She’s 21 years old and Holly Dominguez ‘17 gets paid to style and give fashion advice on a daily basis.
A newly hired fashion specialist at Amazon, Holly reviews photos of different outfits that Amazon Prime customers upload to a Prime fashion service. From there she identifies the best looks based on what’s in style and what looks good on the customer.
Because she participated in Running Start, Holly began at SPU with her first two years of college already complete. Running Start is a program that allows high school juniors and seniors in Washington state to earn college credits at local community and technical colleges. Running Start students and their families do not pay tuition, and students usually enter another college or university as a transfer student with two years of credits completed.
Her advisor at Seattle Pacific, Jaeil Lee, professor and chair of apparel design and merchandising, gave Dominguez the confidence to apply for an internship with Nordstrom.
“She honestly could not have prepared me more,” the apparel merchandising major says. “She is very invested in her students. She’s always giving encouragement and looking out for you, and it’s very nice support.”
Holly also credits a workshop with SPU’s Center for Career and Calling for equipping her to enter her interviews with Nordstrom and Amazon with courage and grace.
Holly also credits a workshop with SPU’s Center for Career and Calling for equipping her to enter her interviews with Nordstrom and Amazon with courage and grace. She says the CCC gave her tips on how to stand out in an interview, and more.
After graduation in June 2017, Holly went right into the retail management internship with Nordstrom. The Seattle-based clothing retailer offered her a full-time position in elevated selling. And while she was working in that position, a recruiter reached out to her about becoming a fashion specialist at Amazon.
Looking for a job outside the retail selling floor, Holly hopped on the opportunity and started at Amazon in January of 2018.
“Amazon is a very different environment than a store,” she says. “This is very self-directed, and since we are a 24/7 team, we operate on a very strict schedule. Everything has to be like clockwork.”
I thought, wow, I feel like I’m using my degree and that what I’m doing is fulfilling to me.
In addition to working with Outfit Compare, the Amazon Prime service where customers upload two different looks to compare, Holly and her team are also working on machine learning technology, which programs the Echo Look device, a hands-free camera and style assistant that uses Alexa, to share better fashion and styling advice.
“The other day,” she says, “in my Lyft ride home, I thought, wow, I feel like I’m using my degree and that what I’m doing is fulfilling to me.”
