Women2Watch Interview: Parinda Muley

​Who are you and what do you do?
​I am currently the Vice President of Innovation & Business Development at Macy’s Inc.  In this role, I lead innovation and strategic development, primarily focusing on driving initiatives that create new revenue streams, deliver exciting in-store experiences, and increase customer engagement.  Most recently,  I spearheaded  the launch of The Market at Macy’s, Macy’s retail-as-a-service platform and Macy’s Style Crew, Macy’s micro-influencer program.  These two programs have introduced completely new operational and business models to Macy’s.

How did you get to where you are?
I had an interesting career trajectory that has exposed me to numerous industries.  I started my career in investment consulting and went to business school with the intent of going deeper in the investment management space.  In spending my summer internship with an investment shop, I quickly realized that my interests always landed me more in the strategy and innovation space. 
 
Post-business school, I spent several years with a management consulting firm and focused on the media sector. I transitioned from consulting to go in-house with a media company, focusing on business development and innovation.  I spent the bulk of my career in the business development for media companies and more recently moved to the retail sector.
 
In the retail sector, I have had the opportunity to bring my learnings from the media space and apply them to retail – specifically, thinking about reutilizing assets in a creative way, or thinking about shoppable content and user generated content in driving new sales, or thinking about disruptive technologies like AR/VR and how that could help solve shopper pain points.  During my time at Macy’s, I have helped launch The Market @ Macy’s which creates a one-of-a-kind pop up shop – bridging fashion, culture, community and entertainment all in one place under a completely different licensing model.  I also helped launch Macy’s Style Crew where we focused on creating a scalable distributed commerce model where shoppable video and micro-influencers intersect, using our own colleagues as ambassadors for the program.  We also deeply studied the VR/AR space and launched the first virtual reality experience in our furniture space to solve for fit and personalization, giving customers a real way to visualize their space.

It is fascinating to see various industries converging and a company like Macy’s actively recruiting people from different backgrounds to continue to bring new, fresh thinking to the company.  While my career trajectory was one path of getting me where I am today, I believe the general desire to want to solve problems and find new creative ways to getting at issues has been the real ‘x-factor’ in getting me here.  I am genuinely motivated by a changing landscape and am always keeping a pulse on various trends and industry changes – that is what continues to shape my thinking and approach, and has truly gotten me to where I am today.

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What advice would you give to other aspiring Women2Watch?
Stay curious.  Stay connected.  Actively observe.  Be an advocate of other women.  Being curious, focusing on building an authentic network, and really listening to those around you will help you continue to refine and develop your own career.  Advocating for your female colleagues will help elevate all of us.

What are you most excited about looking at 2019?
I am most excited about what I’m seeing in disruptive technology and how that is going to continue to shape and change entire industries and how they do business.   On a personal note, I’m very excited to continue traveling the world with my family.  Japan is on the list for 2019!

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