It’s always been a dream of mine to work for Anthropologie, so I jumped at the chance to network with Elizabeth Diehl.

As the manager of digital analytics and personalization for Anthropologie, a clothing retailer part of URBN brands, Diehl was able to give me some incredible insight, including how she climbed the corporate ladder right out of college, the world of digital analytics for a major fashion brand and her career advice for college students like me.

Diehl started working at Anthro five years ago when she graduated from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. 

“I started in an entry-level position as a digital analyst on the larger analytics team,” Diehl says. “My main responsibility in this role was to develop and maintain accurate reporting around all of the different areas of our digital business and communicate actionable insights to the wider teams, so they were armed with the information needed to best do their jobs.” 

After a few years, Diehl was promoted to a senior analyst position where she took on more challenges and became a larger part of the company. “In this role, I started to become more of a strategic partner within the organization rather than being behind the scenes with my head down in reporting like my previous role,” she says. “I was also fortunate enough to have my first Drexel student co-op at this time so I was able to dip my toes into what it would be like managing someone.” 

From there, Diehl was promoted again to an associate manager within less than a year, managing a team of three. “This new role encompassed managing the other half of the digital analytics team which is site testing. The site testing program is a lot more technical and centered around continually serving up different experiences to different customers when they hit the site and reporting on and actioning what performs best.”

Just recently, she was promoted to her current title and was chosen to take the lead on a new program in digital business called personalization, leading and coaching a team of analysts. “This role is more focused on continually serving up and optimizing different content to different audience segments that hit our site in order to provide each browser with an experience tailored to them based on what we know about them from their browsing history,” she says. 

Diehl lists the skills needed to tackle her daily tasks and what others in her field should possess. “Communication, critical thinking, multi-tasking and pivoting based on changing business priorities, and being able to connect the dots of different problems or questions that ladder to the bigger picture and goals of the organization,” she says. 

When asked about the work environment, she describes it as creative, collaborative, fast-paced and entrepreneurial. “At URBN, there is not a ton of structure or guidelines around how to do your specific job, but there is high expectation that it will be done and done well so that the company can meet its goals,” Diehl says. “It is really up to the individual to pave their own path and succeed—which I love.” 

She also noted that URBN is extremely collaborative. “Everything one team touches impacts the overall digital experience,” she says. “[The teams] have input on what the site looks like at any given time—from what creative we feature on the homepage, to what promotions we are highlighting in our banner or speaking to in our emails or on social. They impact what product you see when you first get to new arrivals and what product we are suggesting you pair it with—everything.”

In order to serve those purposes, Diehl says that juggling what works for both the business and customer can be tricky.  “Because Anthro is such a creative brand, we are often led with creative over best practices for the business or user experience,” she says. “We are always trying to strike the right balance of what will drive the most sales but also maintain the brand identity at the same time.”

But despite those challenges, Diehl says she is still just as excited to work for the company as she was on her first day on the job.  “Even though I have been working here for five years, every day is completely different,” she says. “We are constantly innovating and challenging the status quo to see how we can make things even better and improve the experience for our customer. I love the fast-paced environment and the fact that I get to interact with and help so many different teams; I love the people. There are so many intelligent, creative and truly inspiring people at this company that all have unique skill sets.”

I asked Diehl what she wishes she knew before she started working at Anthro and she gave me this great tip. “While it is a lot of people's dream jobs – including me! – it is still a job at the end of the day,” she says. “Don’t let the idea of working there get in the way or intimidate you to the point where you are scared to take risks or discourage you from applying.”

Diehl also advises students to pursue jobs and internships that speak to your interests outside the classroom. “Any professional opportunity you can get outside of school is such a huge plus,” she says. “I had a traditional major in marketing and business analytics, but was able to  tailor my experiences around the fashion industry by joining Temple’s fashion and business club and working a retail job in an Anthro store.”

For students looking for jobs like hers, Diehl encourages you to show off your soft skills. “People care and value your soft skills far more than your technical skills,” she says. “ When I first started out after college, I thought it was so important to have every technical skill checked off. But in reality, all companies use different tools and the data is structured differently at each organization so it's almost impossible to prepare and no one expects that of you. The biggest qualities you want to look for are someone’s ability to communicate, be a critical thinker and have a willingness to learn as new technologies come our way.” 

What’s your dream job? Who would you network with if you got the chance? Submit a job or person you would like to see featured on the UD Career Center blog to udcareers@udel.edu.

This blog post is written by our Division of Student Life student intern Olivia Schnefke.