Perspectives: Madison Albin’19

July 17, 2020

Perspectives session serve as a mechanism to build bridges between our current undergraduates in the Department of Communication and your young alumni who have blazed new trails in the professional world and are seeing success in their early- to mid-career endeavors. We invite all current students, faculty, and staff to attend our virtual sessions. If you would like to be involved or learn more, please contact communication@clemson.edu.

Madison Albin

Madison Albin earned her Communication BA, with a minor in Entrepreneurship in December 2019 and is currently awaiting the start of her eight week training program to become an Assistant Buyer with Macy’s Corporate.

Albin new at an early age that she wanted to work in fashion in New York City. Given her goal, Albin did all within her power to gain a competitive edge over other candidates. To start, in high school and early on in her college career, Albin worked primarily in retail. She then added to her hands-on knowledge by taking classes at LIM College of Fashion in New York city over the summer while she was a Clemson student.

Albin was able to use these experiences, along with professional lessons learned from a mentor she built a relationship with while at Clemson, to acquire an internship with Macy’s Corporate in New York City. Albin worked in the buying and selling department with Free People, Sanctuary and Lucky Brand Jeans. Here, she used previous sales and trend forecasts to make a plan for what to buy. She then implemented the plan by going to the markets and picking out styles similar to the best sellers from the previous year. During this internship, Albin made sure to ask an abundance of questions and constantly request feedback. This allowed her to become desirable member of her internship class as well as led her to build an intimate relationship with her mentor at Macy’s and her entire team.

At the conclusion of her summer internship, Albin was offered the full-time position as an Assistant Buyer. This position was set to start in June of 2020 but with the majority of retail sales coming from in-store and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic–Macy’s had to furlough employees which included her. Albin eagerly awaits the commencement of her job, but has made use of her time by remaining in in contact with her college recruiter housed in Macy’s HR department at least once a week.

Albin worked hard and built many relationships to set herself up for her dream job and advises graduating seniors to do the same thing by always asking for feedback. Albin attributes her success to her constant desire to improve and learn more. During this time of uncertainty, Albin advises young alumni to be proactive and constantly apply for jobs and connect with new people. She also suggests that one stays relevant by improving skillsets such as Adobe and Microsoft and earning certifications that are free and online.

Madison is an example of a young professional who utilized tenets of the communication program and her own tenacity and desire to work in the world of fashion to carve a space for her success. For current and prospective students, we encourage you to work with your advisor to share your interests and gain insights that will help you also find a way to make your dreams a reality.

Author: Bridget Kane

Madison Albin Perspective Video:

Producer: Brooke Bailey