Name: Suzanne
Pronouns: she/her
Where are you from?
Annandale, Virginia
What do you do at MINNA?
I’m our Operations Coordinator, which encompasses a little bit of everything! I help out with some finance, some HR, some project management, and some strategy.
How did you get started with MINNA?
I’ve been a fan of MINNA for many years, and a perfect storm of factors brought me here at this moment. My husband and I had been dreaming of moving upstate from Brooklyn for a while, and in the spring, my previous employer (whom I loved working for!) announced the company was relocating out of state. As it turned out, MINNA was hiring for exactly what I wanted to be doing in exactly the place I wanted to be, and with relocation on the table, it felt like maybe this was fate! A few calls and emails later, here I am!
What does working ethically mean to you?
What a tough question! To me, working ethically (to the extent it’s possible within the capitalist system) means considering the impact of your business on everyone affected by it. We have a responsibility to the communities in our supply chain, our team, and our customers, and also to society at large when we think about how we contribute to large-scale issues like the environment or marketing messaging. We have to stay open to always learning more, adapting to changes, and striving to mitigate negative impacts while increasing positive ones.
An unexpected day off looks like…
In Brooklyn, a day off usually includes a good coffee, a walk to the waterfront, spending some quality time with my husband Ashton and our cat Felix, and rewatching one of my favorite teen dramas. We’ll be upstate full time soon, and I’m looking forward to adding more hikes to this routine!
Secret/hidden talents?
A passion for paper and some holiday retail training has helped me become pretty good at gift wrapping!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten? The best piece of advice you give?
When you’re problem solving and find yourself stuck, ask yourself what you haven’t considered changing and why. Basically, what were my assumptions? Oftentimes there’s flexibility where you might not have seen it before, and if you let yourself go back one or two steps in the process you can find your solution!
