INDUSTRY FORUM WOMEN IN TOYS
WIT’s Young Professional Network: Helping You Start (or Restart!) Your Career BY
AMANDA MARSCHALL AND MEGAN GARDNER
Amanda Marschall and Megan Gardner, co-chairs of the Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment Young Professionals Network, explain how the WIT YPN can support anyone early in their career, looking for a career change, or re-entering the workforce — regardless of their age.
Picture this: You are three months from your college graduation. You majored in something you love, but don’t really know how it relates to the real world. You are job hunting but you don’t quite understand what job title you should put into your search. You aimlessly stare at your computer screen wondering what your next step is and wish you had some guidance and advice. Does that sound familiar? In many ways, this is the story of what we have all faced at some point in life — a desire for the next step, without really understanding what that could be. That is, until you have an enlightening conversation, the fog starts to rise, and you begin to feel in control of what your career steps look like. This crossroads is exactly where the WIT Young Professionals Network has swooped in to assist. We’re Megan Gardner and Amanda Marschall and we’re the co-chairs for the Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment Young Professionals Network (WIT YPN) — and we have set out to cultivate a network of brilliant women who support and inspire one another. Our network’s purpose is to ensure those new and not-sonew to the industry have the tools they need to succeed through a passionate network of peers and a variety of custom programming. At our core, we are all about career development. Through formal and informal events and sessions, we design our YPN programming to allow those interested to get involved in the way that best suits their needs. While the name “young” professionals network has typically insinuated a particular age group, we have decided to reinvent that mindset. Instead, we are fully inclusive of all, looking at
“young” as someone early in their career, someone looking for a career change, or someone re-entering the workforce. Through this desired purpose, we have had the opportunity to bring together a dedicated group of women who serve on the YPN committee and have created memorable and thought-provoking programming such as our Career Kick Off Month and a Shame-Free Book Club.
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