Mission Driven
Decades later, Terry Mailloux can still recall how the peach-colored pencil skirt she wore to her first formal job interview made her feel. One of seven siblings, Mailloux had been working since age 12: waiting tables at a neighborhood diner, holding down two paper routes, and polishing silver at a local funeral home. But this interview—for a position as secretary to a bank owner—was a step into a new world. Mailloux, who studied computer science and coding in high school, had excellent word processing and shorthand skills, and a demonstrated work ethic—but no professional wardrobe. “It wasn’t just a matter of not having the resources,” Mailloux says. Knowing how to dress for an office job “just wasn’t part of my family’s experience.”
Enter Suffolk alumna Roberta (Clark) Raistrick, BS ’77. Mailloux’s supervisor in her after-school job, Raistrick had quickly become Mailloux’s mentor. Raistrick offered the 18-year-old guidance not only on what to expect during the interview, but also loaned—and later gave—Mailloux a skirt from her own closet.
“Roberta was always dressed to the nines,” Mailloux recalls. With its slim, elegant lines, upscale fabric, and silk lining, the skirt “gave me confidence,” she says. “It made me feel like I belonged.”
Mailloux got that job and went on to a highly successful 35-year career as an executive assistant to business owners and corporate CEOs. During that time, she also assembled an enviably professional wardrobe—one she just donated in its entirety to the Career Closet at Suffolk University’s Center for Career Equity, Development & Success.
IF YOU LOOK GOOD, YOU FEEL GOOD
Laura Marchant, a senior associate director at the Career Center, says that like Mailloux, “not all Suffolk students have the means to buy the kind of clothing they will need for multiple rounds of job interviews.” When the Career Center opened its new offices in 2022, they created a dedicated space where students could find new and gently used business attire for job interviews, career fairs, and other professional settings.
The Career Closet is a like a tiny upscale secondhand boutique filled with suits, blazers, shirts and blouses, pants, skirts, and dresses. Students can select up to three items per visit, and the clothing is theirs to keep permanently. When Aneri Shah, who is pursuing a master’s degree in business analytics, visited the Career Closet, she found a suit and blouse that she wore to events and interviews. “It proved instrumental in enhancing my overall presence and confidence,” Shah says.
Donna Grand Pré, Suffolk’s senior vice president for enrollment, and her husband have both donated clothing to the Career Closet. “It’s a small way to remove a barrier in the job-search process for students,” she says. “It also gives our clothes new life and helps our environmental footprint.”
Marchant says that in the past two years alone, more than 600 students have used the Career Closet and more than 100 Suffolk alumni, employees, employer partners, and friends of the University have donated to it.
Being able to shop at the Career Closet “helps them stand out and feel confident,” Marchant says. “It makes them look ready for the role they want.”
Return to Table of Contents
spring 2025
By Beth Brosnan
Senior Shefa Rahman and Brianna Franklin, BS ’22, the Career Center’s assistant director of operations, sort through donations to Suffolk University’s Career Closet, where students can select up to three items per visit, all free of charge. Photograph by Michael J. Clarke