Ruhig proud to be a young face of in-house work

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Like the products her client sells, attorney Amy Ruhig covers Jockey International’s backside.

And the company returns the favor: Employees get to wear potential new lines of merchandise and offer their reviews before they go to market. It’s all part of the company’s “comfort and innovation” mantra, Ruhig said.

As part of the company’s 12-person legal team, Ruhig works to innovate at all times. Her role is “to find solutions to whatever questions arise within the legal parameters,” she said.

Oftentimes, that means bringing people together to find solutions.

“I really view my role as being an approachable facilitator — almost like a mediator,” she said. “Whether it’s between business units, or someone within the company and a vendor. I feel as though I act as facilitator to pull the pieces together, to have the conversations we need to have to solve a problem.”

Ruhig manages the real-estate portfolio for Jockey’s approximately 100 outlet stores across the country. That aspect of the business is growing, she said. At least five new stores will open this year.

The remainder of her time is typically spent reviewing and negotiating contracts.

Ruhig said she first learned to love in-house work during an internship at Miller Brewing Co. She worked there while earning her J.D. and MBA at Marquette University.

After college, she initially went into private practice, however, concentrating in tax at Deloitte in Milwaukee. She joined Jockey in 2009 at age 26.

The company’s quest to innovate showed, she said, in hiring her at a young age.

“The department was piloting a new model where they’d hire young lawyers to kind of ‘grow up’ with the business,” Ruhig said. “I’m young for the in-house world. I understand that. But I have really loved being here.”

Working in-house offers a rewarding chance, she said, to be part of the day-to-day business of the company, she said, and “on the front end of new developments — new stores, new products.”

“At the end of the day,” Ruhig said, “we can say, ‘This is what we worked for.’”

Not that she or her co-workers take themselves too seriously, however. Another perk of her job, Ruhig said, is working alongside people with a sense of humor.

“When you work in underwear,” she said, “you can’t take your job too seriously.”