How did you get started with Everlane?

I first heard about Everlane Tumblr. I had been living in SF for almost a year and I was surprised to find Everlane was based here. I met 2 Everlane employees through my co-worker at the time in 2013. They had approached her in a cafe to ask for feedback about the site. She invited them to our office to get feedback from everyone during lunch. Little did I know she was well aware of Everlane and it’s growth. My internship was ending and she basically set me up to pursue an opportunity with them but didn’t clue me in on her master plan.

Obviously it worked out. The presentation led to an interview, but after my first phone call I felt like it went so terrible that I had to do more than just send the standard template thank you e-mail that they teach you in business school. I wanted to do something creative that would stand out. A few hours after the call, I stayed up all night and recreated one of the product pages, replaced it with my photos, information about me, and made the “Add to Bag” button say “Add to Team”. When you clicked the button, it would send me an e-mail.

This was done in a lot less fancier way than it sounds. I chopped a lot of it together with screenshots and Photoshop because I do not know how to design. I ripped letters of the Everlane font from different pages to spell my name because it’s not a font you can just download (later I’d find out about making local changes in console on the browser) I definitely didn’t do it the right way but it was passable for the untrained eye. This got me to the second round of interviewing and several weeks later, I was hired to the Customer Experience (CX) team.

For several months I would be on CX. This work naturally extended to social. I’d get small projects sent my way, first responding to people on Twitter and then Facebook. That snowballed into more and more projects. At the end of August our Head of Social Media left. She believed in me and said I was ready. I wasn’t exactly sure about that but Michael (our founder) and she were very supportive.

How do you go about producing relevant media?

I think being part of the CX department first gives me a lot of empathy for our audience. We want to create something that’s enjoyable for them. We’re always thinking about the customer and why they would pay attention.

What forms of Social Media are Everlane’s most used?

We go where the customers are. Right now that is Instagram and Snapchat. Instagram is a place to express our aesthetic. Snapchat gives us a way to communicate transparency in a format that’s easier and faster for us to produce and more fun for people to consume.

How did you get into Social Media?

It's a part of our generation. I think generally you can assume most people have some sort of social media profile. Turning Social Media into a profession is something I'm very thankful for. For me I think it started in college. You know that movie Chef? The one where the kid teaches his dad about Twitter while making their way across the country selling Cubano sandwiches. I had a similar internship but I was 20 not 12 and it was for a food truck that sold ice cream sandwiches.

How do you express Radical Transparency through Social Media?

Giving people access to information so they can make informed decisions about the products they buy. Each platform has its own way of making some type of content that allows us to express Radical Transparency. We’ve written essays on the industry on Facebook, given tours through our factories on Snapchat, and taken snaps during a board meeting. We want to show people what it takes to build a brand day in and day out. On Snapchat we can show the grit, not just the highlights.

How do you define success?

I’m honestly still trying to figure that out. What I do know is success for me isn't an end point. It's not when I got hired, when a campaign does well, or when posts do well. But so far I’ve learned it's important to take time to celebrate wins and use that energy to fuel you getting to the next level.

On a more personal level, does Everlane offer any internships?

We’re starting to have more internship opportunities across different departments. Usually you can find them on the jobs page. If one doesn’t exist, we encourage using the “Name Your Job” listing.

—

Original interview has been updated to reflect Everlane's current state.

@everlane / everlane.com / @redgaskell

—