Tag Archives: next

Nov17

A Retail Free Holiday Season

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A Retail Free Holiday Season

Helloooo everyone and happy Tuesday! Most of you guys know that before I started school I worked hella retail. My days were spent slaving away in PacSun, The Body Shop, Claire’s, Piercing Pagoda, and Next for what seemed like an eternity. This year, however, I’m so excited to not work a holiday season in the mall. After working five Black Fridays in a row – I am officially free from the evil clutches of the mall during the holidays! SCORE!

On Saturday, my sister and I took a trip to the mall so she could make a few returns and do some shopping. As soon as we entered the premises, we were greeted by Christmas music, decorations, and a mall that was jam packed for an early November evening. Seriously, just being in that environment gave me anxiety and as far as I was concerned, we couldn’t leave soon enough.

Being in the mall among all of the really early holiday shoppers who seemed to be just as crazy as the last minute gift grabbers reminded me how thankful I am that I can finally have a holiday season to enjoy with my friends and family. When I worked retail I can’t remember one holiday season that I genuinely enjoyed because I was too wrapped up in working crazy hours and dealing with insane customers. This year, I don’t have to worry about going into the mall on Thanksgiving day to work a thirteen hour Black Friday shift. I also don’t have to be at the mall late on Christmas Eve to tend to everyone’s final holiday needs and clean the trashed store to perfection. *sigh of relief*

When you’re working every minute of the months of November through January, you simply forget that those times are meant to be for your loved ones. The thing that I’m most looking forward to is actually having a Thanksgiving. For the past five years my Thanksgivings were spent counting down the hours till my Black Friday shift and trying to cram in some power naps before the insanity unfolded. This year I’ll be able to help cook, prepare the table, and spend quality time with my family and boyfriend. It’s going to feel so good but SO strange because I’m completely not used to relaxing during a holiday – what does that even mean?!

I’m so thankful for everything that my years of hard work provided me with before I started college. I was able to buy my car (Little Red Love Machine!), buy clothes, purchase gifts for others, and put money towards my tuition. But this year, I am so ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy a glorious Retail Free Holiday Season! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! Have any of you worked retail during the holidays? Do you have any funny/traumatic moments to share? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: My traumatic story to share from a very retail holiday season doesn’t deal so much with me as it does an unfortunate Victoria’s Secret employee who got punched THREE YEARS IN A ROW during Black Friday. #threepeat

Oct19

I love my job….really!!!

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I love my job….really!!!

How many people can say that they completely love their job? I am SO thankful that I can be a member of the people that answered yes to that question. This first week of working at Next has been AMAZING. As I mentioned before, my store carries high end mens clothing, from Versace to True Religion, MCM, Billionaire Boys Club, and everything in between. So a typical day at work is me being surrounded by a bunch of dudes. And let me tell you something, these dudes go to bat for me like no other. The relationship with my coworkers and customers already feels like a big brother/little sister relationship, and I love it! It feels good to feel like one of the guys. It also feels good to be fawned over and called pretty a lot! Ha!! But really though, feeling respected and feeling like my opinion is worth value to these customers and my coworkers is so cool to me. I feel happy every time I get asked for my opinion on a shirt or for help picking out an outfit to wear out. Next is a completely different environment than what I’m used to. The clientele and product is completely different than PacSun. I’m not gonna lie, I was feeling a little discouraged on my first few shifts because I didn’t really know what I was talking about. But after learning about the brands and watching my coworkers interact with the customers I have a really good general idea of everything now. Tonight during my shift I felt confident for the first time at the store. I was confident in my ability to sell anything and everything to every single person that walked in the door. It was awesome! Did I mention how much fun we all have at work yet? We always play the sickest music. From old school to new school rap and hip hop, to alt rock, and indie, you can be sure that the best jams are always playing. We also have a projector that screens movies, music videos, and most importantly the Cleveland Cavs games on our walls. To top it off, every Friday night we have a popular DJ fresh from Akron spinning in our shop. God, I’m so lucky. These past few months I’ve wanted nothing more than to start school and to have a dope part time job. Now I have both – and it’s the best feeling ever. I worked hard and I made it happen! I start school on Monday. I’ve been achieving my goals non stop this month, and I can’t wait to see what my future holds!

Make sure you follow Next’s Instagram:

http://instagram.com/ruleofnext

Also, do me a solid and follow my own personal stores site as well, where you can see posts through out the week from my coworkers and myself:

http://yooying.com/nextakron

And finally, keep on checking out the company’s website for all the latest and greatest news from our brands, store owners, and employees. Make sure you check out our online store as well!

http://ruleofnext.com/

I’m so aware that I’m shamelessly promoting my job here, guys. So thanks for bearing with me! Check out our sites and pleeease let me know what you think! Have an awesome night! -Sarah

Oct12

Happy one month blogiversary to me!

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Happy one month blogiversary to me!

Today marks my one month blogiversary of http://www.lifewithlilred.com and I am SO happy! Special thanks to all of my readers and followers for going on my blog journey with me! Only one month in and I already feel like I accomplished a lot on my site. I feel like we covered a lot of ground with each other, and that’s very exciting to me! Best believe there’s more to come on lifewithlilred! In other fantastic news, today is my first day at my new job at Next and I am SOOOOO excited!!!!! I’m really hyped to get back to work and meet my new coworkers. These two weeks of unemployment have been fabulous though. In those two weeks I finished everything I needed to attend school at Tri-C on October 20th. I think that’s what I’m particularly proud of. I did everything all by myself with no former knowledge of how to do it. When I was in high school, a lot of teachers didn’t think I was going to graduate, so they never prepared me to go to college. Well ha ha on them because here I am now going to school and paying for it all on my own to boot! Lil Red is on fire! It took me over two years to get myself back to school, but I’m finally doing it – and you know what they say: it’s better late than never. Which ironically is the phrase I used when I would turn in my homework weeks late in high school 😉 . But I promise that won’t be the case in college! I know what I want to do and I’m ready to do it. Working retail for four years has really shown me that I don’t want to do that for the rest of my life. If I didn’t push myself to go to school, I firmly believe I’d still be stuck in the PacSun rut for years to come – and that’s not okay. I’m finally recognizing my own potential to succeed in the world, and it’s an amazing feeling. I feel like I’m blossoming into an actual adult. It’s hard to feel that way when you’re stuck working in the mall 24/7. I have exactly what I want now. A cool part time job and a college education. What could be better?!

In just one month of blogging, I feel like you guys have already experienced a whirl wind of a journey with me. If you read some of my very first posts, I was extremely depressed. Now I feel like the strong emotions I was feeling prior to these past few weeks are way easier to manage. I feel like the concrete block that was strapped onto my chest has finally been released and I can breathe easy. I have the whole world ahead of me now. These next few months are going to be a roller coaster of new experiences, and I’m happy to say that I’m finally ready to put my hands up and enjoy the ride.

Have a fantastic Sunday guys! Wish me luck on my first day of work!! I can’t wait to tell you all about it! -Sarah

lolol

Oct9

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

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GREAT NEWS!!!!!

So I am SO happy to tell you guys that I got offered the job at Next!!!!! I start on Sunday! I got the call yesterday, and I am so beyond thrilled. I honestly didn’t think I was going to get the job because it had been a week and a half since my interview, so I deleted their number thinking I wasn’t going to hear back from them. When they called I didn’t recognize the number and almost didn’t pick up – but I’m so glad I did! I want to thank you guys SO much for sending me the good vibes and keeping your fingers crossed for me, because I firmly believe that helped me get the job! Yesterday was so perfect. I had an awesome visit with my guidance counselor, as you read about in I Love College! Part 2! and I got a new job to boot! Could the day get any better? The answer is YES, because the season premier of American Horror Story: Freakshow was on last night!!!!! It was fantastic! However, there were a few parts that I didn’t care for, so keep posted on my page for my review of the episode, which will be up by the end of the day. I’m so happy guys. September was a rough month for me, so I’m really thankful that October has started with a bang. I feel like things are finally coming together. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be right now, and that really is an amazing feeling. I hope that all of you are experiencing positivity and joy this week. I’ll be sending all of you the good vibes and positive thoughts to keep the good times rollin! If you’d like to check out Next, here’s their website: http://www.ruleofnext.com/ . There’s a bunch of really cool stuff on there, so definitely take a look! I’m so ready for this new and exciting chapter in my life, and I can’t wait to share it with you guys along the way!

yay

Hope you all have a fantastic Thursday! I’d love to hear all about the great things that happened to you today, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah