Katrina Lake

“As a consumer, you don't want to choose from a million pairs of jeans. You just want the one pair that's going to fit you and look great on you.”

“Brick and mortar stores will ultimately mark down between 50 to 60% of its merchandise because they don't know who's walking in the door on any day, so they lose control.”

“Be known as a great resource. Are you an Excel genius? An expert on local restaurants? Fabulous at proofreading? Go beyond your job description by being an open resource for others in the company who could benefit from your talents. I believe that paying it forward will serve you well one way or another in the future.”

“My goal was to have a company off the ground by the time I graduated. But the worst-case scenario was I would have an MBA and a lot of opportunities ahead of me.”

“When I founded Stitch Fix, I wanted to create a company that I would want to work at for the rest of my life.”

“Clearly define what success means for you. Set short-term and quarterly career goals with your manager that will help lead you to your long term goals.”

“Not a manager or an executive yet? It's not too early to practice. Many companies are always looking for people to volunteer to help coordinate happy hours, onboard new employees, or plan the holiday party.”

“I love cooking. It's what clears my mind, since it's pretty hard to multitask when you're chopping vegetables.”

“There are millions and millions of products out there. You can look at eBay and Amazon. You can look at every product on the planet, but trying to figure out which one is best for you is really the challenge.”

“Creativity was definitely a big part of our household, and I remember always writing stories and being encouraged to be creative.”

“Ultimately, my belief is that the best marketing is creating a product that people are excited to talk about. Period.”

“When I feel like work and life are both going well, I feel like I can be fully present at both. I think the reminder to me is that both are super important, and I need to be able to feel like I can experience both in the way that makes me happiest. If I'm not happy in one or the other, it really affects the other side.”

“I'm most passionate about personalization. I firmly believe that personalized experiences with brands will most drive loyalty and relevance for customers in the future.”

“When the business really works is when we hear clients say, 'I've never had jeans that fit me until I got a pair from Stitch Fix.' We'll also hear, 'I would never have tried this dress on in a store.' It's not just about convenience. They're happier in their clothes.”

“Customer-centricity is unbelievably important.”

“Figuring out how to scale the very human art of personalization is difficult, but I believe that it is also the key to building a lasting connection with customers for the long term.”

“Delivering a service that consumers feel truly connected to and providing an experience that people love and love to organically share and talk about is the most effective form of marketing I know.”

“I wanted to be a doctor. I was pre-med at school, and I actually even took the MCAT. My ultimate decision was that I didn't love the work environment in a hospital.”

“Ironically, I think some of the inspiration around Stitch Fix is really what was great about stores in the heyday of stores.”

“Ultimately, I didn't quite find the company I wanted to join, but I met more than 100 entrepreneurs and realized that all these entrepreneurs were just as unqualified as I was. If I wanted to be this retailer of the future, or if I wanted to join the retailer of the future, I could just start it.”