GreekU COO Interview

Hey what is up, hello crew. So here we are in my favorite business attire and a fun little interview with the COO Of GreekU! Lory Passov gives her little inside scoop on what it is like to be an entrepreneur.  I'm not going to write too much because the interview talks for itself, so here we go! 

Can you tell me a little about how you wound up a COO at GreekU? Do you think being a Psychology major helped you down that path?

Graduating with a psychology degree, and not quite ready for grad school, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do next.  I liked psychology, but I wasn’t certain I wanted to pursue it as a career.  A couple years before I graduated my brother had started a business creating unique clothing for sororities and fraternities, and at this time his business was doing pretty well.  I slowly started to help him out with his customer load.  It was a lot of talking on the phone, and helping customers design a shirt they and their entire organization would love.  Having experience working customer service at Nordstrom, and with my psychology degree, I quickly got used to and enjoyed helping customers on the phone.  I’ve also always loved clothes, so doing something in the fashion industry was something I was very happy about :).  

 

What does a typical work day look like for you?

Each work day is a little different here at Greek U, and it really matters the time of year since the business is seasonal.  I tend to work on planning meetings, help the team with goal setting, and have my hand in several projects we are working on at the time.  After reading a wonderful book called Traction, I really mastered how to plan out our business, and help enable our employees to achieve the goals they set forth, that align with the company's direction.  

What is the coolest experience your career has given you?

I think my favorite thing about being a business owner is the constant need to adapt and learn.  Being a person who doesn’t always like change, it really pushes me to keep an open mind and keep learning.  In the digital marketing/ecommerce world, everything changes so quickly!  You really have to not only keep up, but try to keep ahead.  Several years ago our business was completely different from what it is now.  We used to spend much of our days talking on the phone, and emailing, but we eventually found that our customers no longer wanted to do business like this.  So we built an amazingly comprehensive website, where you can fully customize your order online and get all the information you need right in front of you. We still talk on the phone sometime, and email of course, but only when they customer needs us.  

What would you say Greek U's mission is?

Our team and customers are the most important aspects of Greek U.  We strive to offer the best & easiest online ordering process while we are here to help assist customers create something they love for themselves or their Greek family.  All our products are made to order specifically for each customer. We aim to offer a fully customized experience for the 100+ organizations we hold a license for.  

What is next for Greek U?

We have a new website coming late 2017 which we are extremely excited about.  We spent several months getting feedback from our customers about what they love, and what is missing from our current site.  We have been working this year on implementing all this feedback for the new site, and we can’t wait for it to launch! We just started working on a Greek U Sweetheart Influencer program, and are super excited for it to launch this month.  We have so many great customers, and we want to build better relationships with them & give them some free gifts too, hehe.  We also are working on some adorable new designs for all the sororities we are licensed for, as well as some brand new items for the holidays

What are the best and worst parts of your job?

I love managing a team, and accomplishing all of our goals.   We do a lot of fun events around here!  We basically earn points every week when we get all our goals accomplished.  Then, we cash in the points for fun activities. We have done all sorts of things from baseball and hockey games, getting pampered with massages and manicures, to getting sweet treats delivered to the office.  Also, the free clothing samples are always a fun perk too. I would have to say the hardest part of the job is when things are out of our control.  Once in awhile something could be wrong with the website, or a customer's order gets lost by UPS.  But you just learn you have to do everything you can to help the situation. When a large order got lost in transit, and the event was days away, we re-made the entire order and shipped it overnight. Although it wasn’t our fault, we want to make sure the customer has what they need, and are completely happy :).

What is the best advice you can give to any aspiring young professional?

I would say that work isn’t easy, and you will always be learning new things if you want to be successful.  Try to be patient and keep an open mind.  As time goes on you will get the hang of it all. And if you keep learning and working on new things you won’t get bored.  You definitely want to be challenged, and to keep growing.