Mr. Jain met with graduate students during his
visit to the university.
On September 20, the Retail and Tourism Management Club hosted the President of Shingora Textiles, Amit Jain, at their chapter meeting. As an alumnus of the program and member of the RTM Advisory Board, Mr. Jain visited campus to speak to students about his humble beginnings and experiences in the merchandising industry. He guest lectured in two merchandising classes and one hospitality class. In addition, he met with MAT graduate students, faculty members and college administrators.
Mr. Jain, graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1985 with a B.S. in Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles and minor in Business. After his time at the university, he worked for J. Peterman Company until returning to India in 2000 for the family enterprise called Shingora, a textile manufacturing and export business. Within the business, he is responsible for all development and strategic decisions in regards to market development, plant expansion, product development, and general research and development.
Mr. Jain spoke with graduate student Katie Hahnel about the projects
the students are working on in the lab.
Mr. Jain has a unique story that he shared with students. He was brought up in a low-income area in Ludhiana, India. His mother had a small business weaving scarves. When he decided to come to the University of Kentucky, he used all of his savings to purchase his plane ticket. While studying, he worked a part-time job and sent money back home to support his family and the business. After his humble beginning, Mr. Jain is now back home running the family business. He turned the small shop his family started into the second largest scarf manufacturing business in the world. He has modernized the business, researched computer aided design, and has moved the company forward.
"It was very important to the RTM faculty to have Amit spend time in our department talking with faculty and graduate students about research. For several students, Amit’s drive to learn new things constantly was inspiring. The talk he gave about his childhood and struggle to get the money to afford airfare to Lexington really put everything in perspective," stated Dr. Spillman, Associate Professor in the Department of Retailing and Tourism Management.
During his lecturer, Mr. Jain spoke to students about his
humble beginnings and path to success.
Students were pleased to have Mr. Jain visit and share his experience and expertise. Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles graduate student, Katie Hahnel said, “Mr. Jain's lecture was powerful and so inspiring! He really made me think about the importance of learning everyday, even after graduation. I also admired his enthusiasm in his work and eagerness to implement new techniques into his business. Overall, I think everyone really enjoyed listening to his lecture. I especially enjoyed discussing our theories on the future of athleisure and the rest of the apparel market.”