Ashley Godwin ’25 Launches Career with Top Retail Company

Growing up in High Point, the nation’s furniture capital, Ashley Godwin was no stranger to the world of textiles, fashion and homeware. 

“My great-grandmother was a buyer for Belk, my mom had an embroidery business and my grandma had worked at a sewing plant, so I feel like that’s where my interest really stemmed from,” she says. 

When she toured the Wilson College of Textiles and discovered the brand management and marketing program, she knew she had figured out how she wanted to continue that family legacy. 

“It really stood out to me because of the focus on the business side of fashion and consumer trends that go into it,” she remembers. 

Once on campus, Godwin quickly honed in on her dream: to become a buyer for a major brand.

“I just love the lifestyle of it. Not every day is the same and they get to be creative in their own way by selecting merchandise. And then, since I’m so interested in consumer buying behavior too, being on the other side of it seems really cool to me,” she says. “It’s more than just sitting at a desk. I just love the idea of being able to select products and then know that the consumers are liking them too.”

She experienced that lifestyle firsthand last summer during her internship with TJX (the company behind Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Homegoods) in Los Angeles.

In just a few weeks, she’ll take her next step towards her dream of becoming a buyer. She’s moving to the Boston area for a full-time position with TJX.

“The job title is an allocation analyst, and it’s in their merchandising career path. Basically, I’ll be responsible for creating an optimal product mix based on location-specific needs, performance, trends and seasonality,” she explains.

She can trace it all back to joining the college’s student chapter of the National Retail Federation (NRF).

“It gave me a chance to hear from industry leaders and meet like-minded students. I gained the  confidence to start going to career fairs and talking with industry leaders and attending interviews.”

It’s just one of many experiences in and out of the classroom at the Wilson College that she says not only helped prepare her for a career, but also made her time at NC State so memorable.

What was your favorite class at the Wilson College? 

FTM 400: Major Fashion Designers. It followed the evolution of fashion and how famous designers transform the industry. I just thought that was so cool. 

And then also FTM 420. It was retail math, and that prepared me for my TJX interview, so that was something I could look back on and be appreciative of.

What has been your most meaningful experience?

The travel experiences that Wilson and NC State made possible. 

I went with NRF to New York City for a national-level NRF conference, and I also got to travel to Milan for ITMA, which is an international textile conference. 

My mom ended up joining me in Italy, since we’ve always wanted to go. I attended the college’s booth at ITMA, so I saw a bunch of my professors and the dean, plus a lot of cool textile machinery. 

Getting to explore Milan and the fashion and the culture was really awesome. Between those trips and my internship in LA, I got to see more sides of textiles than I ever thought possible.

Who has influenced you the most during your time at NC State?

Dr. Jin: I had her for multiple classes, and she is just a super engaging and influential professor who really cares about her students and their success beyond the classroom. She was always pushing internships and ways to connect. 

I also talked to her a lot during ITMA, and she gave me so much great advice about how I could get more involved in the industry and learn from people.

What advice would you give your first-year self? 

I would tell my first-year self to step out of my comfort zone, because that was a little bit hard, but when I did, it benefited me. 

Know that it will work out, and don’t stress about what others are doing. Everyone is on their own timeline.