After starting her career in investment banking in New York City, Sylvia Nantier decided to move to Australia to work in marketing, despite not having any contacts in that space. The risk paid off, as that role led to further opportunities at Uber, and now Amazon, where she is a program/product manager in the selection team and responsible for building the company’s retail selection in Australia. This year, she was named as one of Inside Retail Australia’s Rising Stars of Retail.Here, Nantier shares her long-term career goals and why she loves working in retail. Inside Retail: Can you share some of the proudest moments of your career so far?Sylvia Nantier: Reflecting on my career, there are many moments that I am proud of. These are the result of skills picked up throughout my experience working in all different industries, which have shaped my current role at Amazon Australia as product/program manager. From being an investment banker on Wall Street, to working in consulting, marketing, operations and logistics – I have been no stranger to being the ‘new’ person.When I moved to Australia from New York City, I took a big risk trying to break into the world of marketing, away from the solid network I had established for myself in investment banking. As a stranger to the industry in a new country on the opposite side of the world, I had to get my foot in the door and make a name for myself. I started from scratch and began cold-calling companies from the library since my home internet was still being set up. I’m proud to reflect on where I am in my career now, in a job that I get genuinely excited about because I stepped outside my comfort zone. As product/program manager at Amazon Australia, it’s my responsibility to launch products and build new processes for thousands of vendors listing millions of items to expand operational capability automating. A far different role to my investment banking days…IR: What are some of your long-term career goals?In the long term, I want to have an impact on a large scale. Managing the high-level of ambiguity and complexity that comes with my role has been my largest obstacle, but one that I am most motivated to tackle. It’s a tall order, but nothing motivates me more than creating predictable process paths and standardising solutions that benefit thousands of people (and hopefully one day, millions).IR: Can you discuss a few people who have had a significant impact on your career?I am fortunate to have a long list of people in my life who have had a significant impact on my career. Before I began my career path, it was my marketing, financial accounting, French, and business philosophy professors at Duke University who cultivated my eagerness to learn (driven by my autotelic personality).In a world full of “no” and “you fit better in a different box”, I had two mentors in finance that stuck their necks out for me during the early stages of my career. They built up my courage to believe I could do anything and ultimately helped me get there by introducing me to their entire network.While I was working at Barclays, I was baffled by the amount of responsibility I was entrusted with by one of the company leaders. But it was her confidence in me and the opportunities she provided that allowed me to exceed in my learning. On the last day at the company, another leader recommended I read the book, Girl Boss, which had a big impact on my drive to go out of the status quo.Later in my career, the person who hired me at Amazon saw skills and strengths in me that I didn’t know I had. Through their support, they helped me harness these skills, which had a profound effect on my confidence and overall career growth within the company. Today, the team I work with allows me to bring my “whole self” to work, not just my “work self.”IR: What do you consider your biggest career achievements to be, and where do you see yourself in five years’ time?SN: I have had my biggest achievement while working at Amazon Australia. To begin with, I increased the speed of onboarding new products in Australia, which became the prototype for other countries internationally. To do this, I successfully improved forecasting and escalation mechanisms and stood up user error guardrails and error resolution standard operating procedures.In addition, I owned the Australian launch of new products, such as Amazon Selection Assistant, a feature on our vendor portal that helps vendors manage their product portfolio and drive their business on Amazon Australia. It allows vendors to audit missing catalog items and add them to their catalog.While at Uber as an Operations and Logistics manager, I launched several Australian Driver App features in a short timeframe to improve the Driver experience. In banking, I supported a $5 billion and €1.5 billion corporate bond issuance for a global retail account. I remember the moment I gave the green light to release the funds when the deal closed – I checked the numbers 50 times!In five years, I hope to travel more frequently for work, while expanding scope by defining the mission and leading the vision for a larger audience. All goals that are achievable through the support and global nature of employment at Amazon.IR: What do you love most about working in the retail industry?SN: I’ve always loved the tangibility of retail and having an impact on the everyday lives of customers.  My first job (if you don’t count working the cash register for my dad’s graphic novel booth at comic book conventions when I was a kid) was in a retail store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. I loved learning how they kept the lights on to serve high volume foot traffic.