The perfect fit As director of communications for Fruit of the Loom Inc., Lindsay Porter ’05 is as comfortable talking about briefs as she is budgets and sales projections. “It’s been an adventure,” Porter says of her career thus far. “I don’t know if you would’ve asked me at Commencement Under the Oaks in 2005, ‘Where do you see yourself in 10 years?’ that I would’ve said ‘In the underwear business.’ But I am lucky to have been given the opportunity to have landed where I did and have learned so much in a relatively short time.”
A rising star
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t’s the naked truth: Most of us just don’t like to talk about our underwear. After all, they’re called “unmentionables” for a reason. But Lindsay Porter ’05 doesn’t blush when it comes to briefs, bras and boxer shorts—at least not anymore. “You get really comfortable talking about these kinds of things the longer you’re in the business,” she says. As director of corporate communications for all of Fruit of the Loom Inc., she does more than just talk about such topics. The role, which she assumed in June, sees her doing both internal and external communications across multiple platforms for the company’s family of brands, which includes Vanity Fair, Spalding and Russell Athletic—a perfect fit for the journalism and corporate communications double major who has risen steadily for the past decade. 20 the MAGAZINE of ELON
By the time Porter joined Fruit of the Loom Inc., in 2011, she had already amassed considerable experience. She worked in corporate communications and investor relations for Greensboro, N.C.,-based VF Corp—first as an intern while still at Elon and later as a full-time employee. By 2008 she was doing marketing for the Wrangler brand, a division of VF Jeanswear. At Fruit of the Loom, she began working in advertising and brand communications for the Russell Athletic and Spalding brands, but quickly saw her roles grow and change. Last year she started focusing solely on Fruit of the Loom underwear and casualwear and the multimillion advertising budget she oversaw to market it. While the challenge of managing such a recognizable brand with so many
moving parts may intimidate some, Porter saw it as an opportunity to grow. “It’s important the brand is firing on all cylinders to make the work as effective as possible and ultimately drive sales,” she says. “Consumer consumption of media—advertising or otherwise—has changed so much in recent years. Every new job is a challenge in its own way and I love that. I’ve been very fortunate to have some really cool jobs and responsibilities over the years, and I don’t take that for granted.” Porter’s success is no surprise to Janna Anderson, an associate professor in Elon’s School of Communications who encouraged her to pursue that first internship at VF Corp and still mentors her today. “Lindsay stood out immediately when she outperformed everyone in my highly demanding Media Writing course,” Anderson says. “I knew after knowing her for just a few years here at Elon that she would rise to the top no matter what career she took on or where she worked.” Porter has enjoyed being on-site with pro athletes and celebrities on commercial shoots for the products she represents, including working on the team that helped Fruit of the Loom forge a unique marketing partnership with social networking website LinkedIn and even helping the famed Naked Cowboy in New York’s Times Square change his underwear.
About that last one … When the company introduced a new line of no ride-up-leg boxer briefs earlier this year, it was looking for a fun way to help the product make a splash and generate buzz.
Photos courtesy of Fruit of the Loom Inc.
BY PHILIP JONES