“It is interesting to see how excited I am about my major,” says Alabama Beta Samantha Dellacroce. Samantha entered the University of Alabama considering an Interior Design major. But once she began to take classes in Fashion Retail she was hooked.
Samantha was surprised by how much she enjoyed the business aspect of the field. Other people are not surprised to see her in fashion; she grew up around it. Her mother is Mississippi Alpha Sandra Dellacroce who has 20+ years traveling all over the world in fashion as a buyer for various boutiques and companies. Sandra currently working for Soma Intimates Corporate Office, a specialty women’s boutique company, out of Fort Myers, Florida. Samantha chose her major because of her mom; she wants to be a buyer just like her mom.
One day, a professor told her to get experience in the industry, so Samantha went to local businesses to apply for positions. She walked into Chico’s FAS, a sister company of Soma Intimates, – thinking she would apply for fun – was contacted within an hour, went in for an interview, and was offered a position before anyone else ever contacted her back. Since September, Samantha has worked for Chico’s and has done her best to follow the company’s motto “Most Amazing Personal Service.”
The job has taught Samantha more than she has expected. She loves to be involved one-on-one with the customer, but knows she will need to also communicate with people overseas. She has learned the business aspects such as how to do markdowns of prices, how to process shipments, and how to provide excellent customer service.
As part of her undergraduate work, Samantha is required to do an internship her senior year. She is hoping for the opportunity to spend six weeks in New York City learning more about the fashion industry. She is taking it all in because the combination of what is learned in the classroom with her in-store experience help in her hopes of opening a boutique one day. Samantha says, “I always keep a positive attitude because you’re not going anywhere without it.”