After ten years at Lowe's, Amanual Coleman knows the ins and outs of store resets and making products shine on the sales floor. But what most people didn't know—until now—is that he's also a designer at heart.
Working as a Merchandising Service Team (MST) associate at the Lowe’s Design Center, he could have kept his head down. Instead, he spoke up. "I pitched my case before the design team that I would like to do some design work," he recalls. That simple conversation opened the door to a trial run with Lowe's Industrial Design team—one that eventually led to the creation of a top selling Halloween décor item, "The Party Skeleton."
Given the theme—"whimsical, but still in the Halloween spirit"—he set to work. "It took a couple of days to draw it and a few more to refine it, making sure it matched leadership's vision," he says. The design went through rounds of feedback, color swatch matching, and cost checks before making it to production. Out of more than 70 designs he created for the season, "The Party Skeleton" was the one that made the cut.
The first time Amanual saw the finished product on display was a moment of quiet validation. "It confirmed that I can do this—and it's not just something in my head." His family noticed, too. Relatives from Virginia to North Carolina texted photos after spotting the hit Halloween decor in their local Lowe's. At home, his 17-month-old daughter has her own reaction—breaking into a little dance every time she sees the skeleton.
What makes Amanual’s achievement stand out isn't just the creative skill—it's the courage to speak up and pursue an opportunity beyond his everyday role. "My message to other associates is: if you have a passion for something, don't be afraid to express it and go out and do it," he says. "Just because you're taking a job for survival doesn't mean you have to put your passions by the wayside".
In Lowe's language, that's showing courage—a core behavior that can turn a single conversation into a career milestone. And now, that courage stands on store shelves nationwide, grinning from ear to ear, ready to party.
