The John Cabot University Fashion Club was created in collaboration with "The Fashion Club" of California State University. The club serves the JCU community as a creative outlet for those interested in expressing themselves through fashion. A few of the club's goals and objectives are developing a professional portfolio within the fashion industry and building concrete personal connections with fashion professionals.
This fall semester, the JCU Fashion Club together with the Institute for Entrepreneurship welcomed guest speaker Jenny Izaguirre from Shopify to discuss fashion merchandising and retailing. Izaguirre is the Italian country manager for Shopify, a Canadian multinational e-commerce company that is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Izaguirre is originally from Venezuela, but she moved to Europe 10 years ago to work, and about 3 years ago she began her position at Shopify. Her main tasks are to ensure that Shopify's e-commerce service improves for the customers by managing the product and making sure it is working correctly with the distribution channels. “Those who disrupt their industries change consumer behavior, alter the economics, and transform lives,” explained Izaguirre.
In recent years, there has been a shift in how retailing businesses operate. Nowadays, the approach to e-commerce is more about interacting and engaging with costumers, building a close-knit community, and creating a sense of belonging for those who are interested in a service or product. This is the reason why more and more businesses are engaging in social entrepreneurship and creating products that benefit the environment and communities. It is a way to impact people and transform consumers' lives, and companies need to make the customer feel understood and cared about. The world of business is a fast-changing one, and now more than ever, we can see that companies who focus on engaging with costumers are seeing greater success.
Having attended this presentation, from an entrepreneurial point of view, it made me think of the importance of choosing the right channels on which to sell your product or service and how to build relationships with customers. The basis of creating a successful business relies on the emotional appeal that a brand can generate. I learned that, when companies build their brand, they need to think about several things: what makes the product special, what does the brand stand for, and what story you are trying to tell. In the end, I feel as if this presentation from a successful businesswoman in the fashion industry was an excellent and enriching learning experience.
Sofia Alvarez
International Affairs major
Class of 2020
Hometown: Cali, Colombia
