It's amazing to have this videos out so people can understand that marketing is much more than TV ads. And to make people understand the POWER OF NETWORKING. Networking is basically a treasure map for professional life.
I went through an Abercrombie phase despite still being into punk. I was just feeling held back by the gatekeeping in punk. It felt refreshing to wear clothes like that. Plus, I grew up poor and I had my first part time job, and I could finally afford the clothes. Plus, the clothes were always comfortable.
Between 2010-2015 I worked in visual merchandising team for totally different (not sexy) apparel company based in London, UK and I can relate so much with what are you saying about your experience. Eventhough I was doing amazing creative things in London, Finland or India (I am originally from Prague) and learned si much from it, it was sometimes so stressful I could only do it couple of years before transitioning.
I was there when you were! I worked on the hollister women’s print and pattern design team from 2007-2010. How you wrapped up the video was my experience too. It was a unique work experience but I could only stay so long to preserve myself. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I remember hollister, american eagle and abercrombie and fitch was real big at my school from 2006 - 2009. I was more into pop punk, post hardcore and metalcore and wore skate shirts like element, famous, vans, quicksilver, and hurley. I also wore joke shirts too. I also got picked on and made fun of a lot throughtout high school, so I didn't really get into the whole holister, american eagle, abercrombie and fitch, and aeropastle.
I worked at Hollister right at that time too... unfortunately not in marketing/design haha. I feel like I said, "Hey, What's up?" about a million times by the time I quit.
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA I just remember going through the discount bins after closing blasting ADTR's homesick until we finished at like midnight. That smell is still etched in my brain almost a good decade later
I worked there too. The company has a huge turn around. I worked in the stores and I’ve seen the changes even in just a few short years (2014 to 2019). By the time I worked in the sites in college they had already started to update their image but I knew about the old aesthetic from shopping there as a kid.. I think currently they are going in a good direction
I remember walking into American Eagle wearing an Acacia Strain shirt and the guy working came up and started talking to me about them. I thought it was pretty awesome.
Dude this story hits home so hard for me. Long story short my dad had a graphics and printing company where I spent my whole life from 3 - 15yrs old. It was in my blood that this is what I wanted to do and for whatever reason my dad never took interest in taking me on. I dropped out of college after my first year studying graphic design and spent my mid teen years focussing on being in bands and having absolutely nothing to show for it when everyone grew up and went to university. I was broke, lost and had to get shitty jobs all the way into my 20's to try and find a place for myself. I freelanced graphic design in my spare time for years and finally felt confident enough in myself and my backstreet portfolio to try and get a job at a big company despite my odds of having no qualifications at all. Trying to cut the story shorter but I applied for a job at a huge and historic drinks company called VIMTO. With no qualifications and a street cred portfolio I somehow managed to beat everyone I was up against who all had degrees in this field. I got my dream job from absolutely nothing and within 6 months I found it was the worst job I had ever had in my life and it fucked me up. I took the plunge out of there and started back at the bottom of the barrel all over again. I started a merch company called Stay Creepy Co. on the back of my negative experience working for that huge company and I've managed to buy a house through that and also start and grow a successful creative/construction company. I've finally grinded myself to place I've never been more happy to be in 2019. I genuienly feel I can relate to your mindset especially with the revolving world of heavy music that always seems to be the root of every step in the creative/business life. It's fucking insane!
I have this same experience from skateboarding. Whether it's been restaurant jobs or art shows or whatever the network from the scene has always had my back
This was really interesting. Love the insight this gave. Guess you never know where life will take you when you seize the opportunities presented :) networking is such a terrific thing
Dude, I'm loving all your videos. Thank you. After being burnt out on touring it definitely helps to hear someone cover a lot of the stuff most of us went through in the underground scene, from playing music to working shit jobs.
Your work experience and life lessons are so valuable. Thanks for sharing. It's funny how I got jobs I didn't expect to get (for example, LA County) but I got rejected from small companies who just didn't think I would be a good fit. I actually really wanted some of the small company jobs and I thought I had a chance.
Cool video. My first job after college was lifting boxes in the AnF DC on the campus there and now I’m a desktop publisher for a printing company that does work for Abercrombie and Hollister close to their campus. We mostly print in store tags and smaller signs.
Finn Mckenty no I work for Robin Enterprises. AnF and Hollister are relatively new clients for us. Hollister for about a year and a half and AnF probably 9 months.
You were lucky you got the job in A&F. I am Asian I applied and i ddint get the job. I really adore A&F and I really wanted to be guys who wears A&F. They have lots of friends and lots of female friends. I still wear Hollister nowadays but i really want to wear A&F.
lol anecdote about abercrombie&holister is that when i was 13 i wanted to get into "fashion" which meant i would get clothes from abercrombie, holister, and aeropostal. which to me were the like, bougie-est brands i could ever imagine. i guess i'm saying, that it's crazy how elaborate and powerful the branding for those stores was at the time. at least to me, my parents hated it.
I think it was awesome that you realized the thing you were missing and decided to just go do it even though it wasn't initially exactly a thing that excited you. That's work ethic.
Dude, you have something that can't be bottled: integrity and personal relationships (even through the huge platform of YT, blogs, etc.) and humility. Thanks for being awesome and sharing your thoughts on the journey 👏🏼
Dude, I've been following you for years. Back in the SYWH/MI article days. Content just gets better and better (it started from a high place anyways!). You're right, you meet random metal and hxc dudes everywhere. My network has helped me out immensely in both personal projects, my small business, and school/career. I love hearing the random job stories. Keep it coming!
Finn! I absolutely adore your videos. You seem like a real down to earth person and your videos are very entertaining. I'm definitely that weirdo who wants to hear about 90s powerviolence while wearing my Abercrombie jacket. No joke.
Love your explanation of why you wanted to work for a large company. Used to work in craft beer, was sick of making nothing, so I applied at Anheuser-Busch. Ended up getting the job. It had a lot of highs and lows. I've since left that industry, but in my post-beer life, any time I mention the companies I worked for to a professional, once AB is mentioned, the conversation shifts and all of the sudden, i'm taken more seriously. It's pretty silly, but i'm glad I did that.
I was waiting for those last few seconds where you mentioned how miserable it made you, haha. It's encouraging to hear that having a bigger name on your resume eventually helped you get where you want to be, I've been looking for my escape hatch from corporate America for too long! You have probably mentioned this in another video, but did you have whatever your next gig was lined up when you left? Or did it take quitting cold turkey to reset/reevaluate what you wanted to be doing? The security of a company you know isn't going anywhere can make it hard to quit, even when it makes you actively unhappy.
I didnt have anything lined up- it was very scary and risky and i’d probably do it differently now but i had to get out or i was gonna go in a bad bad bad direction
what a serendipitous story. I'm 43 and contemplating a career move. It's tough at this age, so but hearing about experiences, while not related to what I'm doing, you just gave me things to think about which is invaluable. Thank you. This might be blasphemous, but I might be even enjoying this channel more a little more than your main one.
do you know any details on where and how specifically they let their clothing made and produced? Till this day nothing has come close in terms of softness and quality than a lot of the clothes by them made from 2006-2012 very high quality soft material, but not very expensive. unique and ultra rare combination !
i just got into your videos the other day on your main channel because of Hardcore. and its funny, i worked for hollister from 2006 till 2010. and its funny how many hardcore kids in my local scene worked at this store with me. anyways, i just wanted to express solidarity towards you. lol
So good I totally get what you’re saying. My first job was a graphic / web design for bluenotes ( kinda like lower status version of Abercrombie but Canadian lol) I thought I would hate it and was just doing it for experience, and honestly the work was EXTREMELY stressful and tedious, designing emailers every single day lol BUT the most rewarding work I’ve done is design window displays for summer and fall campaigns for a nationally recognized company, and the people i worked with were honestly the best people ever. I think this is awesome advice for anyone with strange, preconceived notions about a project or environment
This is great insight into what it is like working in marketing at a major retailer. Loved the insight in the ubiquity of punk fans in creative occupations.
Great video as always, Finn. I love learning about the back end and logistics side of corporate retail. Videos like this and resources like Glassdoor are making it easier than ever for jobseekers to have an insight into the true culture of most companies.
I can't remember if it was a comment on this video or another one, but I remember posting something on one of your vids about how much I resented Abercrombie and Hollister because so many of the bullies at my school wore it, but I had a bit of an epiphany recently where I realized resenting a brand for those sorts of reasons so many years later is pretty childish. Like, I'm 28. I haven't been in high school for 10 years. That doesn't invalidate what I went through, but I shouldn't let some shit from when I was 13-18 dictate my life for the rest of time. I actually ended up buying some clothes from Hollister recently and they were all comfortable and good quality, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
super cool knowin who one of the guys behind the bags was, hey man i’m george and i was on a couple bags durin the 08-13 years 🤙🏽 great vid, subscribed
I actually got one of my early freelancing jobs from a contact in an MMOG (Dark Age of Camelot) so these things do happen ^^ Also I think your point about jobs not being what you expect is very good - most of the (IT) projects I get offered, where the job description is basically just a long list of the most recent buzz words, I flat out decline these days, especially if it includes things like young and dynamic teams ... Nothing wrong with being young and dynamic but if doing a 20+ people IT project, young and dynamic usually means nobody has ever seen a project like that all the way through ... and there is a good reason why you have to pay a lot for experience. But anyways - I have seen it a lot of times where people would get their Business degree and then apply for HR jobs, because they wanted to "work with people", but they ended up sorting and filing CVs, planning seating charts etc ... from what I have seen - even as a pure developer on an IT project you need to interact a lot more with people than that.
Going to Japan was one of the most rewarding things of my life. I went over there to help a software company get a foothold in the market with some of the biggest companies in the country. I also went over there to work with a couple of bands. All the tourist locations were cool and all, I was more heavily rewarded doing all of the things that normal citizens do and going off the beaten path. I learned so much from being there and I hope I have another opportunity to go back so I can learn even more
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA That's still cool though. I was there nearly 3 months. I had an apartment there because I was mainly in the Kanto region and it was a lot easier to live in than say a capsule hotel or hostel. It ended up being cheaper too somehow.
Yes on keeping an open mind about who you work for. One of the worst jobs I ever had was doing design for an upstart toy company. On paper it sounded like the coolest job but I couldn't stand most of the people I worked with and my boss was a monster (who eventually went to prison for embezzlement). Conversely, I got a gig at a law firm and everyone there was super cool. Most of the people who weren't lawyers were working there to fund their film, band, etc. But even the lawyers were dope. I'd probably still be there if I didn't move. Don't be suckered in by a job just because they let you wear jeans to work. HR departments are your friend!
I went to rural china in late 2008, went to a few cities as a tourist, got local buses and such. Holy fuck man it was eye opening. A lot of crazy poverty (even compared to Thailand/Laos/Vietnam where I've spent approx a year total) and in several cases the dirtiest towns and cities I've ever been to in my life. Walking down the street was exhausting as people would just walk straight into each other and not give a shit. Someone helped me once when I was lost arriving into Kunming at night and walked me to a bus station, they had a maybe three month old baby sleeping in a sling around their chest and they were constantly walking into people/having people walk into them and slamming the kid, and nobody cared. It was fucking crazy. I live in the US now and have worked with a number of people from Beijing and other kinda "rich" areas and they often say really negative things about rural china and while I tend to kinda smile and nod it's like "man normally I take that kind of stuff as snobbery but this is very consistent with my experience". Did you ever see those "don't let your bus driver fall asleep" signs with the dead bodies on them at the bus stations? Wild country.
Man I've been wondering if Metal Inquisition was your work since you mentioned in a video that you got a Morbid Angel tattoo in someone's kitchen. I remembered reading the same story on MI a few years ago, back when I would check on that site most days. Makes me all the more happy for the success you're enjoying on your current ventures. "We sentence you to death.....by guillotine!"
Heyy Finn! Thank you so much for this video, I found this extremely helpful and I’m beyond happy that your video populated when I was researching Abercrombie! I’m currently in the Marine Corps and have served close to 8 years. I just started a side job at Abercrombie as an entry level brand rep to understand the company from the inside out. I’m interested in applying to a merchandising or visual merchandising position . I’m currently going to school to get my bachelors while still being active duty & pursuing more than 40 hours a week at Abercrombie on my off time from the Marine Corps. I will be getting out of the Marines in April and I’m trying to be as prepared as possible to apply for a position in Columbus. Is there any advice that you would give someone who is interested in those positions? Thanks in advance, I loved the video!
Connecting the dots.. I see why your thumbnail game is so strong now. it’s absolutely true about the creative people in “boring” corporations are really on the same page. I find that a good MO for working for a business that doesn’t care about you personally is to make it a point every day to actively care about your day in-day out teammates.
Thank you TH-cam algorithm God for putting this on my landing page. One of the best videos I've seen...insightful and poignant. It's true that it's all about being in the right place at the right time, about connections, and dickheads are everywhere!
Hey Man.I wanted to ask love Chain Of Strength I'm figure u do as well.I was thinking what u were saying about recordings & everything. Have u ever noticed on that 7 inch the vocals are so low.Do u think they met to do that or was that how the recording was back then.
Yes, almost every day. He wasn’t really at all like how he’s portrayed in the media. He is definitely an odd guy, but absolutely brilliant and always very nice and friendly. Never had a bad experience with him at all and i was in well over 100 meetings with him.
Finn Mckenty That's great to hear. The media was very harsh on him. I know some people didn't agree with his remarks or his actions, but you have to agree that he made A&F prosper. Too bad he's not in there now, but I guess all great things come to an end.
I absolutely hated Abercrombie and Hollister when I was a young TRVE METALHEAD kid in middle school, I would've had a mental breakdown if I knew it was being designed by people like me
This is yet, another example, of how stereotyping people is a terrible thing to do. Cool story! I know some people who worked in graphic design there but it was after your time. One in-particular definitely wouldn't be talking to you about music though as their musical taste consists of shit that has banjos and washboards lol. People underestimate how massive Limited Brands is (or they just don't know).
at first I started to laugh because a human who looks like you could NEVER work inside one of the stores, it would have to be the ware house or corporate.
I worked at a&f contact centre for a while about 4 years ago the only person I remember was a girl called marija joesefskys I think. she was quite preppy but seemed nice. everyone else I met was a bit of an asshole.
Did you have to learn the local language when you went to China and Korea, or did the people you worked with speak English because they were so used to working with Americans?
Im not judging you on this because you have no control over it, but were the factories you went to in Asia as bad as the stereotype? Were they just dirty sweatshops?
No, that whole thing is an outdated stereotype thats not accurate at all. They’re not any different than an american factories- i’m sure sweatshops exist somewhere but that’s largely a thing of the past that people just keep parroting based on headlines from 25 years ago
I used to work at Abercrombie n Fitch but retail and even though on the outside everyone seems preppy, they were all actually really cool and into similar styles. I even have a couple best friends I met there. On a side note, I actually stopped into the on off 3rd street in Santa Monica randomly because my younger sister was cold after the beach and man have they changed. Really good indie tunes playing and the outfit requirements seemed to have gotten really relaxed there. Saw one guy working wearing a Japandroids shirt and another with a Mac Demarco shirt lol
Real punk people are open minded and free thinkers. If you call yourself punk and the punkest thing you do is decide what spikes to put in your leather jacket or what album cover to paint on the back or what is the next goofy haircut or color you're gonna do next then I'm sorry. You're not punk rock.
"I think if you're watching this channel, you're pretty cool."
I'm not crying. You're crying.
Such a dumb you are..
I’m watching and glad I could help out!
those bags were super iconic and really helped define that branding and cultural moment, i'd be super proud working on those too!
It's amazing to have this videos out so people can understand that marketing is much more than TV ads. And to make people understand the POWER OF NETWORKING. Networking is basically a treasure map for professional life.
I went through an Abercrombie phase despite still being into punk. I was just feeling held back by the gatekeeping in punk. It felt refreshing to wear clothes like that. Plus, I grew up poor and I had my first part time job, and I could finally afford the clothes.
Plus, the clothes were always comfortable.
Back in the day they were better quality they just still h&m quality stuff today
Between 2010-2015 I worked in visual merchandising team for totally different (not sexy) apparel company based in London, UK and I can relate so much with what are you saying about your experience. Eventhough I was doing amazing creative things in London, Finland or India (I am originally from Prague) and learned si much from it, it was sometimes so stressful I could only do it couple of years before transitioning.
I was there when you were! I worked on the hollister women’s print and pattern design team from 2007-2010. How you wrapped up the video was my experience too. It was a unique work experience but I could only stay so long to preserve myself. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I remember hollister, american eagle and abercrombie and fitch was real big at my school from 2006 - 2009. I was more into pop punk, post hardcore and metalcore and wore skate shirts like element, famous, vans, quicksilver, and hurley. I also wore joke shirts too. I also got picked on and made fun of a lot throughtout high school, so I didn't really get into the whole holister, american eagle, abercrombie and fitch, and aeropastle.
I worked at Hollister right at that time too... unfortunately not in marketing/design haha. I feel like I said, "Hey, What's up?" about a million times by the time I quit.
I kinda miss the smell of the stores tbh
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA I just remember going through the discount bins after closing blasting ADTR's homesick until we finished at like midnight. That smell is still etched in my brain almost a good decade later
I worked there too. The company has a huge turn around. I worked in the stores and I’ve seen the changes even in just a few short years (2014 to 2019). By the time I worked in the sites in college they had already started to update their image but I knew about the old aesthetic from shopping there as a kid.. I think currently they are going in a good direction
No they're pretty much dead now basically an overpriced h&m
I still have all my Abercrombie clothes and shopping bags! The clothes are cool, colorful, super-comfy, and solidly made!
I remember walking into American Eagle wearing an Acacia Strain shirt and the guy working came up and started talking to me about them. I thought it was pretty awesome.
AE is the shit. Soft, comfortable, quality clothing at a good price.
Dude this story hits home so hard for me. Long story short my dad had a graphics and printing company where I spent my whole life from 3 - 15yrs old. It was in my blood that this is what I wanted to do and for whatever reason my dad never took interest in taking me on. I dropped out of college after my first year studying graphic design and spent my mid teen years focussing on being in bands and having absolutely nothing to show for it when everyone grew up and went to university. I was broke, lost and had to get shitty jobs all the way into my 20's to try and find a place for myself.
I freelanced graphic design in my spare time for years and finally felt confident enough in myself and my backstreet portfolio to try and get a job at a big company despite my odds of having no qualifications at all.
Trying to cut the story shorter but I applied for a job at a huge and historic drinks company called VIMTO. With no qualifications and a street cred portfolio I somehow managed to beat everyone I was up against who all had degrees in this field. I got my dream job from absolutely nothing and within 6 months I found it was the worst job I had ever had in my life and it fucked me up. I took the plunge out of there and started back at the bottom of the barrel all over again. I started a merch company called Stay Creepy Co. on the back of my negative experience working for that huge company and I've managed to buy a house through that and also start and grow a successful creative/construction company. I've finally grinded myself to place I've never been more happy to be in 2019.
I genuienly feel I can relate to your mindset especially with the revolving world of heavy music that always seems to be the root of every step in the creative/business life. It's fucking insane!
Wow, very cool! Would love to hear more about this - always love showing people how to find an escape route
I have this same experience from skateboarding. Whether it's been restaurant jobs or art shows or whatever the network from the scene has always had my back
This was really interesting. Love the insight this gave. Guess you never know where life will take you when you seize the opportunities presented :) networking is such a terrific thing
Yes!
Dude, I'm loving all your videos. Thank you. After being burnt out on touring it definitely helps to hear someone cover a lot of the stuff most of us went through in the underground scene, from playing music to working shit jobs.
Definitely backed on the things you think might not be cool can end up being things you most enjoy.
Your work experience and life lessons are so valuable. Thanks for sharing. It's funny how I got jobs I didn't expect to get (for example, LA County) but I got rejected from small companies who just didn't think I would be a good fit. I actually really wanted some of the small company jobs and I thought I had a chance.
Yall have to check out the Mad TV Skits about Abercrombie if you havnt seen them
Cool video. My first job after college was lifting boxes in the AnF DC on the campus there and now I’m a desktop publisher for a printing company that does work for Abercrombie and Hollister close to their campus. We mostly print in store tags and smaller signs.
I started at AnF in 2013 and the print company in 2014.
Do you work at Fineline by any chance? If so, is Randy still there? Loved those guys!
Finn Mckenty no I work for Robin Enterprises. AnF and Hollister are relatively new clients for us. Hollister for about a year and a half and AnF probably 9 months.
I had no idea you ran Metal Inquisition! I used to love reading that blog!
Oh sick, small world!
Important follow up questions: A. Do you still like girls who wear Abercrombie and Fitch? B. Does Chinese food still make you sick?
You were lucky you got the job in A&F. I am Asian I applied and i ddint get the job. I really adore A&F and I really wanted to be guys who wears A&F. They have lots of friends and lots of female friends. I still wear Hollister nowadays but i really want to wear A&F.
I like Hollister better. A&F sounds old to me. Hollister gives a young vibe.
lol anecdote about abercrombie&holister is that when i was 13 i wanted to get into "fashion" which meant i would get clothes from abercrombie, holister, and aeropostal. which to me were the like, bougie-est brands i could ever imagine. i guess i'm saying, that it's crazy how elaborate and powerful the branding for those stores was at the time. at least to me, my parents hated it.
I think it was awesome that you realized the thing you were missing and decided to just go do it even though it wasn't initially exactly a thing that excited you. That's work ethic.
Dude, you have something that can't be bottled: integrity and personal relationships (even through the huge platform of YT, blogs, etc.) and humility.
Thanks for being awesome and sharing your thoughts on the journey 👏🏼
🤗
Dude, I've been following you for years. Back in the SYWH/MI article days. Content just gets better and better (it started from a high place anyways!). You're right, you meet random metal and hxc dudes everywhere. My network has helped me out immensely in both personal projects, my small business, and school/career. I love hearing the random job stories. Keep it coming!
Oh wow! Thanks man, appreciate the support for so long!
Finn! I absolutely adore your videos. You seem like a real down to earth person and your videos are very entertaining. I'm definitely that weirdo who wants to hear about 90s powerviolence while wearing my Abercrombie jacket. No joke.
Thank you, i appreciate the support!
Love your explanation of why you wanted to work for a large company. Used to work in craft beer, was sick of making nothing, so I applied at Anheuser-Busch. Ended up getting the job. It had a lot of highs and lows. I've since left that industry, but in my post-beer life, any time I mention the companies I worked for to a professional, once AB is mentioned, the conversation shifts and all of the sudden, i'm taken more seriously. It's pretty silly, but i'm glad I did that.
Exactly! It’s so dumb how that works, but it’s super real.
I was waiting for those last few seconds where you mentioned how miserable it made you, haha. It's encouraging to hear that having a bigger name on your resume eventually helped you get where you want to be, I've been looking for my escape hatch from corporate America for too long!
You have probably mentioned this in another video, but did you have whatever your next gig was lined up when you left? Or did it take quitting cold turkey to reset/reevaluate what you wanted to be doing? The security of a company you know isn't going anywhere can make it hard to quit, even when it makes you actively unhappy.
I didnt have anything lined up- it was very scary and risky and i’d probably do it differently now but i had to get out or i was gonna go in a bad bad bad direction
I think he might have designed one of my shirts I have
oh shit, we have another thing in common
what a serendipitous story. I'm 43 and contemplating a career move. It's tough at this age, so but hearing about experiences, while not related to what I'm doing, you just gave me things to think about which is invaluable. Thank you. This might be blasphemous, but I might be even enjoying this channel more a little more than your main one.
I like this one better too! And yeah, at our age its def scary to make big moves
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA what are you talking about? you're a baby compared to me. a whole 3 years!!
Only 2 now :(
do you know any details on where and how specifically they let their clothing made and produced?
Till this day nothing has come close in terms of softness and quality than a lot of the clothes by them made from 2006-2012
very high quality soft material, but not very expensive. unique and ultra rare combination !
i just got into your videos the other day on your main channel because of Hardcore. and its funny, i worked for hollister from 2006 till 2010. and its funny how many hardcore kids in my local scene worked at this store with me. anyways, i just wanted to express solidarity towards you. lol
Ha! Thanks man
So good I totally get what you’re saying. My first job was a graphic / web design for bluenotes ( kinda like lower status version of Abercrombie but Canadian lol) I thought I would hate it and was just doing it for experience, and honestly the work was EXTREMELY stressful and tedious, designing emailers every single day lol BUT the most rewarding work I’ve done is design window displays for summer and fall campaigns for a nationally recognized company, and the people i worked with were honestly the best people ever. I think this is awesome advice for anyone with strange, preconceived notions about a project or environment
This is great insight into what it is like working in marketing at a major retailer. Loved the insight in the ubiquity of punk fans in creative occupations.
Great video as always, Finn. I love learning about the back end and logistics side of corporate retail. Videos like this and resources like Glassdoor are making it easier than ever for jobseekers to have an insight into the true culture of most companies.
I can't remember if it was a comment on this video or another one, but I remember posting something on one of your vids about how much I resented Abercrombie and Hollister because so many of the bullies at my school wore it, but I had a bit of an epiphany recently where I realized resenting a brand for those sorts of reasons so many years later is pretty childish. Like, I'm 28. I haven't been in high school for 10 years. That doesn't invalidate what I went through, but I shouldn't let some shit from when I was 13-18 dictate my life for the rest of time. I actually ended up buying some clothes from Hollister recently and they were all comfortable and good quality, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
super cool knowin who one of the guys behind the bags was, hey man i’m george and i was on a couple bags durin the 08-13 years 🤙🏽 great vid, subscribed
Oh cool! Small world!
I actually got one of my early freelancing jobs from a contact in an MMOG (Dark Age of Camelot) so these things do happen ^^ Also I think your point about jobs not being what you expect is very good - most of the (IT) projects I get offered, where the job description is basically just a long list of the most recent buzz words, I flat out decline these days, especially if it includes things like young and dynamic teams ... Nothing wrong with being young and dynamic but if doing a 20+ people IT project, young and dynamic usually means nobody has ever seen a project like that all the way through ... and there is a good reason why you have to pay a lot for experience.
But anyways - I have seen it a lot of times where people would get their Business degree and then apply for HR jobs, because they wanted to "work with people", but they ended up sorting and filing CVs, planning seating charts etc ... from what I have seen - even as a pure developer on an IT project you need to interact a lot more with people than that.
Excellent point about “young and dynamic” lol. Also probably means “not great pay”
Going to Japan was one of the most rewarding things of my life. I went over there to help a software company get a foothold in the market with some of the biggest companies in the country. I also went over there to work with a couple of bands. All the tourist locations were cool and all, I was more heavily rewarded doing all of the things that normal citizens do and going off the beaten path. I learned so much from being there and I hope I have another opportunity to go back so I can learn even more
I only spent a couple days there - would have been cool to take a longer trip! How long were you there?
@@FinnMckentyPRMBA That's still cool though. I was there nearly 3 months. I had an apartment there because I was mainly in the Kanto region and it was a lot easier to live in than say a capsule hotel or hostel. It ended up being cheaper too somehow.
Yes on keeping an open mind about who you work for. One of the worst jobs I ever had was doing design for an upstart toy company. On paper it sounded like the coolest job but I couldn't stand most of the people I worked with and my boss was a monster (who eventually went to prison for embezzlement). Conversely, I got a gig at a law firm and everyone there was super cool. Most of the people who weren't lawyers were working there to fund their film, band, etc. But even the lawyers were dope. I'd probably still be there if I didn't move. Don't be suckered in by a job just because they let you wear jeans to work. HR departments are your friend!
Sounds about right - so many “”cool”” companies are run by a founder who is actually an unstable piece of shit
I went to rural china in late 2008, went to a few cities as a tourist, got local buses and such. Holy fuck man it was eye opening. A lot of crazy poverty (even compared to Thailand/Laos/Vietnam where I've spent approx a year total) and in several cases the dirtiest towns and cities I've ever been to in my life. Walking down the street was exhausting as people would just walk straight into each other and not give a shit. Someone helped me once when I was lost arriving into Kunming at night and walked me to a bus station, they had a maybe three month old baby sleeping in a sling around their chest and they were constantly walking into people/having people walk into them and slamming the kid, and nobody cared. It was fucking crazy. I live in the US now and have worked with a number of people from Beijing and other kinda "rich" areas and they often say really negative things about rural china and while I tend to kinda smile and nod it's like "man normally I take that kind of stuff as snobbery but this is very consistent with my experience". Did you ever see those "don't let your bus driver fall asleep" signs with the dead bodies on them at the bus stations? Wild country.
Chinese people definitely have a level of not giving a fuck that westerners can rarely even comprehend
Very true about having a recognizable corparate name on your resume.
Man I've been wondering if Metal Inquisition was your work since you mentioned in a video that you got a Morbid Angel tattoo in someone's kitchen. I remembered reading the same story on MI a few years ago, back when I would check on that site most days. Makes me all the more happy for the success you're enjoying on your current ventures. "We sentence you to death.....by guillotine!"
Oh wow! Thanks for the support!
Love these stories, super helpful and inspirational!
I work at Abercrombie too
Heyy Finn! Thank you so much for this video, I found this extremely helpful and I’m beyond happy that your video populated when I was researching Abercrombie! I’m currently in the Marine Corps and have served close to 8 years. I just started a side job at Abercrombie as an entry level brand rep to understand the company from the inside out. I’m interested in applying to a merchandising or visual merchandising position . I’m currently going to school to get my bachelors while still being active duty & pursuing more than 40 hours a week at Abercrombie on my off time from the Marine Corps. I will be getting out of the Marines in April and I’m trying to be as prepared as possible to apply for a position in Columbus. Is there any advice that you would give someone who is interested in those positions? Thanks in advance, I loved the video!
Connecting the dots.. I see why your thumbnail game is so strong now.
it’s absolutely true about the creative people in “boring” corporations are really on the same page.
I find that a good MO for working for a business that doesn’t care about you personally is to make it a point every day to actively care about your day in-day out teammates.
Yes! That’s a great point actually, wish I would have said that. That’s pretty much always a great investment of energy
@12:00 don't leave us hanging. I might be going through something similar and I need to hear the end of the story!
Thanks for thinking I'm pretty cool. I actually needed a little shot of positivity this morning.
🤗
Love these stories
Thank you TH-cam algorithm God for putting this on my landing page. One of the best videos I've seen...insightful and poignant. It's true that it's all about being in the right place at the right time, about connections, and dickheads are everywhere!
no one was forcing people to shop at AF, theyr free to go elsewhere. geesh..
Hey Man.I wanted to ask love Chain Of Strength I'm figure u do as well.I was thinking what u were saying about recordings & everything.
Have u ever noticed on that 7 inch the vocals are so low.Do u think they met to do that or was that how the recording was back then.
I have to know...did they corporate office get doused with fragrances like the mall stores? I always found that smell overpowering.
love the 2nd channel!!
Great video 🤘🏼
Im in a tech company and 75% of the dev team and 100% of the design dept listen to metal hardcore... This is true all of it
Yup! There’s an internal djent group at amazon lol
Did you ever meet Mike Jeffries on campus? I’ve always wondered how he was in person compared to being portrayed in the media.
Yes, almost every day. He wasn’t really at all like how he’s portrayed in the media. He is definitely an odd guy, but absolutely brilliant and always very nice and friendly. Never had a bad experience with him at all and i was in well over 100 meetings with him.
Finn Mckenty That's great to hear. The media was very harsh on him. I know some people didn't agree with his remarks or his actions, but you have to agree that he made A&F prosper. Too bad he's not in there now, but I guess all great things come to an end.
Yes it’s true when you have a big company name so so so true .
Hollister California is a farm town near the central coast that smells like cow farts. Weird its a preppy brand
I still wear Hollister i love Hollister.
I absolutely hated Abercrombie and Hollister when I was a young TRVE METALHEAD kid in middle school, I would've had a mental breakdown if I knew it was being designed by people like me
😂😂
Hello, Finn can you help me out I desperately need work.
This is yet, another example, of how stereotyping people is a terrible thing to do. Cool story! I know some people who worked in graphic design there but it was after your time. One in-particular definitely wouldn't be talking to you about music though as their musical taste consists of shit that has banjos and washboards lol. People underestimate how massive Limited Brands is (or they just don't know).
at first I started to laugh because a human who looks like you could NEVER work inside one of the stores, it would have to be the ware house or corporate.
Correct
Yeah! I too do think I'm pretty cool 😎
I worked at a&f contact centre for a while about 4 years ago the only person I remember was a girl called marija joesefskys I think. she was quite preppy but seemed nice. everyone else I met was a bit of an asshole.
Did you actually work on a skate video? Or several? If so what which ones?
Flo
You did metal inquisition? Cool 😎😎😎
You’re either good looking or imaginative/creative. Pick one
I really wanted to work in A&F back in the days. However I am Asian, short, fat and ugly! So i didnt get the job.
Did you have to learn the local language when you went to China and Korea, or did the people you worked with speak English because they were so used to working with Americans?
"I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch" finish the corny boy band lyrics ppl 🤣🤗
Chinese food makes me sick
I know that’s probably not the next lyric lol it’s just in the song somewhere
I love this content:)
Thank you!
OMG you worked at Abercrombie & Fitch????... and you call yourself "punk"? What a poser!!!!
lol jk
It’s true, i pose
*INSPIRATIONAL*
Im not judging you on this because you have no control over it, but were the factories you went to in Asia as bad as the stereotype? Were they just dirty sweatshops?
No, that whole thing is an outdated stereotype thats not accurate at all. They’re not any different than an american factories- i’m sure sweatshops exist somewhere but that’s largely a thing of the past that people just keep parroting based on headlines from 25 years ago
Haha this was lovely
This is why Abercrombie failed after 2012
this is giving me major tumblr flashbacks haha. i think i sent you probably like at least 1 question a week
Ha! The old days
I used to work at Abercrombie n Fitch but retail and even though on the outside everyone seems preppy, they were all actually really cool and into similar styles. I even have a couple best friends I met there.
On a side note, I actually stopped into the on off 3rd street in Santa Monica randomly because my younger sister was cold after the beach and man have they changed. Really good indie tunes playing and the outfit requirements seemed to have gotten really relaxed there. Saw one guy working wearing a Japandroids shirt and another with a Mac Demarco shirt lol
Wow! Yeah that would never have happened during the Mike years
Real punk people are open minded and free thinkers. If you call yourself punk and the punkest thing you do is decide what spikes to put in your leather jacket or what album cover to paint on the back or what is the next goofy haircut or color you're gonna do next then I'm sorry. You're not punk rock.
of course we are Kool..😂
Absolutely nobody:
6 mins of total useless info. Just get to the point