What Retail Means To Me…
Our Georgie, reflects on her own retail career - providing inspiration and insight into her path from retail to recruiter.
I grew up in country NSW and started my first casual retail job the summer of Year 7. I worked in the Pandora shop-in-shop in a family-owned jewellery business in my home town and I got to spend every day of my school holidays hanging out with a group of amazing women I saw as big sisters.
I started with By Charlotte in my first semester of uni, living in Sydney and finding my feet in a whole new world – dipping my toes back into retail was the perfect piece of home. When Covid hit I was studying a Bachelor of Commerce and I spent a year in a Financial Services firm while covid raged on around us and retail experienced an unprecedented change to its landscape, from which many said it would never recover.
In June of 2021 (mere weeks before our second major Sydney lockdown) I decided I wanted back in and joined Scanlan Theodore – a dream brand. I spent almost 18 months with Scanlan taking on a management role and studying part-time for my last year of uni.
In November last year I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Professional Accounting and Management) and after spending time in a large recruitment agency, I have now been with The Talent Mill for 2 months (oh how time flies when you’re having fun!) I can’t help but once again feel a sense that I have come home. I was never told that it was possible, or encouraged to explore a career in retail, so many still have an ingrained sense that the retail industry is a ticking time bomb and will “never last”.
All I can say to that is we have created an incredibly robust industry here in Australia that fosters and has become the home of iconic and incredibly profitable brands – á la Zimmermann’s most recent $1billion valuation. On a personal note, the retail industry is home to some of the most inspiring and high achieving women I have ever met – and have been so lucky to be surrounded by.
Female founders and entrepreneurs are rife in the retail and fashion industries and I find this completely unsurprising in an industry that is largely targeted towards women – talent recognises talent. As far as the stigma around retail being an easy career path, well… in any given day you are a logistics wizard, a data analyst, a creative problem solver, a tech genius and a shoulder to cry on…all whilst managing a team and an unpredictable flow of customers.
Upon reflection, retail means more to me than I have ever given it credit for and has provided me with opportunities and learnings that have been far beyond my wildest expectations. I have always been a naturally outgoing person but to learn to communicate with sophistication and warmth, to be able to have a consultative conversation with a client and to objection handle face-to-face and on-the-spot – all I will say is find me another workplace where you can learn all of the above in just one day.
If you are starting out in your retail career and want to learn more about what your future could look like, or if you are an experienced retailer with years under your belt and you are looking for your next, slightly different challenge, please reach out. I have been there, and now I am here, and in the words of Hannah Montana, “You get the best of both worlds”.