Words With Hannah: A New York Minute

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New York City is a remarkable city full of beautiful places, incredible food, and very fascinating people. I got the wonderful opportunity this summer to move there and get a small taste of what a “New York minute” actually means. You can see it in movies, but nothing will ever come close to the real thing.

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A photo of me with a view of the New York skyline, while I was walking on the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time.

When I found out I got the internship, I just remember being stunned. I could not believe it was happening. I had been to New York City twice and was just in love with it both times, but moving there was going to be a completely different experience. I found out in January 2016 and had four months to wait.

I looked at a million apartments, dorm complexes, and housing units, anything and everything. I looked at where they were in relation to where I’d be working, and I also wanted something that was close to Central Park. I finally found something at the very top of the Upper East Side, which was a 30-minute commute to work, but it was in a beautiful area. It was only two blocks to Central Park and only two blocks to the subway to work.

After four months of waiting, it was finally time to pack up and move. My dad was going to be traveling with me, so we packed four suitcases and two carry-ons and headed on our way. It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to my family and friends until August, but it made it a little easier knowing where I was headed. When we arrived in New York we spent the first few days unpacking, getting groceries, and exploring the area I’d be living in and practicing my route to work.

The company I worked at was called The Sak Brand Group. It’s a handbag company with three lifestyle accessory brands: The Sak, Sakroots, and Elliott Lucca. The brands are all different but all beautiful. The Sak has handcrafted crochet, textured leather and a casual, west coast feel. Sakroots, the most fun in my opinion, has colorful canvas bags with a slogan of “choose your karma” because each of the prints benefits different charities. Elliott Lucca has artisan fabrications, luxurious woven leather, and is effortlessly chic.

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A photo of me and some friends at a New York Mets’ game.

On my first day my boss, Jamie, took me around and introduced me to all the people who worked there, from the designers to marketing, to the eCommerce team, which is who I would be working with. All of the people behind the brands were just as fun and inviting as the brands themselves. I could tell that I was going to love the environment.

I got my own desk and my own laptop, and I would learn so much about the fashion world that I hadn’t known before. I got to work with stores such as Macy’s, Zulily, Amazon, Zappos, and many others. My job would be a lot of data entry. I would fill in spreadsheets for our clients of product information they needed to sell on their websites.

I worked some with their orders and directly in the back offices of some of the companies and edited product information. I also got to work in the back office of our own website, editing product information to make sure it was all correct, reorganizing products in categories, and adding related products. I also filled in for the showroom coordinator several times. I sat in The Sak and Sakroots showroom at her desk and answered the phones, sent out samples to clients, and sat clients for meetings.

I got to experience market in August with all our clients coming to our showrooms to view the latest lines. I even got to sit in on a run-through with Seventeen magazine with one of the marketers. It was such an amazing experience getting to learn and grow with such a brilliant company.

A photo of the Korean ice cream that I got in Koreatown.
A photo of the Korean ice cream that I got in Koreatown.

On top of loving my job and going to work, I also got to be a tourist for three months, going to shows, museums, Central Park, trying a bunch of different food, and all the other places I got to visit. I went to see Chicago, Cats, Aladdin, Wicked, The Lion King, Matilda, and I got to see The Rockettes. Cats was by far my favorite, it was spectacular.

I went to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, and the Frick Collection. I went to a Mets game. I went to The View, Live with Kelly, Good Morning America, and I got to see Demi Lovato live in Central Park at 6 in the morning at the Good Morning America Summer Concert series. I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, twice.

I got to see landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the 9/11 Memorial, Radio City Music Hall, Chinatown and Little Italy, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and so many other beautiful places. I tried Indian food, and I also tried Bubble tea for the first time, as well as Eggloo, which is a Korean ice cream shop. I found a new favorite dish while I was there, chicken udon. I got to experience the real New York pizza, from a little hole in the wall pizza place right around the corner from my building and even got to try that famous Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn.

One of my favorite experiences while I was there was getting to go see The Macy’s 4th of July Fire Work Show. We got some snacks together and went to JFK drive, which they had completely blocked off, and we sat outside and waited for around four hours for the show to start. It started raining on us about 30 minutes before the show started.

We didn’t let that ruin our fun though, while everyone else was beginning to leave, we sat there and waited for those fireworks and I’m so glad that we did. The display was spectacular. I’ve never seen a firework show like it, and I don’t know that I ever will again. These are only a few of the amazing touristy experiences that I got to have this summer.

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A photo of me at a broadcast of The View.

Life in New York was amazing, but it wasn’t without its hardships. Once, I cut my thumb open and had to walk six blocks to the hospital, which was not a fun experience since I had never been to the emergency room before, that I can remember. I had to have stitches put in, and let me tell you, I was not a fan. I got lost at least three times a week. More often times than not it was every other day.

I remember leaving work one day and going to get some cupcakes at a bakery near work because my cousin was coming to visit. There was construction going on around my building the entire time I was there this summer. As I was crossing the street to get to the subway, I tripped on a huge bolt in the middle of the road, in my heels. I completely busted it. I was horrified. I looked around and waited for someone to offer a hand or ask if I was all right, but no one ever did. I just sat there for a few seconds until the light was about to turn green. People just kept walking past me and looking at me. I couldn’t believe it. And with my Southern hospitality I actually apologized to a few people as I was helping myself up because I was in their way. But, I got up and dusted myself off and headed to the subway.

We had sample sales at work of handbags and I was carrying three big shopping bags full of products I had gotten for friends and family, and one of them busted on the crowded six o’clock subway. It was a nightmare. I had to throw a bunch of bags on my arms while still carrying the other two, and making a lot of New Yorkers mad. The good times outweighed the bad 10-to-one, but not a lot of things come easy in New York.

It’s an experience I will remember forever. I may have only been there for a few short months, but I left a part of my heart in New York that I don’t think I’ll ever get back. There is nothing like New York, to me anyway. I wouldn’t trade the experience that I had for anything, and I couldn’t have done it without the amazing support from my parent’s and the rest of my family and friends.

If you ever get the chance to move to New York, even for a short period of time, I would take it. If this small town Southern girl can do it, anyone can.
Hannah Walker
Hannah Walker is a lifestyle writer at Texas Forest Country Living. Originally from Groves, Hannah majors in Fashion Merchandising at Stephen F. Austin State University. She dreams of opening her own boutique one day, but before she does that she wants to work in a corporate office of a fashion company or department store and get experience in big business so that she can take those experiences and knowledge and incorporate it into her small business. Besides taking on the fashion world, Hannah loves to travel and spend time with her friends and family.

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