The rewards of online customer service that only I can provide

It all started with one commercial

I joined the Adastria Group after seeing a commercial while attending fashion school. At the time, a "niko and..." commercial featured Kazuyoshi Saito's "Aruite Kaerou." It was one of my favorite songs, but it was also a time when apparel company commercials weren't that common, and I was struck by how stylish it was. It made me think it was a cool company. However, when I started my job search, the company was only hiring for the second round of sales positions. Since I wanted to be a designer or pattern maker, I had already applied to companies for specialized positions. I was conflicted because I wanted to work in a specialized field, and the company I wanted to join only had sales positions available. However, after hearing passionate stories from students working part-time at the Adastria Group who I met during the selection process, I felt a strong desire to work for the company, and it became my first choice. Later, I received a job offer and was assigned to a "BABYLONE" brand store.

What I learned at the store is useful to me now

I remember being surprised when, during an interview on my first day at work, a senior colleague at the time asked me, "Where do you want to be in three years?" When I told him, "I'd like to be involved with merchandise someday," he gave me specific instructions and guided me, saying, "In that case, you'll be a store manager in three years. To get there, you need to work on this now." None of my seniors ignored my goals, even though I had no experience. After that, they always carefully reviewed my current situation and what I needed to do in the future, which allowed me to work towards a goal. There were difficult and tough times as it was my first time selling, but having a goal helped me overcome them.

From the store to the head office

I was approaching my fourth year without achieving my goal of becoming a store manager, and I was feeling anxious about the future. It was around that time that the company posted job openings for MD assistant and buyer assistant positions, so I took them up on the offer. At the time, I had vaguely thought about becoming a MD assistant because I wanted to be involved with products, but the store manager at the time asked me, "Is MD really what you want to do?" So I decided to think about it for a while. Thinking back, "niko and...," the brand that led me to join the company, also sells miscellaneous goods in addition to apparel, and BABYLONE is a select store. I enjoyed serving customers with select products, so I applied for a buyer assistant position. I was then happily involved in product creation, accompanying the main buyer to various exhibitions. However, coupled with the COVID-4 pandemic, the brand also underwent organizational and policy changes, and I was approached about an e-commerce position.

E-commerce work is a test of physical strength

I was a bit worried because I had no experience working on a computer, but when I tried it, I found that working steadily at a computer suited me perfectly. All aspects of e-commerce work are manualized, which I found enjoyable. Thinking back, I created my own homepage when I was a student. There were free websites that you could create by simply entering simple HTML, and my experience with that may have allowed me to work without any hesitation. However, e-commerce staff not only work on a computer, but also photograph products to be listed on the e-commerce site. I think that photography is a test of physical strength. Sometimes I have to carry around many samples to be used in the shoots myself, and preparing for the shoots takes time. Sometimes I'll be shooting all day, so the day before I get fired up and think, "I'll do my best tomorrow!"