Ariel Avila started his career in Wall Street as an investment banking analyst at JP Morgan in the retail and consumer bank. He then joined JP Morgan’s equity research practice before attending Harvard Business School. The then joined Sears and later on, Trunk Club. He is focused on developing and executing strategic, operational and growth initiative. He currently lives in Chicago, speaks English and Spanish, is a runner and enjoys travelling.

Here are the highlights of our conversation with our guest:

Ariel shares how he enjoys travelling, in fact, he has been to about 30 countries and his recent trips where Hungary, Austria, Budapest and Vienna. He also loves eating out and discovering new places, is planning to do his first marathon, and is passionate about mentoring and teaching people.

Ariel started in college as a Political Science major but learned that it was not a practical route. Investment banking caught his attention as it sets a foundation of a career and you get to develop a rigorous analytical skill set. There are also lots of opportunities in this field as you get to work with smart, talented individuals; and get lots of responsibilities at early age. He was assigned in the consumer retail group and tis sparked his interest in retail.

What his role entails and about his focus on two areas: rolling out test concepts for the brick and mortar side of the business and the alterations group. He adds how he keeps the business going, monitors demand and supply, and keeps an eye on their KPIs.

How forecasting needs makes them successful and allows them to scale, their rigorous process to onboard tailors, how they source tailors and some of their challenges in hiring.

Their peaks and valleys and sales patterns for Trunk Club; the hurdles and bottlenecks they experience especially in the people side – stylist to serve customers; and the concepts they are currently introducing to meet their goals in improving customer experience.

How their back end operations work; and how they ensure that customers enjoy cohesive brand experience while providing individualized service at the same time.

How mobile impacts Trunk Club customer experience and the initiatives they rolled out -- such as messaging, digitizing their tailoring tickets -- which enhanced responsiveness and engagement and introduced innovations to an old industry.

Ariel shares Trunk Club’s differences, similarities and edge compared to its competitors.