Over the week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jane Mangan, a family friend who is the current Vice President and GMM (General Merchandise Manager) for the apparel
brand, Nasty Gal. I was intrigued by her past and her decision to move to Nasty Gal as she had previously worked for Gymboree, also managing the merchandising and marketing departments.
I began the informational interview by asking her about her experience in the corporate world. The past two summers, I worked with one of the head designers for GAP’s menswear. His constant complains over the corporate world made me think I would never step foot in this environment. Jane’s response surprised me, as she instantly disagreed with my boss’ experience, stating quite the opposite. She urged me to start in the corporate world, as it allows you to get your foot in the door. Jane explained to me that she began her career by starting in HR at a corporate company and worked her way into the Marketing and PR department. As a young person in the corporate world, you wear many hats and learn a lot in a short amount of time. Thus, spending a few years at a larger corporate company teaches you a lot and allows you to build up your resume.
Right away, Jane brought up the notion of “branding yourself”, but not necessarily in the way I had thought about this idea. She emphasized working for a larger brand name company, because the “brand brands you”. Meaning, by working for a company with good standing in the fashion industry, when applying for a job, the hiring manager will know that you have credibility and be assured that you have a certain skill set as a result of working for such and such company. In essence, the companies you work for give you credibility and brand you. Thus, working at a corporate, larger company in your younger days gives you a brand to work with initially.
Next, I questioned her about her experience as the VP of Merchandising at Gymboree and how different the brick and mortar brand was from the mostly online-based Nasty Gal. She explained to me how Gymboree was an ideal setting for her because, although it is a billion dollar company, the way the business is run feels very family owned. In this way, she found a happy medium here of a hands-on, collaborative environment, which still existed on a large, industrial scale. Here, she was able to run four brands and benefitted from the great systems already in place.
Her decision to move to Nasty Gal was twofold: firstly because of her connection to the CEO, Sophia Amoruso, who enlisted her expertise in product management an merchandising, and secondly, her desire to get expand her knowledge in the digital marketing side of the business, as her expertise was mainly based around brick and mortar systems. As Jane explained to me, NastyGal, although an apparel company, attracted many investors from the tech world, as it was unique in selling a concept and 
lifestyle online, rather than focusing on the product in a storefront. The brand, founded and
marketed by Sophia Amoruso, who is
also a best-selling author and one of the youngest women CEO’s, was investing heavily in the digital side of the business, rather than focusing on the product they were actually selling. Thus, Jane’s expertise in product itself brought her over, as well as her yearning to expand her understanding of the digital marketing side.
Nasty Gal filed for bankruptcy a month ago, and Amoruso, CEO, stepped down. Although I was hesitant to bring this topic up in our conversation, Jane was very open to the subject and discussed the situation freely, allowing me in on the inside scoop. She told me how because Nasty Gal had placed their eggs in one basket (the digital marketing side), which caused a lack of return on the product, leading the company to file for a Chapter 11. Jane spoke about the necessity of being flexible, especially in the time of restructuring within a company. She also discussed the exponential growth the company experienced, which the CEO, a marketer, not businesswoman, had trouble balancing.
Also, I asked her about how she found her calling specifically for product management. She told me that before she began working in the corporate world, she had no idea that job even existed. After working in marketing, she pinpointed her knack for managing the product itself, which led her to find this sector of the business. She explained to me that it is so important to be flexible and to keep an open mind in order to recognize the different opportunities out there. If she hadn’t done this when she was young, she wouldn’t have found her true calling for product management.
In addition, my love of writing and her degree in journalism was an important point that came up in our conversation. I asked her how writing has influenced her career and the role it plays in her life. She told me how her first entry-level job out of college was with an ad agency where she hoped to use her love of writing. Here, she got laid off, leading her to realize that this wasn’t her true passion and decided to pursue fashion instead. She stressed how invaluable the skill of writing is, and how this translated directly into so many facets of her job, where she is constantly narrating the brand’s different stories, every few weeks.
Finally, I asked for her advice to young women entering the professional world. Jane urged me to get my foot in the door and to work hard to get what I want. Something she has noticed with the younger generation is that they expect a trophy after everything they do, and how over glamourized people’s lifestyles are. It is vital to realize that in order to get anywhere, you must work extremely hard and not necessarily be rewarded right away. Keep in mind that, 90% of the time, work is not glamorous and the grind is too real.
Overall, I really appreciated the time Jane took to speak with me and was inspired by her success and girl-boss attitude.
