0:00

Fox Creative. This

0:03

is advertiser content from the all-new Alfa

0:05

Romeo Tonale. We

0:08

often look at the pleasure seekers, the life-livers,

0:10

as frivolous. We ask

0:12

ourselves, can't they wait? Isn't

0:15

that a bit extravagant? But

0:17

allowing ourselves joy, thoughtfully

0:19

of course, has merit that's been supported

0:21

for thousands of years. Our

0:24

producer called Emily Austin, author

0:26

of Living for Pleasure, An Epicurean

0:29

Guide to Life. Hey, Alfa. To learn

0:31

more.

0:31

Who do you want to call? Emily

0:34

Austin. The Epicureans

0:36

were a school of philosophy. They flourished

0:38

in 307 BCE. Their

0:40

main philosophical commitment was

0:43

that they were hedonists. It wasn't sex,

0:45

drugs, and rock and roll hedonism, but

0:47

it was a hedonism that put the various

0:49

joys of life at the center of philosophy.

0:52

They thought we have these amazing

0:54

abilities to plan our lives, and we

0:56

mess it up a lot. Because among

0:58

other things, we don't seek pleasure. We tell ourselves

1:01

that we should delay pleasure.

1:02

So if you think something like going

1:05

out for a drive on a sunny

1:07

day with your friends, that's really,

1:09

really pleasant, and it's the sort of thing you'll remember.

1:12

Then also you can kind of draw

1:14

on that memory over time to revisit

1:17

that joy. So you can actually re-experience

1:20

it by reflecting on it. But for

1:22

the Epicureans, they thought the joy itself

1:24

was enough. You just say, this is

1:26

so good. This is what I need. This is good for me. If

1:30

what you need is more pleasure, luxury,

1:32

and exhilaration in your life, check

1:35

out the all-new Alfa Romeo Tonale,

1:37

the ultimate joyride, at alfaromeousa.com.

1:48

Transcribed

1:51

by https://otter.ai

1:54

to

2:00

talk to people that we love and admire or

2:02

some that we just find interesting. We'll

2:04

explore how they found their path and what

2:07

maybe have gotten in their way and how they

2:09

brought others along now that they've arrived.

2:16

Tracy Margolis is the Chief Merchandising

2:19

Officer at Saks Fifth Avenue. Tracy

2:21

has continued to create innovative conversations

2:24

and connections in fashion, changing the

2:26

way we think about brands and shop them too.

2:29

We

2:29

got a chance to talk to her about her career, her

2:31

start in the industry, and what it's like balancing

2:33

motherhood. Tracy, thank you so much for

2:35

joining us. Hi, thank you so

2:38

much for having me here today. So

2:40

I open every show by asking

2:42

our guests what shoes

2:43

they have on. We have to get our

2:45

fashion fix and obviously the show was called In

2:47

Her Shoes. So tell me either about the shoes

2:49

that you have on now, or if you're

2:51

barefoot, which a lot of times people are doing these

2:53

working from home. Tell me about your favorite,

2:56

Barefused. Okay, great. Today I'm

2:58

wearing a pair of Manolo Blahnix. They

3:01

are yellow, they're yellow suede,

3:03

and they're a mule. And I'm really excited

3:05

to wear them. I actually picked my shoes out first

3:07

before I picked out my outfit because I wanted to wear the

3:09

shoes before I decided what I wanted to wear

3:11

today.

3:12

Yellow Manolo sounds amazing. So

3:15

what would you say that it's like to be in

3:17

your shoes at this moment

3:19

as well?

3:20

I've read so much about you

3:22

and obviously we've crossed paths in the

3:24

industry. And I know that you've

3:26

done a lot in reshaping the culture around

3:29

shopping. I read

3:31

your cover tour piece about being a single

3:33

mom during the pandemic. And so I'm just curious

3:35

of like, what is it like walking in the shoes of

3:37

your life currently?

3:39

Great. Well, that's so I don't even know where to start,

3:41

but there's so much to say. So

3:43

I have to say that I love what I

3:45

do. And I'm really passionate about being in this

3:48

business and being in this industry. And

3:50

two of the most important things that I've encountered

3:53

is amazing products and

3:55

amazing people. So I feel very

3:58

blessed that I've been around so much.

3:59

and really so many amazing

4:02

people. So I really love

4:04

what I do every day and then on a personal

4:06

note, I'm a single mom by choice

4:09

and it's the constant juggle

4:11

of being a mom, being in it, balancing

4:15

work-life balance, figuring out how I'm

4:17

the best at what I do and

4:19

how I focus at home and how I focus

4:22

during the work day. And what would you say,

4:24

you know, explaining to our listeners

4:27

in detail, because I think, you know, obviously you

4:29

work at Saks Fifth Avenue as a chief merchandising

4:32

officer, but what does that exactly entail

4:35

day-to-day? What does that look like in

4:37

your role that people don't realize?

4:41

So the key aspect to what I do is

4:43

really set the strategy and the vision for the merchandise

4:45

strategy, make sure that we're

4:48

capturing what our clients are looking

4:50

for, being forward with what

4:52

trends are happening and really

4:54

making sure that

4:56

people feel relevant and shopping at Saks.

4:58

And what do you think makes, I mean, obviously there's a million

5:01

places to shop today. So what are you

5:03

thinking about when you are, you

5:05

know, hiring buyers or just, you

5:07

know, filling the store with different brands? What are

5:09

you thinking about in making Saks something that is

5:12

very different and feels more personal to people?

5:15

Sure. I feel like it's really all about

5:17

the curation, the edit.

5:19

How are people shopping today differently

5:21

than they're shopping before? I think

5:23

with social media, people want a media

5:26

gratification because they're always seeing things

5:28

online. So you're always moving fast to make

5:30

sure you're representing not just like

5:32

what the trends are, but street style, making

5:35

sure that we're broad in our investment and

5:37

that we're really catering to all different

5:39

customers. And what I look for

5:41

when I'm looking at buyers is really

5:43

just being a passionate, you know, passionate for the

5:45

business because once you're passionate about something, you're

5:47

successful and you feel

5:49

it. And I think that that really helps

5:52

when you're passionate and you put that into your work.

5:54

I guess walk me through also just

5:57

day to day, like what, what is the flow

5:59

of your day? Do you?

5:59

of a lot of meetings, you have to meet with designers,

6:02

like what is

6:03

the actual schedule of your day, you

6:05

would say? Sure, I think what's exciting

6:07

thing about this job as a merchant overall

6:09

is that different timeframes bring

6:11

different parts of the business. As

6:14

you move up in your career, you become

6:17

a little bit further away from the product than

6:19

you do if you're a buyer or a divisional,

6:21

but I love being around product, it's my most

6:24

favorite thing to do. I love being in a showroom and

6:26

I love meeting with designers and talking about their

6:28

collections and hearing it from them themselves,

6:31

but the day and the week can bring all different

6:33

things. So there's a handful

6:35

of business meetings where you're meeting with your vendor

6:38

partners to talk about the business and

6:40

what we're gonna do. There is a handful of market

6:42

appointments where you're seeing the current collection.

6:44

There's internal meetings where you're meeting with the

6:47

teams and you're strategizing. So

6:50

it really can vary on what parts

6:52

of the time of the year there is. Also,

6:55

one of the things that I'm most excited for is

6:57

September Fashion Week. And we get

6:59

to go to the fashion shows and be inspired

7:01

by all the amazing talent that's out there.

7:04

Do you feel like meeting with the designers is the coolest

7:07

part of your job? Or what do you feel like is the coolest

7:09

thing to actually see come to

7:11

life versus what do you think is the most

7:12

challenging thing?

7:14

So there's so much that is the most interesting

7:16

part of my job. This job brings different

7:19

sides of your brain. It's the creative aspect

7:21

and the financial aspect. So

7:23

I love when those two pieces meet. When

7:25

I'm meeting with the designers and hearing them

7:27

speak about their collections, I

7:29

find it so inspiring to hear

7:32

about how they came up with the concepts,

7:35

what they were thinking, what they love, like what are

7:37

their favorite pieces. It feels so fulfilling

7:39

to see them be successful. I also

7:41

love being in market and going

7:44

through a showroom and seeing the product and the touch

7:46

and feel. And really, being

7:48

behind luxury products, sometimes I get a joy.

7:50

Just honestly, when I look at a jacket and

7:52

I look at the lining of the jacket, or look at the back

7:55

seam, and just understanding how beautiful

7:57

the product is. Also, some

7:59

of the the other things that I find inspiring is, you

8:02

know, being in Fashion Week and sometimes I'm looking

8:04

at, you know, the locations and

8:06

how beautiful they are and how I'm inspired

8:08

by the architect. So there's

8:11

a lot out there that inspires me on a daily

8:13

basis, but I do find it so

8:15

rewarding to see someone put their heart and soul

8:17

into something and then six months later turn

8:19

it around, see it in the store and say, Oh, that's what they were

8:22

talking about and to watch a business

8:24

grow and really get to know the people behind

8:26

it.

8:27

I love that. We always

8:29

like to also just go back to the beginning on this

8:31

show. So where did you get your start in the industry

8:34

and what made you specifically want to work

8:36

in the industry in this kind of capacity? So

8:39

my great aunt Florence owns

8:42

a dress store in Brooklyn a long

8:44

time ago. It's called Phillies. And

8:46

my grandmother actually ran

8:48

the accessory counter in that

8:51

shop and I'd go to the Javits Center with her

8:53

and I'd help her organize the shop and straighten

8:55

it out. And I really loved being

8:57

a part of that. But when I went

8:59

to university, I studied psychology

9:01

and I thought I wanted to be

9:03

a therapist, but I decided that

9:05

it would be very difficult for me to take all that work

9:08

home because I'm a very emotional person and

9:10

I get attached to

9:13

my friends, my family. So I

9:15

decided from that day on, I was going

9:17

to take an internship at Bloomingdale's.

9:19

It was actually in the white flint mall at the time. And

9:22

during that internship, I learned about buying,

9:24

I learned about visual merchandising and I decided

9:26

from that day on I wanted to be a

9:28

buyer. I kind of knew what it was,

9:30

but it just felt right because I knew that it was part

9:33

creative, part financial. What

9:35

was it like for you to grow in your

9:37

career though? I mean, obviously you've had to

9:40

endure a lot of ups,

9:42

a lot of downs in it. And whether

9:44

that be, you know, shopping habits of people changing

9:47

or pandemic or, you know, finances

9:49

of companies or different things. So

9:51

what would you say it's been like for you to grow in your

9:53

career and grow in each role? And if

9:55

you ever experience any kind of

9:57

imposter

9:58

syndrome or, you know,

9:59

any challenges that you face

10:02

in transitioning into leadership roles?

10:05

Yeah, I mean, I would say you keep

10:07

on going and you keep on learning. And

10:10

I've come across, I mean, I've been doing this for

10:13

over 25 years. And I would

10:15

say, thankfully, I continue to learn. I

10:17

think as you get more mature

10:19

in your journey, like

10:22

you take things differently. I think the first time,

10:24

you know, business softens, I was,

10:27

you know, you take it personally, but now you learn how to deal

10:29

with the macro environment. I think, you

10:31

know, one of the most challenging things is, I remember

10:33

this, the first time I became a divisional merchandise

10:36

manager where I had a much larger

10:38

team. And just learning to be a

10:40

leader and a visionary, I think

10:42

is a big step in your career. And

10:44

that was a learning experience for me. So

10:47

I would say that was probably the biggest shift becoming

10:49

from a buyer to a manager of a

10:53

larger team. But I think

10:55

as you grow and you learn in your careers, there's ways

10:57

to deal with things. And you want

10:59

to make sure that you're inspiring the team, you're

11:01

setting the vision, you're setting the strategy, you're

11:03

making people feel comfortable as things

11:06

evolve and change in the industry. But

11:08

also change is good. And I think in

11:10

an industry like this, you have to always be open

11:12

to change.

11:22

Fox Creative. This

11:25

is advertiser content from the all new Alpha

11:28

Romeo Tonale.

11:29

We often look at the pleasure seekers, the

11:31

life livers as frivolous. We

11:34

ask ourselves, can't they wait? Isn't

11:37

that a bit extravagant? But

11:39

allowing ourselves joy, thoughtfully,

11:41

of course, has merit that's been supported

11:43

for thousands of years. Our

11:46

producer called Emily Austin, author

11:48

of Living for Pleasure, an Epicurean

11:51

Guide to Life. Hey, Alpha. To learn

11:53

more. What

11:53

did you like to call Emily

11:56

Austin? The Epicureans

11:58

were a school of philosophy. They flew.

11:59

flourished in 307 BCE. Their

12:03

main philosophical commitment was

12:05

that they were hedonists. It wasn't sex,

12:07

drugs, and rock and roll hedonism. But

12:09

it was a hedonism that put the various

12:11

joys of life at the center of philosophy.

12:14

They thought we have these amazing

12:16

abilities to plan our lives, and we

12:18

mess it up a lot. Because among

12:20

other things, we don't seek pleasure. We tell ourselves

12:23

that we should delay pleasure. So

12:25

if you think something like going out for

12:27

a drive on a sunny day with your

12:29

friends, that's really, really

12:32

pleasant. And it's the sort of thing you'll remember. Then

12:34

also, you can kind of draw on

12:37

that memory over time to revisit

12:39

that joy. So you can actually re-experience

12:42

it by reflecting on it. But for

12:44

the Epicureans, they thought the joy itself

12:46

was enough. You just say, this

12:48

is so good. This is what I need. This

12:51

is good for me. If what you

12:53

need is more pleasure, luxury, and exhilaration

12:56

in your life, check out the all-new

12:58

Alfa Romeo Tonale, the

12:59

ultimate joy ride, at alfaromeousa.com.

13:16

I know

13:18

because I've had to transition into different

13:20

leadership roles, I think over the past

13:22

couple of years, my leadership style has changed.

13:25

And when I think about my legacy and

13:27

how I want to be a manager, how I want to

13:29

be part of a team and lead a team, I

13:32

think a lot of that has shifted depending on

13:34

where I'm at in my personal life and

13:36

also just the kind of team that

13:39

I'm building and the kind of goals that I'm working towards.

13:41

And so I was curious of what you feel

13:43

like have been some

13:44

experiences that have shaped your

13:46

leadership style. Sure.

13:49

I would definitely say that consistency

13:52

and transparency is really one

13:55

thing that has shaped my leadership styles

13:57

for sure, but I'd also say empathy.

13:59

Empathy and relationship building with people

14:02

that work with me is really critical

14:04

because as people are going through

14:06

things, you never know what else everyone

14:08

else is going through and you really want to be supportive.

14:11

Personally, professionally, I always

14:14

want to be there for my team members. I have an open

14:16

door policy. I think for me,

14:18

it's like the more communication, the better.

14:21

And I prefer informal communication because

14:23

these are people that you work with day in and day out.

14:26

I want them to spend more time focusing on

14:28

themselves or their own roles

14:29

rather than just focusing on

14:32

big, long, formal communication

14:34

to me. But I think just being there for people

14:37

is really important and asking like, how are you

14:39

today? How is everything? How is your

14:41

weekend? But I actually go through that and I mean

14:43

it because it's really important to me that people

14:45

feel that they're invested in. They're

14:47

invested in along their career path. And

14:50

of course, a lot of women have to deal with balancing

14:52

career and family, as you mentioned

14:55

a little bit earlier. And

14:57

you mentioned

14:57

also, and I had touched on a little

15:00

bit in the beginning, how you chose motherhood on your

15:02

own terms as a single mom. When

15:04

was that moment that you decided to pursue

15:07

motherhood? I think something

15:09

it's, as a woman, a lot of people are always

15:11

thinking about their next chapter

15:13

in their lives. And to be honest

15:15

with you, at a certain point, I turned 40

15:18

years old and I didn't have a significant

15:20

other. I had to figure out what

15:22

was my next chapter going to be like.

15:24

And I decided that I was going

15:26

to have this baby on my own. I had a really

15:29

good friend, Abigail, who told me, for you,

15:31

your journey may not be in the

15:33

same order you

15:35

want it, but it will happen.

15:37

And I took that really to heart. You see a lot of

15:40

people getting married, having children,

15:42

and it's all in this specific order. And

15:44

I realized that from that day on, maybe

15:46

my order won't be the same, but this is the right

15:48

order for me. And I think that's great. I

15:51

really think

15:52

whatever makes anyone happy is what makes people

15:54

happy. And you have to do what's best for

15:57

you at that moment, but not think that everything is

15:59

so set and set.

15:59

stone. But I was really

16:02

concerned about that and how I was going to be able to

16:04

manage a profession and have

16:07

a baby on my own.

16:09

What

16:09

would you say some of the best advice

16:11

that you've gotten as you've been growing

16:13

in your career, but also, you know, growing

16:16

as a mother and balancing both? I

16:18

think it's not about the time, but the quality.

16:21

Whether,

16:22

you know, I don't look at my watch when I'm

16:24

at work. I look at like when I'm here, I'm

16:26

giving 100%. When I'm at home,

16:29

you know, being in this business, you

16:31

have a lot of commitments after hours, you have a lot of

16:33

commitments, you know, with travel. And

16:35

I find that as long as when I'm home, I'm giving 100%.

16:39

It's not about the time commitment, but the quality,

16:41

the quality of the time that you spend with people,

16:43

the quality of the time that you're focused on

16:46

and really be in it in a moment when you're

16:48

in the moment. There was a line

16:50

in the cover tour piece where you said,

16:52

I've had to toss out my old career

16:54

book and things that I couldn't fathom before

16:56

now are the norm. What are

16:58

some things that you feel like looking back,

17:00

you are less rigid about

17:02

or you're more flexible around

17:04

in your life? Well, I think it's also the

17:07

way that I manage people.

17:10

I'm just definitely about people get to work

17:12

when they get to work, not like physically,

17:14

but they get they do something when they can get

17:16

to it. And that's okay with me. And

17:19

I find that also, like

17:21

prioritizing is really important. Prioritizing

17:24

from a workspace from a personal space,

17:27

prioritizing things. And then also

17:29

one of the things that I find that is so helpful

17:32

is really getting ahead of the calendar and

17:34

making sure that you're able to

17:36

do the things that are important to you, whether that's

17:39

professional or personal.

17:40

Do you ever experience any mom guild

17:42

creeping in? Always, always.

17:45

But I think that's with everyone. I think, you

17:47

know, you always think that you could do better. You could

17:49

be more more present, you could

17:51

be more visible. But I find

17:53

again, like there's certain times a year where I'm

17:56

really able to, you know, put

17:58

in 150. I mean, I try to

17:59

to put 150% all the time, but there's certain

18:02

times a year where I really get my fix in.

18:05

One of the things is over the next few weeks, I'll

18:07

be taking my son on vacation

18:09

and it's just like some really great one-on-one

18:12

time. So, what advice would you

18:14

give women who are wanting

18:15

to embark on a similar journey

18:17

as you? I think what's most important

18:20

is to be open, to

18:22

be open to something that

18:24

you may not have thought this was the typical

18:26

journey, to let love in. It's

18:31

more to love and to know that

18:33

if there's people out there that can do it, you could do

18:35

it and have that confidence and to know that

18:39

you don't want regrets and that if this is something

18:41

that is right for you, that you

18:43

should go by your gut. I

18:46

know you've talked a little bit about you have a lot of support

18:49

and community. What does that community look

18:51

like around you, whether it be at work or at

18:53

home? A lot of my

18:56

coworkers, we've all been working

18:58

together for a long time. I feel like

19:00

we have an amazing understanding

19:02

that we're just always there for each other and if someone

19:04

can't be there, we cover it for each other.

19:08

It just feels really great and Mark

19:10

Metrick, the CEO of SACS

19:12

is very understanding if I need to go

19:15

do something. It's just an understanding that

19:17

we all have together. Then personally,

19:19

I have a great friend

19:21

network. I have a group of mom friends

19:24

that are always helping me get through things and that we're

19:26

always there for each other.

19:29

It feels really good to be part of this community

19:31

and to have

19:33

a group of people that you could always go to when you have

19:35

questions with no judgment, of course.

19:38

What do you do for self-care in the midst of

19:41

all of the amazing things that you do? I

19:43

do feel like balance is

19:45

not really a real thing, but do you feel like you've

19:48

ever truly found balance or

19:50

your thoughts around that in the midst of trying

19:52

to have self-care? I do feel

19:54

I'm that type of person who I burn it at both

19:56

ends at night and in the morning and

19:58

that's just what I'm comfortable.

19:59

with. So I make sure

20:02

that I have balance and that, you know, if it's

20:04

a busy week with work, I try to figure

20:06

out how do I get a group of friends together for dinner

20:08

or go for drinks. I

20:11

recently started to work out again,

20:13

which took me a while to be honest, I started

20:15

to do Melissa Woodhouse. And one

20:17

of the big things is that even if it's just 10 minutes

20:20

a day, I'm doing something for myself. So

20:23

I feel really good about that. That's something that

20:25

I really just kind of completed

20:27

recently. But I think in

20:29

this industry and just like being type A

20:31

personality that I am, it's

20:33

always hard to feel that but I feel

20:36

I feel like I'm in a good place right now with work

20:38

like balance. You know, one of the things

20:40

when I first started this career is I

20:42

would say work hard and play hard. And

20:46

I don't play as much anymore. But

20:48

I think that that's really important. So you don't feel

20:50

like you regret or have resentment towards

20:52

your career. And when I was younger,

20:54

I would go out on the weekends and I would sleep at

20:57

my I remember sleeping on my brother's couch on a Saturday

20:59

night. And because I was doing an internship,

21:02

I had to get to Bergdorf very

21:04

early the next day. But I felt so

21:06

great. I was able to work hard

21:09

and be in it. And I was able to still go out

21:11

at night. And, you know, yeah, of course, I

21:13

was tired. But I felt like it was such a great

21:15

moment to know that I wanted to have it all.

21:18

And I feel that, you know, women today

21:20

shouldn't have to sacrifice anything that

21:23

you should be able to have it all. Yeah. I

21:26

mean, in general, what are you most hopeful

21:28

for going forward in your career,

21:29

motherhood in

21:32

your life? What am I most

21:34

hopeful for? That's such a good question. I am

21:37

hopeful that my

21:39

friends and family and the people around me

21:41

honestly are healthy and happy.

21:44

And, you know,

21:46

as you get older, you really appreciate

21:49

the critical things and really say to

21:51

me, if everyone is healthy and happy, that is

21:53

like what is the most important thing.

21:55

And, you know, that's what I look forward to.

21:58

Thank you so much. I really appreciate I appreciate that you've

22:00

taken this time. Thank you so much for having

22:02

me. This was great.

22:05

In Her Shoes is hosted by me, Lindsay Peoples.

22:08

Our lead producer is Taka Zen. Our

22:11

engineer is Brandi McFarland. I'm

22:13

Lindsay Peoples, and thank you so much for listening.

22:20

Fox Creative. This

22:23

is advertiser content from the all new Alfa

22:26

Romeo Tonale.

22:27

We often look at the pleasure seekers, and

22:30

the life livers as frivolous. We

22:32

ask ourselves, can't they wait? Isn't

22:35

that a bit extravagant? But

22:37

allowing ourselves joy, thoughtfully

22:39

of course, has merit that's been supported

22:41

for thousands of years. Our

22:44

producer called Emily Austin, author

22:46

of Living for Pleasure, an Epicurean

22:49

Guide to Life. Hey Alfa. To learn

22:51

more.

22:53

Emily Austin. The

22:55

Epicureans were a school of philosophy. They flourished

22:58

in 307 BCE. Their

23:01

main philosophical commitment was

23:03

that they were hedonists. It wasn't sex,

23:05

drugs, and rock and roll hedonism. But

23:07

it was a hedonism that put the various

23:09

joys of life at the center of philosophy.

23:12

They thought we have these amazing

23:14

abilities to plan our lives, and we

23:16

mess it up a lot. Because among

23:19

other things, we don't seek pleasure. We tell ourselves

23:21

that we should delay pleasure. So

23:23

if you think something like going out

23:25

for a drive on a sunny

23:27

day with your friends, that's really,

23:29

really pleasant. And it's the sort of thing you'll remember.

23:32

Then also you can kind of draw

23:34

on that memory over time to revisit

23:37

that joy, right? So you can actually re-experience

23:40

it by reflecting on it. But for

23:42

the Epicureans, they thought the joy itself

23:44

was enough. You just say, this

23:46

is so good. This is what I need. This

23:49

is good for me. If what you

23:51

need is more pleasure, luxury,

23:53

and exhilaration in your life, check

23:55

out the all new Alfa Romeo Tonale,

23:57

the ultimate joy ride at Alfa Romeo Tonale.

23:59

www.MayoUSA.com