Hi guys. My name is Andrea O'Neill. I am a 2012 graduate of the University of Delaware. I was a marketing major with minors in advertising and international business with a focus on Spanish. I am currently working for Gap, Inc. as the manager of the supply chain strategy and operations. I started at Bloomingdale's as part of their executive development program in the 59 Street store in Manhattan. So I served as an assistant manager and their men's department, my way into customer experience. And then my last role there was as the cashmere shop manager of our C by Bloomingdale's Kashmir. I kind of fell into retail. It wasn't really an industry that I had considered when I was going into college. And they actually came recruiting at the career fair. And I was really sold on their training program. I think it was super beneficial. And I really feel like set me apart in my future interviews down line just because of the intense training are received straight out of college. I wasn't really in a normal entry-level job. I really felt like I kind of hit the ground running at just the age of 22. I was at Bloomingdale's for a year and a half. I didn't really enjoy being in the store, so I wasn't sure what pivot I wanted to make, whether it was into logistics operations. I ended up actually moving externally to Ross Stores where I served as a planner for about three years. I was at location planning analysts and then I moved into the merchandise planning function. And the connection I actually had, there was some that have worked at Bloomingdale's with me and had moved over maybe six months prior and she was really enjoying it. So I thought I would give that a go. And I was at Ross for three years before landing at Gap. And the reason I really left Ross was it was a pretty linear career path. I wasn't super passionate about merchant nice planning, but I did enjoy retail. So I kind of wanted to see what else is really out there in terms of teams and roles and the way that the New York office for Ross worked because really there was pretty limited options. It was mostly planning. A lot of the like, strategy and other team sat in San Francisco. So I ended up pivoting to Gap and this was actually a role that I was approached for. I didn't really know anyone that gap at the time. And I moved in as a senior analyst and testing strategy, which was super different than anything I have really done before. So that was what really excited me about it. I kind of I loved retailers and industry, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do within this sector. So testing was a really nice way of dipping my foot into the strategy area of retail and I was able to make really great connections and that work, it was a highly cross-functional role. So I was able to present a lot of different teams, work with a lot different teams, which led me to where I am today. I no longer worked for Gap brand. I worked for Gap, Inc. So I'm brand agnostic and I work under brand operations as more of an internal console and working and servicing all four brands. So we have Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta. And the purpose of my team is really to streamline all the brands processees. Push for continuous improvement as well as support peak planning for our Q4 holiday rush. So both online and in stores, making sure that we have appropriately planned for the volume that we are going to be doing during the holiday season. Networking is huge, I mean, within school and outside of it. That's probably gotten me for the most part where I am today. So in an UD I was involved in the University of Delaware del tones. I was the treasurer and the president while I was in that group, I was in the booth and marketing club. I went to a lot of the events that the Lerner College of Business was putting on just to make those connections. And even if those connections don't get anywhere, anywhere, it's making you comfortable making those connections is super important because again, I would not be in the role I am today without being comfortable forging those relationships with people that maybe I don't work directly with, but could potentially down the line work with within gap. I was lucky enough that because my role was so cross-functional, we actually got absorbed by different teams with restructures going on within the company. And I was able to present to a lot of different teams and that's what opened the door for me to be in my current role, which I'm super happy with. It's not a role that I would have even really thought about in college. I don't think it probably exists in every single company. Were really more like an internal console. And for supply chain, It's very operations heavy. It's very, people have the end process heavy and that's something that I really enjoy and I don't think I would've figured that out in college. It's probably something I figured out while working in my previous roles. So I just want to emphasize like, as do as much as you can in college, get involved in as many programs as you can, as many networking events as you can, but even more so. I mean, I was a marketing major with advertising. I thought that that was my future career. And I've completely pivoted to a different industry and have gotten a lot more operations and supply chain and logistics under my belt, which is not something I saw for me, but I actually really enjoy it. So I would definitely encourage you to not pigeon-hole yourself. There's so many opportunities out there. And it's really just making yourself willing to learn about them and connecting with people. Even if it's just a coffee chat, like I would do that gap with people that I just enjoy them in a meeting and maybe we don't work directly with each other, but I wanted to get to know them a little bit better. I want to understand what their team does. And really forging those relationships is what's gonna get you ahead and what's going to really land you in a career that you're passionate about. And so I would definitely encourage you to do that. And other than that, really enjoy your time at Delaware. Best four years of my life still. So I hope you guys are very excited to kick it off and I wish you all the best of luck.
BUAD 110 Alumni Videos Andrea O’Neill - Manager, Omni Supply Chain Strategy and Operations
From Alice Pawlowski August 05, 2021
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Graduation Year: 2012
Major: Marketing
Minors: Advertising, International Business
Current Employer:Gap, Inc.
Current Position: Manager, Omni Supply Chain Strategy and Operations
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