‘I Love My Job’: My Exciting Career Pivot From Fashion to E-Commerce at TikTok

Welcome to I Love My Job, the series where we hear from women who really love their jobs. Today, we sat down with Jamie Williams, Category Manager - Fashion on the E-commerce Operations Team at TikTok.

Williams joined TikTok a little over nine months ago after pivoting from decades of fashion corporate experience. “I'm a gleaming example of someone who you wouldn't necessarily expect to see in a tech setting,” she shares. “TikTok is a place where people like me, with fashion experience, can thrive.”

She’s certainly thriving in her current position! “I truly find the work that I do to be very exciting, and it’s definitely something that's revolutionary for the e-commerce space,” Williams tells us. “At TikTok, I work with some of the smartest and brightest people in the industry. Being able to collaborate closely with them on groundbreaking projects within the E-commerce operations division has been a really exciting opportunity.”

Specifically, Williams reveals how she’s helping to grow large projects from the very start in order to revolutionize the social media landscape. “I'm so excited for everyone to see what is coming within this space,” she says.

In the video below, Williams shares more about why she loves working at TikTok. We also provide lightly edited highlights from the video discussion in the following article.

In case you have trouble watching this video, please click here to watch it on YouTube.

What is the culture at TikTok like?

1. Our culture is extremely autonomous… The TikTok organization is considered flat. In the historical hierarchy of corporate America, it takes a lot of different guardrails to get to the top… But, at TikTok, you have access to everyone in a peer-to-peer space… Along with the day-to-day work, we’re also empowered to explore our ideas by creating our own projects to go find the impossible. In this way, we're able to see projects grow from ideation to full completion…

2. TikTok is extremely entrepreneurial. Being able to work on projects that you’re passionate about has been not only exciting, but an opportunity that I have never seen in my 10 years of corporate experience. I've been able to see a lot of really interesting projects come into fruition.

What is your favorite thing about TikTok?

The people. TikTok definitely hires some of the brightest people in the industry and beyond. Being able to access amazing learning opportunities, sourcing information, and having really great dialogues with very intelligent people has been a highlight for me.

And, because e-commerce is ever-growing and ever-changing, we have a lot of different people within our scope. Having so many people from different backgrounds and experiences has built our company to be something that I have never seen before. I touch hands with people who have been in the fashion industry for over 10 years like myself, people who were in tech for decades, and people who have untraditional backgrounds. 

The beautiful thing about it is that when all these people come together, it's a very interesting marriage of knowledge sharing as well as highly intellectual conversations. I truly love that part of TikTok.

How does TikTok support you? 

The most beneficial thing for me at TikTok is the level of mentorship that is given. When you first start, you're given a buddy who you are able to leverage from day one. Your buddy is someone who has been in the role a little bit longer than you, has gone through the TikTok learning curve, and is able to serve as not only a mentor, but as someone to ask questions, crowdsource knowledge, and to help make sure that you are learning and understanding so that you can be successful in your role. As a buddy, it's wonderful to see people come in and have such amazing questions that really help probe your knowledge of TikTok and all our inner workings…

Another big benefit that we have are employee resource groups (ERGs)… Across the entire world, there are people who leverage ERGs from not only a career standpoint, but also as a way to access a network and community in the different cities and settings that they might have to do business in.

What advice do you have for other women looking to work at TikTok?

If you have experience, if you have been in an industry for a while, just apply! [...] We are always looking for people who have differing experiences and can really bring their dynamic knowledge to TikTok.

Fairygodboss is proud to work with TikTok. Find a job there today!

Check out other posts in the ‘I Love My Job’ series:

• ‘I Love My Job’: How The Hanover Supports Me

• ‘I Love My Job’: ‘I Get to Make a Difference’: From My Daily Role to Leading a Latinx Community

• ‘I Love My Job’: Exploring How I’m Encouraged to Use My Voice, Think Big, & Make My Team Happier

• ‘I Love My Job’: The ‘Transformational, Collaborative, Innovative, and Motivating’ Culture at MBRDNA

• ‘I Love My Job’: I’m Able to Confidently and Comfortably Grow While Expressing Myself and My Idea