CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to better reflect that Enterprise Mobility partnered with the university to create the boutique.
A new resource at the University of Maryland’s business school will help business students dress for jobs and unwind between interviews.
University community members gathered on Tuesday afternoon for the launch of a new boutique and wellness room in Van Munching Hall. The spaces, called the Enterprise Mobility Foundation Career Boutique and Wellness Room, will provide students with free professional clothing and a space to relax before and after job interviews.
The university’s business, society and entrepreneurship Scholars program and the business school’s career services office worked together to develop the boutique, according to Kimberly Rice DeGross, the head of the office and assistant dean of strategic relations.
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“Having something that really elevates people’s style without being a financial burden is a great way to help give back to our community of both scholars and business students,” said sophomore Alana Charny, a student in the Scholars program.
The boutique features clothing donated by university alumni and leaders in the Scholars program, according to Charny, who is also enrolled in the letters and science program. The Enterprise Mobility Foundation provided funding for the boutique and wellness room, which includes relaxing sounds and activities to help students and faculty decompress.
The idea for the project began about four years ago, according to business professor Oliver Schlake, who is also the Scholars program director. After receiving funding, students in the program put together a business plan for the boutique last spring as their capstone project, he said.
Students will operate the boutique for about four hours a week, according to Schlake. At the boutique, students can pick out and try on professional clothing that can be rented for one semester. The boutique will also offer appointments and walk-ins.
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In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the boutique, students will run an Instagram account and post tutorials for students on topics such as how to tie a tie and professional makeup.
Although the boutique was launched from donations from the Enterprise Mobility Foundation, students and faculty are striving to make the boutique self-sustaining in one and a half years, Schlake said.
To advance the initiative, students in the Scholars program can develop their own ideas to improve the boutique and its operations as part of their personal capstone projects during their second year in the program, Degross said.
“We hope that this becomes an entrepreneurial hub for real life business … We can experiment on a real scale,” Schlake said. “People talk a lot about experiential learning. This is not experiential, this is experimental learning.”
Schlake said that since the Scholars program is composed of mixed majors, students will be able to bring a variety of ideas to the boutique. Computer science students have already begun drafting a capstone project incorporating barcode reading into store software, he added.
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The boutique also gives students the opportunity to collaborate with different brands to bring in merchandise and develop relationships with employers, Schlake said.
Jim Strack, the vice president and general manager of Enterprise Mobility, emphasized the importance of Enterprise Mobility’s partnership with the university in bringing newly graduated students onto their team.
Schlake is looking forward to future expansions of the boutique that might include employing more students, expanding open hours and interacting with programs in and outside of the business school.
He hopes to expand the boutique campuswide to provide more students with the confidence and opportunities that professional clothing can provide.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that Jim Strack was the vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Mobility Foundation. This story has been updated.
