Mecca Abdul-Aziz, Wittenberg class of 2018, first met John Shumate, Wittenberg class of 1999 and vice president of marketing at Eastbay, a division of Foot Locker, a couple years ago when he visited campus to be part of a special alumni career panel. Now the new alumna is working for Shumate as the Integrated Marketing Coordinator at Eastbay in Wausau, Wis.
“I knew I wanted to stay connected with him,” said Abdul-Aziz, a communication major from Cincinnati, Ohio with minors in theatre and journalism. “He is now my manager, and I’m super excited to have him as my leader. I know he will lead me to success. Throughout my career at Eastbay, I hope to produce many contributions that will have a long-lasting impact on the company.”
Eastbay is a digital marketing company and supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Abdul-Aziz will act as a liaison for the Eastbay brand and help drive the marketing agenda for it.
“I had no idea I would be working at Eastbay after college,” she said. “I was so set on taking a job in Columbus, Ohio, but when I was presented this opportunity, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. John posted the position on LinkedIn, and I reached out to him about it. He told me to forward him my resume. From there, a HR recruiter reached out to me. I went through three phone interviews and was offered the job after my third interview. I also did an informational interview with him. I’m very excited for this opportunity.”
Since first stepping foot on Wittenberg's campus, Abdul-Aziz was actively engaged in thinking about her future. She participated in four internships, served as senior class president, was named the class of 2018’s Alma Mater and also received the newly created Bridge-Builder Award for her commitment to diversity and cross-cultural conversation across campus with faculty, students and staff.
During her time at Wittenberg, she was also a member, senator and vice president of Concerned Black Students, a member of Shades of Peal, a member of Emerging Leaders, a senior writer for The Torch, a member of Sigma Kappa, a member of the CABLE program and a resident advisor.
“I’ve always been goal-driven," she said. "When I’m doing something, it’s for a goal - so anything I’m doing is for a specific purpose. I’ve always been that way even before college. In addition, the CABLE program developed me into the professional I wanted to become after school. Within the program, I was exposed to numerous amounts of professional development classes that helped prepare me for the workforce. We had classes that helped us with professional dress and learned about important questions to ask in an interview. We also went on site visits to companies. I had the opportunity to do a case study for Google and after doing that presentation, I could see how far I’ve come. From that moment, I knew I was ready for the workforce.”
“We are thrilled to have her on our team,” Shumate said.
