The success of Pattern can be attributed to our amazing team and the people within it. Our #PeopleofPattern series highlights our people; the faces, roles and responsibilities behind what makes Pattern great. This week, in our second instalment, we sat down with Lara Jelowicki, Pattern’s International Director, to discover the story behind her journey and experience at the company.
Lara Jelowicki joined the Practicology team in January 2014 as an Associate Consultant, coming from a successful and diverse career overseeing the launches and trading of ecommerce websites for a number of global brands. After Practicology’s acquisition by Pattern in 2018, Lara came into her role as International Director. Lara’s role focuses on overseeing and managing the international team and activity, as well as providing strategic support to retailers seeking global expansion.
Lara’s experience working in logistics of import/export, P&L ownership, marketing, strategy, and trading have proven invaluable to her role as International Director and to the Pattern team as a whole.
Why did you choose to work at Pattern?
I had been working as an Associate Consultant for Practicology for several years prior to the buyout and merger with Pattern. I came on board full-time post acquisition and really, it was an easy decision to make.
I first met with Chris Vincent (Chief International Officer) and heard his intentions for the international business, and then went to Salt Lake City, where I met our founders Dave Wright (CEO and Co-founder) and Melanie Alder (Chief Investment Officer and Co-founder) and the rest of the team in the US. They were all really inspiring. To hear not only what they had already achieved before buying Practicology but then to hear, from the top down, where they wanted to take the business, I had this instant belief that it would all happen. I knew the international team was going to be an important aspect of what they were trying to do, and I wanted to be part of the journey.
Pattern also has a team of great people. The thought of working with Chris and the other international members who were already onboard was just a really fun prospect. Sometimes it feels like we have become a bit of a work family. We spend so much time together, and some of us have travelled the world together.
I’m also someone who loves change and I embrace it. For people who think they want a job and they’re going to just sit in a box, that’s not Pattern. We’re changing every day along with the industry; we are constantly going with the times and adapting to the ecommerce environment.
What’s the most rewarding part of working at Pattern?
I think it’s a sense of achievement. Three years ago, when Pattern bought Practicology, Practicology was a team of strategic consultants and did not have the stock-buy model.
In the last 24 months, we’ve opened warehouses in England, The Netherlands, the UAE, Hong Kong, China, and Melbourne. We’re selling on Amazon in almost every global instance. We have localised businesses on JD.com, Tmall and other global marketplaces, and have built up our international business to be a formidable player in the industry.
That sense of achievement, knowing what it took to get to where we are today, is phenomenal. A lot has happened, with a lot of people involved, a lot of hard work, a lot of late hours, a lot of calls at random times of day due to different time zones. But everybody has come together as a collective and I believe we should be really proud of what we have done so far. There is obviously still a long way to go.
Why would you recommend working at Pattern?
If you want to be part of where ecommerce is going, I think the question is why wouldn’t you work at Pattern? Twenty years ago, if I had an opportunity to work somewhere like Pattern, it would have been game-changing to my career. Over the course of my career, we have seen all sorts of businesses come to market, whether it was Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Bilibili or others. The companies became integral to the ecommerce experience so quickly and now I feel that Pattern is in a similar place.
We are still in the early days of a company that will really make a difference in ecommerce. It’s an amazing opportunity to work at Pattern and be part of the growth globally. Being on the international team, as we start to really accelerate, is an exciting place to be.
How would you say Pattern is shaping ecommerce and marketplaces?
I’ve been working in international ecommerce for nearly two decades and I’ve seen over a hundred brands internationalise. Internationalisation can be a long, slow process involving multiple partners in each region and often at a country level. Our CEO Dave Wright talks about this a lot and refers to it as the Executive Dilemma, where your growth is limited by your ability to execute on going global online.
If you’re the right brand, with the right product and awareness, Pattern can take away the pain of achieving global scale online. You have accelerators, but you have to give away a piece of your business to them. Then you have Pattern, where you still retain ownership over your business, and we become a partner instead. This way, you can globalise quickly and with lower risk. That’s where Pattern is a pioneer.
Pattern is an all-in-one solution globally. That, plus our ability to act as a master distributor for brands in regions such as Asia and the Middle East, is pretty phenomenal. You can sell to just one company (i.e., partner with Pattern) and have your products sold online in every continent.
I also have to mention our technology, which is ingrained in what we do. We can provide consolidated insights and data on your brand globally. Very rarely do brands have a distribution partner who can consolidate everything and give them information at a detailed level across the board. To be able to log into a platform like Predict and see at a global level what the status of your sales are from a digital standpoint is, again, amazing.
We’re growing our team at Pattern!
If you’re looking to start a career in ecommerce or even if you’re a seasoned professional and want to learn more about our exciting opportunities, check out our open positions here.
