Carly laid out her day to day with LEGO being the correspondent for advertising in the Amazon metabase. When Amazon purchases their LEGO inventory, Carly is responsible for some of the advertising in order to move the product. Her territories include the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada. As part of the working relationship with Amazon, Carly is responsible for the digital marketing campaigns that will move LEGO sets from Amazon’s warehouses, relying on analytics and trends to make sure that the consumer makes the final purchase. 

Carly credits her Vermont Academy experience for allowing her the courage to be adventurous in her college experience and career trajectory. Starting off studying physical therapy at Sacred Heart University, she learned that it was not the path she wanted to take, trusting her instincts she decided to change her major. She switched over to marketing in her sophomore year, allowing her interest in analytics to expand. She graduated with a degree in marketing and a minor in advertising and public relations. Carly describes the transition from Vermont Academy to college as “pretty seamless", crediting the school for making her independent at an earlier age. VA was a “huge advantage”, curating an experience that would allow an individual to follow passions and try different avenues. 

After college, Carly worked at a law firm in Philadelphia, a paper company, then transitioned to working for a consumer product goods company, where she was able to build on her “yes, what’s next” attitude. When she saw the position at the LEGO Group, Carly was beyond thrilled. She laughed while stating “our biggest problem is, how do we get more kids to play with toys? It could be worse”. She describes the hybrid work environment as full of joy, with LEGO bricks everywhere, and having a company that cares about your wellbeing. LEGO, a Danish company that has its headquarters in Billund, Denmark, got its name from the Danish word “leg godt” which means “play well”.

Being able to market toys and joy is one of Carly's big takeaways. She knows that buyers are using Amazon to shop for themselves, their child, their grandchild, or even a friend. Being able to meet people where they are and have full faith in the product has been important. Wanting to be fulfilled in a consumer society, Carly loves the idea of having such a broad demographic, “everyone uses LEGO bricks or knows someone who uses LEGO bricks”. Instead of your typical consumerism, LEGO sets provide dexterity and mindfulness, which is a standout to our everyday society. 

Now, working at the LEGO Group may be all fun and games, but when asking Carly about challenges she faces at work, she described that the external relationship with Amazon can be an obstacle. Digital marketing on Amazon is done through their proprietary platform, so when there is a bug, it is on Amazon to fix it, “if something is wrong there, I can't do my job”. LEGO spends tens of millions of dollars annually in advertising through Amazon. Despite the occasional platform bugs on Amazon, the working relationship between the LEGO Group and Amazon is excellent, she credited that relationship as being one of the reasons she is able to work through challenges more efficiently.

Carly recognizes that Vermont Academy helped her standout from others and acknowledge VA for developing her “morals and personal ethics”. Knowing the rush of wanting to get your career started quickly after college can lead to settling. When looking for a job, Carly knew she wanted to market a product that had a positive impact on the world. Sustainability, community, and forward thinking are the pillars that Carly has relied on to get where she is at today. The LEGO Group does a lot of outreach and community service with their sustainability and social responsibility teams on a local and global level. They are constantly thinking about how to make their products inclusive and better for the environment. 

We asked Carly what advice she would give to a student who is about to graduate and move on to the next step in their life. “It’s super simple, I think just follow your gut and intuition for sure, everyone has it, I had random opportunities of working and making no money and I would say sure, for the experience”. She credits VA with being the small school with endless opportunities such as being able to play three sports, explore theater and other opportunites and have her faculty and coaches encouraged her to expand her horizons beyond how she first arrived at VA. We asked for one last bit of advice, and we were left with this; “you never know what can come from an experience, from the relationships. Talk to professors, do the extra work, because you never know what can come from it. Have a strong moral compass and hold yourself to that standard that you would want someone else to be held to.”