04/27/2026
NRF Success Story: Meet Olivia Meyer!
“As a freshman during COVID, I joined NRFSA as a general member and was deeply impressed by the NRF Foundation’s virtual programming like the Executive Mentorship Program they hosted via Zoom to help allow students to connect with industry leaders, even at a time when most in-person networking opportunities had been cancelled. I was so grateful to the organization and excited by the growth opportunities they offered, I wanted to become more involved. So, I joined the NRFSA Executive Board, first as an intern, and ultimately worked my way up to become the President and NRF Foundation Student Ambassador by my junior year, where I gained experience leading a small team and coordinating retail-focused events for students on campus. I also was inspired to apply to the NRF Foundation Next Generation Scholarship Competition my junior year and became a Top 5 finalist, after pitching an experiential, in-store retail strategy for Neiman Marcus and presenting a CSR-focused case study for Nordstrom that included a product line aimed to close the gender-pocket gap. Being a finalist for Next Gen granted me the opportunity to attend the NRF Student Program in NYC, and it was there where I connected with a leader at Macy’s Inc, who ultimately inspired me to apply for a position at the company post-grad. During my undergrad, I pursued as many opportunities as possible to learn about the industry, which lead me to being selected for the UNESCO & Women@Dior mentorship program, an Inventory Planning Intern at Valentino during my study away experience in NYC, and the Fashion Scholarship Fund’s 2024 Chairman’s Award Winner. I also was asked to be a guest on the NRF’s “Retail Gets Real” Podcast to speak about Gen Z shopping behavior through my involvement with The Z Suite as a retail consultant. I always encourage students to be as curious as possible and to stay up-to-date with retail trends, and the NRF Foundation certainly connected me with the right resources and people to do so, and for that I am eternally grateful to the organization for expanding my horizons at such an early age”.
