One of the benefits of becoming an FSF Named Scholar is the exclusive access Scholars gain to the partner behind their Scholarship. One of the best examples is the Nordstrom x FSF Scholarship Program. Each year, Nordstrom welcomes its Nordstrom x FSF Scholars to its Seattle headquarters for an immersive experience that offers a behind-the-scenes look at how one of fashion's leading retailers operates.
This past June, the seven 2026 Nordstrom x FSF Scholars traveled to Seattle for a two-day immersion with the Nordstrom team. Throughout the visit, Scholars met face-to-face with their Nordstrom mentors, connected with leaders across the organization, and participated in a job shadowing experience that provided an inside look at their mentors’ day to day. The trip also included a special visit to fellow FSF partner Tommy Bahama, where Scholars explored the brand's headquarters and gained additional insight into the many career paths within the retail industry.
A WORKDAY, UP CLOSE
The immersive opened at Nordstrom's corporate office, where each Scholar was matched with a Nordstrom employee mentor for a job shadow opportunity. Rather than sit through a single presentation, Scholars followed their mentor through an actual workday, seeing firsthand how a role in merchandising, buying, or design actually moves hour to hour. From there, the group headed to the fourth floor of Nordstrom's Downtown Seattle flagship for a guided store tour, watching the strategy from that morning show up on the sales floor.
INSIDE TOMMY BAHAMA'S DESIGN STUDIO
On day two, the group started the day at Tommy Bahama's offices, where Bradley O'Brien, Executive Vice President of Design, Product Development & Marketing, Dawn Brandl, SVP of Men's Design, and Kim Floyd, VP of Women's Swim & Resortwear Design, walked Scholars through how their teams collaborate across departments to bring a collection to life.
Scholars also toured the brand's in-house art department and photo studio, offering a rare look at the production side of a shoot most people see only as a finished image. 2024 Tommy Bahama x FSF Scholar and FSF Alum Vanessa Gissel, now an Assistant Designer at Tommy Bahama, joined to talk through her own path from Named Scholar to full-time designer, giving Scholars a glimpse into a career path they could picture themselves living in a few years.
MERCHANDISING, NETWORKING, AND A ROOM FULL OF INTERNS
In the afternoon, Scholars returned to Nordstrom for a Merchandising and Nordstrom Made leader panel, where executives from Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, and the company's private label broke down how a product moves from strategy and planning through design and production before it ever reaches a customer. Scholars shifted into a development workshop, built around the kind of skill that rarely gets taught directly: how to tell your story and build a network that actually holds up over a career, not just a semester.
The day closed with a networking reception at Mr. West in downtown Seattle, where Scholars met current and former Nordstrom interns now working full-time, putting the workshop's advice to use in real conversations before the night was over.
WHAT SCHOLARS TOOK AWAY
For Arya Shah, a 2026 Nordstrom x FSF Scholar, the week reframed the way she thought about the industry. "Being a Nordstrom x FSF Scholar gave me such an honest look into an industry that can often feel really opaque," she said. "Hearing people speak so openly about their career paths was incredibly inspiring, and as a recent grad, the Seattle experience felt like a real kickstart to my own journey."
Thank you to our partners at Nordstrom and Tommy Bahama for welcoming this year's Scholars into Seattle!
