“Ask Me Anything” with Foot Locker Engineer Brennan Nichols
Foot Locker Engineers are not always easy to get a hold of. Operations Engineer is a job title in the sneaker industry that is rarely public facing. Their position works heavily behind the scenes to help keep the Foot Locker brand on point. Yellowbrick Ambassador and Sneaker School grad Brennan Nichols is the Site Operations Engineer at Foot Locker.
Foot Locker Inc. is the leading brand that celebrates sneaker and youth culture worldwide. Their portfolio includes Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Eastbay and Footaction. They have about 3,000 retail locations in 28 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Foot Locker recently invested $100M in the reseller platform GOAT, which could yield interesting Goat x Foot Locker collaborations in the near future.
Brennan decided to take some time out of his day to give the Yellowbrick community some much needed career talk and industry gems via a ZOOM Webinar. He talked about his current position at Foot Locker, as well as his Sneaker School experience, solid Resume Tips, Building your network, and how to nail your interview for the job you want in the sneaker industry. At the end of it all, he opened up the floor for an “Ask Me Anything” Q&A session. We jotted down some of the top questions and answers and compiled a list below. You can press play on the video in this article to hear the webinar in its entirety, including all the questions and answers.
How did you get started in the sneaker industry?
“I started back in college where I did an internship at this sneaker boutique called Self Conscience. It is no longer open but it was the starting point for many people who have careers in the industry. I started as an intern, doing events on the weekends. We did a really cool collaboration with adidas back in 2008. That gave me my first love of the sneakers, the industry and sneaker marketing events. That’s the best place to start, as an intern.”
Do network connections matter and did a network connection help you get your job at Footlocker?
“Connections always matter. That goes back into building your network. Building my network helped me. What helped me was going to events, volunteering. Volunteering didn’t get me the job at Foot Locker but it helped me beef up my resume. I got my job from a staffing agency who saw my resume on Linkedin. They contacted me for an interview and I started as a temporary worker. A lot of big companies start people off as contract employees so don’t get discouraged by getting an offer on a contract position. Sometimes you get paid more often and paid more per hour. Sometimes you don’t have benefits so it depends on your livelihood but if you have the ability to go through a staffing agency, I recommend it.”
Can the Sneaker Essentials certificate of completion lead to a job opportunity?
“It can lead to a job opportunity but graduating from the program won’t give you a job. The course gives you a lot to talk about in interviews. Taking the course and having the certificate can lead to a lot of conversations during an interview. I’ve been in a lot of interviews with a lot of companies and they ask about the course. Whatever you learned from the course, you can mention it in the interview and that helps you stand out from the other candidates.
If a sneaker career is something you’re interested in, visit yellowbrick.co/sneakers. You can reach out to Brennan on IG. His handle is @wallstreetbnic.
