Current role: Digital Media Manager at Harrods, London
Hometown: Seoul, Korea
Major: Business & Marketing Major
For Sally Park ’22, starting college during the COVID pandemic meant only a brief semester at NYU Shanghai before studying away at NYU in New York and in London. The Seoul native says she was determined to make the most of her global experiences, and that facing challenges (like 2:00 am online classes) made her the resilient and adaptable person she needed to become to thrive as a digital media manager at Harrods, in London.
How would you describe your NYU Shanghai experience?
Unfortunately, I was only in Shanghai for my first semester, and then I never went back, but I studied in New York, I studied in London, and that was a big reason why I wanted to come back and live here after. I moved here two years ago with NYU’s HPI (High Potential Individual) visa, which allows NYU graduates to move to the UK.
How did experiences at NYU Shanghai prepare you for your career?
I joined an extracurricular business club at NYU Shanghai which led me to my first internship with a fashion company, which I really enjoyed. It was a startup, super hands-on, and I learned a lot through that first internship in 2020. My childhood dream career was to be a fashion designer, so it kind of tied into that…and I did a lot of marketing for them. Now I work in fashion marketing here in London, and I think it was a good starting point for my career, having that first internship that I got through NYU Shanghai. I'm currently a Digital Media Manager at Harrods. I actually only got promoted to this role at the beginning of the year, because it was noticed that I was doing all the work already.
What is your role in working with luxury brands at Harrods?
We’re a big retailer in London, so we work with top luxury brands like Chanel, Dior, Fendi. I jump on calls with them to make sure that they're happy with the digital marketing that we're providing them, pulling their post-campaign reports and showing that their campaigns were successful.
I work with brands closely even before any campaign is launched, to make sure what their objectives are and to make sure that they get the most out of our partnership. Managing those external partner relationships is one of my favorite parts of the job but also the most challenging.
How has your NYU Shanghai experience shaped you?
I feel like NYU Shanghai has instilled within me a love for learning, a love for traveling, and I think the best word to describe it is: wonder. Whether it comes to traveling to different countries or learning more at work, or always asking questions, I always find that in a work meeting setting, I'm always the one to ask lots of questions compared to the average person. NYU Shanghai just instilled that in me, to always be asking questions and learning more.
My NYU Shanghai experience has helped me become adaptable. I moved to China—my first time ever being in China—and I was adapting to that, taking Chinese class at like 8:00 am every day. Then very quickly, there was a solid two years where I was taking classes at 2:00 am, 4:00 am, 7:00 am, because they were the only classes available to me in my time zone. Having to take remote classes really set me up for that success. Just being able to adapt where you need to and put your best foot forward, no matter the situation. I think that really set me up to be really resilient, and it's made a huge impact on who I am today.
What advice do you have for NYU Shanghai students who might be interested in a similar career path?
Definitely try to get some internship experience. NYU Shanghai, or NYU classes in general, were great at the foundation for my career, but when it comes to the day-to-day work of what digital marketing actually looks like, I would recommend even getting ahead and taking Google courses or Meta courses that really teach you the ins and outs of the platforms, because that's honestly, what you will be doing every day.