She floats our boat. Kathleen Wright has a super long job title, but she’s basically the person in charge of running all the Macy’s holiday events—which includes the Thanksgiving Day Parade that’ll be taking over New York Thursday. And while we know the annual event as a fun tradition, she knows it as a high-stakes game of operational Jenga where 1 missing piece could collapse the whole thing.

Ahead of the big day, we asked the 32-year-old how she went from volunteer to head honcho, if planning this event is like the logistics Olympics, and how she makes sure those 78-foot-long balloons don’t crush Manhattan.

What’s your job?
I’m the senior manager production director for Macy’s branded entertainment. I handle all of the logistics and operations for our branded events at Macy’s, which include the Thanksgiving Day Parade, the 4th of July Fireworks, Santaland, other holiday attractions, and the Flower Show.

Were you always a fan of the parade?
Absolutely! I watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade every single year. I remember asking my parents, “Why can’t I be a dancer in the parade? Why can’t I be on a float?” so this really is a dream come true to be a part of it.

How did you land your dream job?
In college, I worked in fashion internships, then I was applying for jobs left and right from high-end fashion to retailers. I interviewed at Macy’s for the in-store special events department. I worked on fashion shows and cooking demonstrations and shoe parties, but lucky for me, I was on the same floor as the parade team. I volunteered at the parade [and] did different things each year [like] working in the grandstands team or on the singing tree float. From the first year I did it in 2011, I absolutely fell in love and told myself that I would get on this team.

So, how did you do it?
I did some networking and set up informational interviews to understand more about what they did. Then I worked on the in-store special events team for several years, making sure I was building up my skillset in the event space. A position opened up down the hall and I went for it. I started as a manager on the team, was promoted shortly after that, and here I am!

The parade is such a major event. How do you stay organized while planning?
My timeline is about 9 months to start thinking about the operation of the event. I am a very Type-A person. I have a notebook that sits next to me year-round, and I have a color-coded pen that all of my colleagues make fun of me for. [Laughing.] It is a huge challenge to keep everything straight, but I’ve also got the most amazing team. So while I am hyper-organized, I’ve also got a team that is absolutely incredible at making sure we stay on track.

Is it a logistical nightmare having this parade in New York City?
Honestly, I try not to look at the difficulties; they’re just logistics we have to work out. Something so interesting is how we get the route prepped for Thanksgiving morning. Something people might not think of is that Manhattan is full of street lights, and we have to swing every single [one] out of the way on the overnight shift between Wednesday night and Thursday morning so that our balloons and massive floats can make their way down the route.

What’s something you didn’t realize about the parade until you got this job?
How much science goes into the creation of these balloons. There’s so much design work that goes into making sure [they] fit within the city blocks. Then there’s the added layer of helium. How do we make sure each [balloon] has the right amount of helium? Or does it need cold air so that it doesn’t have quite as much pull on the balloon handlers? Our engineers do these 3D models on how the balloon should react in different wind conditions so that we can communicate that information to our colleagues marching [them] down the route.