Story by Britany Inabinet, USC Upstate (English ’19)
Laura Lynch, USC Upstate (English ’13) has worked New York Fashion Week and done business logistics and sales analysis for the fashion industry. And it all started with an English degree.
Like many students after graduate school, Laura Lynch was very lost. She had just spent what was an immersive year studying visual merchandising and had no idea what she wanted to do. For almost two years, Laura worked as a freelancer in New York City until she found the industry and field that was the right fit for her. She told me that this was a choice that she does not regret.
Laura spent the bulk of 2018 working in beauty and fell in love with cosmetics. She felt comfortable talking about people like her who were not buying products in stores and why. This resulted in her working closely analyzing data, most about particular products that were not selling and then generating ideas that could potentially convince someone to buy them. Why she isn’t reading literature, she uses her close reading skills to turn information about sales and products into stories that make sense and that get the products sold. It’s all about communication in the end.
Laura’s story was very comforting for me to hear, since I am about to graduate and have no idea what to do next. It was encouraging for me to talk to someone who was also lost after graduation, but turned out to be very successful.
In fact, Laura got to live every girl’s dream–working at New York Fashion Week. She told me that working at fashion week brought up a whole host of emotions and feelings. The very first show she worked was for two female designers for the brand Rodebjer. Laura said it was cool to be near so many famous people. Working at that show she ended up doing a photoshoot with the founder of Bumble and Bumble for a side project he was doing on hair, art, and self-expression.
“The very last show I worked at fashion week was for Kanye West,” Laura said. She told me that was probably the most tired she had ever been from fashion week. Laura spent 12 straight hours preparing for the show, which was at Madison Square Garden at 6:00 pm. She worked side by side with designers steaming wrinkles out of dresses minutes before they were supposed to go on the runway or holding up a model who had collapsed on the runway because her heels were too high and too small for her feel.
I asked Laura how her English degree helped her prepare her for current work in the fashion industry. She told me that her English degree has really helped with her progress into more analytical roles in more ways than one. Her experience as an English major shaped the she delivers topics and defends them. Additionally, it heightened her sense of empathy and made her more conscientious about the way she addresses people.
“A lot of the time in the world of fashion and beauty there is often a lack of regard for other people and their feelings. Writing and defending a thesis makes you realize that you must consider your delivery in all respects no matter the intent; never back down from your beliefs and ensure that you have enough evidence to substantiate your claim,” Laura said.
When I asked about her experience as an English major at USC Upstate, Laura told me she spent a lot of time in between classes talking to Dr. Kusch, Dr. Godfrey, Dr. Caster. Dr. Marlow, and Dr. Murphy and would say they all impacted the way she formulates an articulate argument. She believes that we take for granted how easy it is to be vague, but she knows from various conversations–whether personal or about coursework. All those professors drastically changed the way she processes a thought.
One of Laura’s favorite memories from USC Upstate was hanging out in the Humanities and Performing Arts Center (affectionately known as HPAC) between classes. She told me she spent a lot of time there chatting with her professors as well as a lot of theater students. Laura would say some of her favorite memories were just talking to them and getting extended perspectives about all types of subjects.