ASSOCIATE SPOTLIGHT SERIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH LORI SCIABBARRASI
April 28, 2022
In our Associate Spotlight series, we are highlighting associates across the company who are shaping our community and who embody our Life at Centric philosophy every day. This National Volunteer Month, we are excited to recognize the associates who have dedicated their time to volunteering with our local charity partners and are committed to making a difference in our communities.
Meet Lori Sciabbarrasi, Associate Compliance, Finance at Centric Brands.
What is your role at Centric Brands?
My role at Centric Brands is Compliance Chargeback Associate. I have been at Centric Brands for almost 10 years now and have been able to work with an amazing team handling all compliance deductions taken by our customers. I love getting to work closely with teams from sales, operations, warehouses and different finance teams to decrease chargebacks and increase profits.
Why is building community important to you?
I believe that community is incredibly important. We are all a part of this community so it’s our responsibility to help take care of it. We all have different talents and abilities, which makes us all unique, and puts us all in position to help in some way. And when we all work together to build a better community, we all win.
Have you previously volunteered with Centric Brands? If so, what impacted you the most from that experience?
I love how working at Centric Brands has allowed me to volunteer with different organizations. I was able to help organize and participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K for several years. We have worked with places such as Kids Path at Hospice of Greensboro and partnered with local schools to provide children and families a Christmas that they might not have been able to have. We have wrapped presents for families, and made greeting cards for those in the hospital, among other things. Being able to share my time with other members of the community is incredibly rewarding and connects us to the community as a whole. Investing our time and resources to young people and families is vital to ensuring that we thrive as a community.
What steps can we take, as individuals and as a company, to make the fashion industry more sustainable?
We, as Centric Brands, are uniquely placed to have a huge impact on the global community as well as the fashion industry. By focusing on sustainable practices, we can really change the industry. I think it’s important to be using quality fabrics and quality manufacturing as opposed to the “fast fashion” trend that is growing. The decline in garment quality has resulted in people having to buy more because of cheap quality, and throwing more out. The impact is not just on the landfill though- when manufacturers are producing more merchandise, they are emitting more toxic waste and increased carbon emissions. By promoting quality merchandise over fast fashion, we can really make an impact to better our global community. Another thing I think we can do as a company is to promote diversity in our clothing lines and in our advertisements by becoming size inclusive and use models of different sizes and disabilities. By doing this we are able to reach more people and expand our brand base. Personally, making sure that when I have clothes or accessories I no longer wear, that I am donating them to organizations that can use them or even do swaps with friends to refresh our wardrobes without having to buy new all the time.
Tell us about a hobby you enjoy outside of work and why!
I love to read. I have basically turned my spare bedroom into a library at my house and I carry my Kindle around with me all the time. It’s always nice to have a little escape, and books let us live in any world we want for a while, and experience things that we may never get the chance to do.
