialty retail, manufacturing and business development across the spectrum of fashion, food and retail services.

Her passion is idea generation and innovation; connecting like-minded individuals and businesses. In the fast -moving retail environment, made even more challenging through the current COVID-19 situation which has further accelerated the need for change and innovative approaches, businesses need to take bold steps to create a unique personality, customer traffic and engagement. Whether online or offline, it is essential to offer an experience that connects with the customer emotionally, going beyond one simple transaction.

At HBC, she lead the evolution of the Home Division from a commodity business to a fashion business and led the Business Development team, introducing  some of the most exciting new business ventures.  This included the launch of Kleinfeld Hudson’s Bay and the development and execution of multiple pop ups and concessions.  Additionally, she led the development of both Restaurants and Food Halls for Hudson’s Bay and Saks Canada and supported the expansion into the European market.

In addition to her own advisory firm (Retail Resource Partners Inc.,) Evelyn acts as the Director of Business Development/Brand Hunter for a Boutique Real Estate firm that has brought some exciting new brands into the Canadian market.

She is on the Board of Directors of the Toronto Fashion Incubator and on the Program Advisory Committees  of both Humber and George Brown Colleges.

Gayatri Seth currently works as Creative Marketing Specialist at Chaska, La Prep.Gayatri Seth is a graduate from the Fashion Arts and Business program as well as the Bachelor of Commerce, Fashion Management Program at Humber College. During Gayatri’s time at Humber she completed an internship at Platinum Sales agency and a CO-OP at FANIQUE. After graduation Gayatri worked as a Creative Marketing Specialist at Timeless Jewels by Shveta.

Our final speaker, Transam Urdarbe is a graduate of the Fashion Arts and Business program at Humber College. While studying at Humber, Transam worked as Assistant Art Director in Infuse Magazine and also as a Sales Coach and Trainer for Hennes and Mauritz (HM). Shortly after graduation Transam relocated to Greater Montreal where he is currently a Studio Assistant at SSENSE studio.

Humber Team

• Huixin Li (Producer)
• Alejandra Rivera (Moderator)
• Jose Henriquez (Moderator)
• Valeria Cano (Copywriter)
• Laura Jimenez (Copywriter)
• Asal Feiz (Marketing)
• Fan Meng (Marketing)

Student Engagement

The following work was completed as part of the WRIT 200 course, supervised by Heba Al-samarrie, professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences & Innovative Learning

• Javair Thomas (Blog)

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash