As the Manager in the Customer Operation Department, Jazmin’s Customer Service team is responsible for ensuring that all customer inquiries are answered and resolved with buyer satisfaction as the result. The team focuses on doing good work which will result in positive customer feedback and reviews, improving company morale and reputation. Her Return Merchandise Authorization team is also responsible for handing returns and replacement parts. The fast-paced department ensures that refunds and replacements are issued in a timely manner. To deliver results, Jazmin plans every day ensuring that productivity is a top priority.

Jazmin has been an Align team member for over five years and thrives in a family-like, teamwork-driven environment. During her time with Align, she has enjoyed developing as a leader and growing with the company. “We are like family here and work great as a team. Everyone knows their duties and responsibilities and we get our job done efficiently,” says Jazmin.

Prior to joining Align, Jazmin had many years of experience as a cashier and aspired to work in a management position. She worked her way up at Align and was promoted to a managerial role after a few months. “I have grown professionally in many ways,” says Jazmin. “We deal with customers on a daily basis and we have to ensure that we are fully equipped with the right tools and resources to answer every question. Conflict resolution has been a big one for me. Through assisting our customers, collaborating with coworkers and resolving product issues, I’ve learned and gained experience in this area. It’s something I feel like I have really overcome.”

Her leadership philosophy focuses around communication, attitude and motivation. “I always make time to communicate with and mentor my employees,” says Jazmin. “Being hands-on with them has helped me motivate employees to want to work harder and develop them into great team assets.”

Being part of Align has helped Jazmin learn the importance of leadership and determination. “We continue to expand, and with that comes hard work,” she says. “Multitasking is something that I learned was a necessity and something that you need in order to be able to adapt to different scenarios and improve along the way.”

Jazmin’s work directly impacts the experience of each Align customer. “We strive for immediate resolutions and hassle-free experiences. We know that online shopping can be a hassle, so our goal is to ensure that the buyer receives top-level service.

As a senior graphic designer, Amber Chen is responsible for all visual aspects of Align. This includes retouching photos, editing video clips and creating motion effects. To keep things running smoothly, the organization is a high priority.

Amber has been an Align team member for over six years and takes pride in ensuring that the brand is beautifully represented. After graduating college, her role at Align became Amber’s first full-time job. With time, she has grown with the company. “Working at Align allows me to become immersed in the whole process of how a brand is born,” says Amber. “My work extends beyond basic graphic design and I’ve improved my knowledge of sales, marketing and the grand scope of e-commerce.” Amber also plays a role in onboarding new Align employees by helping them become familiar with the product line during the early stages of their employment.

Align’s Kidzone brand has been a passionate project of Amber’s. “Kidzone expanded the product line a bit later after I gave birth to my daughter, and Kidzone is like a child to me, too,” says Amber. Prior to her work with Kidzone branding, she had over two years of experience in illustrating product manuals and listing details. The Kidzone project required her to learn every product’s features from the inside out, evoking meaning through each ride-on toy. “I told myself that I wanted to create a brand that my baby girl would love and millions of families would love, too. This motivated me to uphold the highest standards for my work.”

Amber places a high value on the way in which her work improves the customer experience. “Graphic design impacts the first impression of a brand,” Amber says. Through her work, she hopes to create an exciting, meaningful customer experience that “attracts our guests, gives them a good experience and makes them more likely to remember us.”

Amber’s design philosophy is: “Be a self-starter. Deliver a clear message.” It is her goal to bring this philosophy to life through her design work at Align. She describes the Align aesthetic as “simplicity and authenticity with satisfaction.” Through each design asset, Amber looks to deliver an honest, understandable message and explain the products through visualizations, all while upholding a quality artistic standard.

“Being creative is my life calling,” remarks Furniture Design Director Robert Soussana.

With over 27 years of furniture industry experience, Robert brings his passion for interior design and architecture to Align. Since joining the company in 2020, Robert has been leading the design, direction and merchandising for the home furnishing items which are sold by Align under the Belleze and Novattic brands.

Robert grew up in a creative home with Moroccan parents who were “constantly recreating the space we lived in,” he says. “This was a foundation that supports how I look at the built environment today: it’s about details and subtlety, creating beauty from my rich background, and having a clean idea of what works and what won’t.”

A typical work day for Robert involves sketching furniture through computer-aided designs (CADs) and renderings, communicating with overseas offices, collaborating with designers and merchandisers and reviewing price points for furniture products.

“My career path has truly been an experience of a lifetime, from global travel to creating amazing designs for the most influential brands in the marketplace,” says Robert. “I feel like I’ve never worked a day in my life because I love what I do and see it as a complete creative outlet.”

Furniture design is Robert’s true passion. And in addition to designing amazing products for various lifestyle brands, he aims to regularly sharpen his skill sets to ensure that he is always developing beautiful interior spaces. His time at Align has helped Robert learn more about the business of e-commerce.

“This past year, I’ve learned so much about the marketing side of an e-commerce brand,” Robert explains. “Align gave me an opportunity to see how an e-commerce home furnishings importer works. I’m fascinated by e-commerce as a business model. It’s completely different from brick and mortar. With brick and mortar, your marketing budget goes towards retail space, advertising, retail employees, product representatives and showrooms. With e-commerce, the marketing is completely different. The focus is on the brand identity, website, influencers, video and photography.”

A passion project for Robert has been the creation of the Novattic furniture brand, which will launch in 2022. Novattic furniture fuses diverse design concepts into one gorgeous brand which provides many stylish pieces at a great perceived value. Robert describes the aesthetic as a “balance in symmetry and proportions.”

Novattic designs with the customer in mind, focusing equally on attractiveness, quality and value. Robert hopes that the trends which inspire Novattic can “emerge and change with time,” thus preserving the essence of the brand.

A true creator at heart, Robert has embraced the opportunity to develop a diverse range of products for Align which are beautifying homes around the world. “I love that the product line covers low- to high-end home furnishings. We’re able to create and design for all.”