Meet Melanie 2021. Girl AGain Assistant Manager

I’m Melanie Pugni.  Some of you may already know me as one of the Associates at Girl Again boutique.

I started off as a Girl AGain customer and then a volunteer when I was in high school.  I would bring dolls home and fix them up, then bring them back to the store.  In September 2018, I was hired as an Associate to run the store on Sundays. Chandra was my manager.

I am an avid collector of American Girl dolls, and love fixing them up and making them look new again!

I am excited to become the new Assistant Manager and help Girl AGain become even more successful.

Along with my passion for American Girl I also love baking and cooking. I currently attend Norwalk Community College.  I have my Culinary Arts Certificate and am about to graduate with my Associates Degree in hospitality management this Spring. I wanted to have a diverse set of skills so I can be successful in any job. I decided to also get an Associates Degree in accounting which I will be finishing up in the Fall.

I started collecting American Girl merchandise when I was 6 years old, when I received my first American Girl doll, Nellie O’Malley, for Christmas. She went everywhere with me. My parents did not have a lot of money, and in order to keep collecting my mom and I would go to tag sales and garage sales to buy more dolls and clothes.

I would watch YouTube videos and experiment with the dolls to learn how to fix them up. My cousin Lilly was also interested in American Girl and when I was 13 we started a YouTube channel to show the stop-motion videos we created. I learned photography and about the American Girl Instagram and Facebook community.

By the time I was in high school, I knew a lot about the company and their products. I was collecting myself and learning how to buy and sell products through Facebook to earn money for college. I wanted to work at the American Girl doll hospital when I got older. I was fixing up dolls and selling them to improve my skills. In order to do that my Mom and I would search for upcoming tag sales and garage sales. That’s when my mom came upon the Girl AGain website.  I was lucky that the store was not far from where I live.

I now get to use my skills to refurbish dolls and sell merchandise for Girl AGain and for a good cause. I am happy to be able to improve my business skills and communication skills along with continuing to work alongside a wonderful team of workers.

I will be working at Girl AGain on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.  I’ll also be managing our Facebook and Instagram accounts. Please come by to say hi in person or on social media.