A kitschy lamp in burnt orange. A luxurious cerulean blue duvet. And, of course, a castle cat condo, replete with a purple velvet turret. These are just a few of the items you can find perusing Wayfair, the home furnishings e-commerce site.
But building a digital platform to sell the “zillion things” available at Wayfair isn’t all about décor and design. Just ask the six alumni working there.
As a senior project manager, Kathryn Metscher Lally ’10 (MBA ’11) leads a team of project managers based in the company’s engineering department. Her team’s project portfolio ranges from building new data centers to launching a new logistics center to developing new functionality in the cloud. Other alumni at the Boston-based Wayfair include Rachel Lus ’15 (business account manager), Maggie Lydecker ’11 (interior design manager), Nate Corning ’14 (linehaul logistics coordinator), Jordan Homan ’12 (software engineer), Caroline Doyle ’13 (senior buyer) and Jessica Bedenbaugh Harrington ’10 (former B2B sales manager, who left in the summer of 2018 to work for the cloud-based communications company Fuze).
When business moves at the speed of cyberspace, work is never dull.
“The dynamic and fast-moving pace of Wayfair keeps you on your toes and learning how to navigate problems creatively,” says Lally.
The Cougars working at the home furnishings company, however, landed there by happenstance.
“To my knowledge, none of us knew each other before Wayfair,” says Lally, who is a native Bostonian. “I didn’t know any CofC alumni at Wayfair before coming to the company, and I haven’t recruited anyone … yet.”
Lally returned to the City on the Hill in 2012. After working in retail, the business administration major, who also earned her MBA from the College, decided she wanted to explore the e-commerce side of the business world.
“When I interviewed with Wayfair, I was immediately attracted to the energy and culture, and was interested in learning more about how the heck do you sell furniture online?!” she jokes. “I’ve been here six years and have enjoyed the ride every day.”
And the more Cougars, the better.
