MY WORK @ ZALANDO

  From time to time I get various questions about my work at Zalando, so I finally decided to tell a bit more in detail about how I spend my days here in Berlin. In the end, that's the one and only reason why I am here now. First of all check out our new corporate video above - I think it gives quite a nice overview of what we are and do!   Back to the beginning. I came to Berlin exactly ten months ago when I started my internship in offline marketing department. Getting this chance was a dream come true to me, as I had already studied some fashion in the UK alongside my business courses and made my mind about the career within fashion industry. With short notice, I packed my suitcase again and moved to the city I had never been in before.   I work under Sales department in the Nordic offline team consisting of one Swedish, one Norwegian, one Danish and one Finnish employee, me! I am solely responsible for covering Finnish market when it comes to offline marketing activities. Meaning, a lot of responsibility balanced with freedom - jackpot! I appreciate working independently and following my own visions, as a part of the great team of course. And luckily, I ended up working in the best team ever. Working long hours so tightly together makes you kind of family, and that's what they have been to me in all the good and bad! To sum it up, lots of tears but way more laughs along the journey.   What we actually do in offline then? Only sky is the limit. Flyers, on-pack co-operations, offline media buying, and much more. I work a lot together with external partners such as fashion magazines and beauty brands, as well as other internal marketing channels to create multichannel campaigns. Maybe some of you heard about Zalando's treasure hunt in Helsinki? ;) I worked mainly at offline during the first half a year and I still do, but after finishing my initial internship I have been carrying another project within the marketing department from July on too.   The best parts of my work are definitely the awesome talented people, feeling of fashion, dynamic atmosphere and never ending change bringing the perfect pressure I need.   I couldn't be more thankful for my time at Zalando. I learned so much, got to work with so many great people, and the chance to be a part of the exploding success story of Zalando with all its ups and downs - believe me, they were many. To be honest it's killing me to move back to Finland and somehow I cannot give up a thought of returning here soon. We will see :)   Please feel free to comment: it was impossible to summarise this chaotic, fun, intense, awesome year at Zalando that is no doubt among the best ones of my life so far. Actually, please just comment!   P.S. In case someone uses LinkedIn that side of the screen, feel free to drop by on my profile here for more details.

TOAST FOR ZALANDO

Keskiviikkona koitti odotettu päivä, kun puoli kymmeneltä kello kilahti ja Zalando listautui Frankfurtin pörssiin. Kuuden vuoden jälkeen tää on tyhjästä aloittaneelle start-upille aikamoinen merkkipaalu, ja kieltämättä oli hienoa olla mukana juhlistamassa moista riemua, jolla ei todella ollut rajaa. 

Töissä oli tavallistakin hankalampi keskittyä, kun inboxiin kilahti vähän väliä posteja nostattamassa tunnelmaa iltaa kohden. Siitä huolimatta kaikki esimerkillisesti sinnitteli iltaan saakka, kunnes viimein mun ja Ainon lisäksi sadat zalandolaiset kokoontui kilistämään lasit jos toisetkin pörssilistauksen johdosta aamunkoittoon asti. Toimistolta suunnattiin ääriänsä myöten täynnä notkuvalle klubille, missä lopulta juhli väki yrityksen kaikilta toimistoilta, niiltäkin missä ei ole koskaan päässyt käymään. 

Oli drinkkiä, tähtisadetikkua, hyvää seuraa ja lattaridiscohittejä - ilta siis vailla vertaansa. Zalando sai ansaitsemansa kestit, unohtamatta mielenkiintoista työpäivää seuraavana päivänä kun kaikkien päätä särki kilpaa ja korvissa soi. No, niinkuin mä Instagramissakin (@essiini) mainitsin, you don't make a stock market debut every day! On kiitollinen ja onnekas olo siitä, että oon päätynyt Zalandolle ja osaksi tätä. 

// Wednesday finally was the hyped day, when the bell rang at 9.20 and Zalando made its stock market debut at Frankfurt stock exchange. After six years I see this as a remarkable milestone for a start-up kicked off from zero and undeniably it was great to be part of the celebration that at some point didn't seem to have an end at all. 

During the day concentrating was even harder than usual as my inbox was overwhelmed with e-mails hyping about the upcoming night. Nevertheless, in addition to me and Aino it seemed that everyone exemplary made it to the evening until hundreds of zalandos gathered together to raise a toast (or a few) for the listing, until the dawn. From office we headed to a completely packed club where employees from other locations joined us. 

Drinks, sparklers, great company and latino disco hits made sure that the night was memorable. Zalando definitely got the celebration deserved, not to mention the interesting day after when  our community shared the uniting feeling of headache and mysterious fatigue. Well, as I already stated on Instagram (@essiini), you don't make the debut every day! I feel grateful of the opportunity to work and being a tiny part of this story.