This week I caught up with the Queens native and current Senior Director of Men’s Merchandising for RTW & FTW at Coach, Matt Ting.⠀

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Start off by telling me who you are, where you're from / currently live and what you do for work.

First of all I want to say congrats to you and the LITE YEAR team and thanks for having me. It’s been really inspiring to see all the different folks you’ve been covering. Keep it up. But my name is Matthew Ting and Im from QU-double E-N-S. I now live in Flatiron with my wife and 2 kids. I am currently the Senior Director of Men’s Merchandising for RTW + FTW at Coach. It’s been almost 2 years that I’ve been in this role.

Prior to your current role you were at Adidas as their Senior Activation Manager. What led you to make the decision of leaving Adidas and going to work for a brand like Coach known for their handbags and wallets?

Man I’ve been in the Athletic Footwear space for over 10+ years; from Reebok, Asics, to Adidas. I will always have love for those brands and their cultural significance. For me the move to Coach allowed me to further my interest in Fashion and Footwear while being based in NYC. I want to help write the next chapter for Coach Men’s and let people know that there’s a little more than just handbags and wallets.

With most of us now working from home, have you found it challenging not only being productive but also sticking to some sort of schedule?

Yes, it’s definitely been challenging in our 1200 sq ft apartment.Then factor in my working wife and the 2 kids it gets more dynamic.(My 8 year old is doing remote learning and my 18 month old is just destroying the apartment.) But I try to get up the same time as I use to before the quarantine. In fact, I’ve been getting up earlier to start “Working Out” <<cue dramatic sound effect>> Just want to make sure my body doesn’t get atrophy from sitting on Zoom calls all day. Then I make breakfast for my oldest, coffee for me, and then grab little guy from his crib.

And then it’s pretty much a full day of Zoom calls. Try to end the day with a bike ride with my wife or quick family walk around Madison Square Park. (Of course with face masks, whilst maintaining social distancing protocols.) Definitely trying to be as productive professionally and personally. It’s the best distraction from all the noise.⠀ ⠀
On the days you're not working what activities are you doing to keep yourself busy?

On the weekends, we try to go for long drives out of the city. This has been the bright spot of the lockdown since most weekends we are either at basketball game or at a birthday party. Now we get to take the kids to go see the trails upstate and we’ve been checking out the beaches in Long Island.

With live sports on pause have you caught any of the Mets Classics games that have been airing on the SNY channel?

HAHAHHAH no I haven’t. But probably like you I was really looking forward to the Mets regular season. Definitely feeling very optimistic about this year. Otherwise been watching The Last Dance like everyone else.