The company is the largest pure-play children's specialty apparel retailer in North America, with Markee’s new appointment being announced on August 1.

Markee credits her bachelor’s degree in management and marketing with creating a solid foundation for her success as she joined The Children’s Place in 2010.

“I think one of the biggest things that Quinnipiac provided to me was confidence in myself and in my knowledge base,” said Markee. “I started in an entry-level job, but what I learned from my time in school was how to prioritize my time, how to focus on problem-solving and the excitement to learn.”

Markee’s first role in her rapid career trajectory with The Children’s Place began in planning and allocation. She took every opportunity to gain experience across multiple areas of the business, she said.

“I was just always hungry to take on new opportunities, and so I was able to move pretty fluidly throughout the company,” said Markee. “I’ve had a lot of great exposure, and I think my appetite to learn and take new things on and my confidence and my knowledge base, is really what Quinnipiac helped kick-start for me. It provided the platform for me to be successful when I got to the working world.”

In March of 2020, Markee joined the senior leadership team as group vice president of digital marketing, taking responsibility for strategic marketing initiatives driving the company’s digital transformation accomplishments.

“I was told at one point it was going to be hard to excel in marketing because I didn’t have a ton of digital marketing background,” said Markee. “So I took classes at night and I bought every book on Amazon because I truly believed that everything can be learned and I still believe that today. If you apply yourself and focus, there’s nothing that can really hold you back. I feel my experience at Quinnipiac was a big part of that message for me.”

In November of 2020, in recognition of Markee’s instrumental work in developing strategies to drive engagement for the company’s growing number of brands, she was promoted to vice president of marketing. Earlier this year, Markee assumed the lead for additional responsibilities of merchandising and strategic partnerships and inventory management.

As The Children’s Place brand president, Markee oversees all customer-facing activities across brands, including those which she has helped to foster.

“In the past three years, The Children’s Place has bought the rights to the Gymboree brand and relaunched the brand, launched a tween brand, Sugar & Jade, and most recently, PJ Place, which has been about capturing a market share and talking to a larger audience,” said Markee. “It’s been a really exciting time to be a part of the company.”

During the pandemic, Markee assisted in a strategic effort to foster exponential growth and further transition to digital, helping to transform the company.

“That was a challenging time for retail," she said. "We took that opportunity not to go into our shell or go into hiding, but to really stretch and think about our consumer and taking market share. That’s where the evolution of this family of brands came from."

After graduating from Quinnipiac in 2008, a job opportunity with Toys-R-Us put Markee on a path that led her to join The Children’s Place.

“Something that I’ve always focused on, and that I tell people who are younger in their career, is the importance of listening to learn, taking on new opportunities and really pushing yourself to explore, especially in the beginning of your career,” said Markee.

Markee said she will always be grateful for her School of Business experience at Quinnipiac.

“What I learned at Quinnipiac is anything and everything can be learned," she said. "I feel like I learned a lot of that at school and got such a broad base of exposure in terms of my education. When I went into that setting, I don’t think I was the most confident academically. But, what I learned is that if I really put my mind to it, I can get to the next level. I have used that throughout my career to not let barriers or roadblocks get in front of my success.”