Naomi Lyum — Business Manager
I have found the following to be true: everything happens for a reason. Take, for instance, the story of how I came to Daruma. Growing up in Hawaii — though it was blissful and serene — I realized it was not the place I would spend the rest of my life.
I went to college in the Midwest, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Washington University in St. Louis before leaping into New York City and the fashion industry. Much as I loved the fashion business at first, there was too much travel, too many working weekends and not enough new stimuli to satisfy my curiosity. In fashion, I had worked as a pattern maker, run a sample room, designed blouses and hair accessories and sold watches, before gravitating toward the business end and working as both a business and sales manager. I handled bookkeeping, tracked commissions, researched and implemented software and managed employees and independent sales reps. I love working with numbers, and I love liveliness, so naturally I decided to pursue a career in finance.
At first, I had trouble finding a financial institution willing to hire someone with a background in fashion. But in the course of joining the Hawaii Cultural Foundation (an all-volunteer nonprofit group), I subsequently became a board member. As fate would have it, among the Hawaiian “expats” in New York was Mariko Gordon. She and I worked together helping to produce HCF’s first film festival. During those long hours, I proved to be organized, responsible and willing to work hard, so Mariko asked me to join Daruma in June 2004.
Once I learned the vernacular of the financial world, the organizational and people skills that I had picked up from my years in fashion helped ease the transition. Bookkeeping now involves budgeting and financial statements. I track broker rather than sales commissions. I still speak with consultants and vendors, but I talk about information technology and payroll rather than the price of 10,000 pairs of pants. My journey continues as I continue to learn and grow.