Chris McConnell is an MBA Candidate at New York University Stern School of Business. Based in the Washington, DC area, he has shown a knack for building communities of customers, advocates, and curious like-minded weirdos.
So why the fancy website? Well, a resume is just too short of a space to contain the work I’ve done over the past 15 years. This space is dedicated to demonstrating my formal work experience as well as the informal education I’ve gained across topics.
Questions? Please contact me at mcconnell (dot) chris (at) gmail (dot) com
Luxury Menswear
2012 – 2019
Therapist, consultant, stylist, confidant. The role of a haberdasher is multi-faceted.
My time in the menswear industry was awesome. I taught people how clothing can create confidence. Teaching style is like teaching any other skill. It’s practice, trial and error, and more practice.
The thing that people often misunderstand about this industry is the level of talent is equivalent to any other. While it appears that people are shilling fanciful wares, there is rigor and analysis behind those goods. The face-to-face nature of the business also toughened up my skin to rejection.
Oh. And the analysis! It’s pretty amazing how much reporting goes into slinging clothes. You have sell-through %, season-to-date volume, how different categories are performing (denim, shoes, t-shirts) or brand performance (Off-White vs GIVENCHY vs Balenciaga). All of this data was used to determine what trends we wanted to exploit at a local store level. To execute properly meant I needed to listen to the customer and sales team and then articulate that into actionable items for our buyers in HQ. I need more of this, less of that.
I became pretty good at pulling the right levers and the right time and consistently outperformed company trends.
Public Relations & Marketing
2009 – 2012
This time was spent building online communities. Email marketing. Re-targeting. Conversion. I learned how to create sales funnels to generate revenue.
Etc.
Outside of work, I’m active in the art community of Arlington County, VA. I sit on the Arlington Commission for the Arts. This advisory groups helps the county set policy.