How I Got Here: The Director and Co-Founder of Goodbyes on paying attention to successful businesses’ strategies
WORDS BY CAIT EMMA BURKE
“Understand your idea and business goals from the beginning. Try to seek out examples of similar concepts that are working or identify gaps in the market where problems need solutions.”
Have you ever stalked someone on LinkedIn and wondered how on earth they managed to land that wildly impressive job? While the internet and social media might have us believe that our ideal job is a mere pipe dream, the individuals who have these jobs were, believe it or not, in the same position once, fantasising over someone else’s seemingly unattainable job.
But behind the awe-inspiring titles and the fancy work events lies a heck of a lot of hard work. So what lessons have been learnt and what skills have proved invaluable in getting them from daydreaming about success to actually being at the top of their industry?
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Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to women who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs, exploring the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned along the way.
This week we speak with Monique Thomas, the Director and Co-Founder of Goodbyes, Australia’s leading IRL fashion resale service. Monique’s journey started on the shop floor when she landed a job at a consignment store in Wellington, New Zealand. Over the next five years, she worked her way up through the company, getting a feel for multiple facets of the business including store fit-out, training franchise owners and opening new locations. It was also during this time that she met her future business partner and Goodbyes’ Co-Founder, Olivia Mangan.
Getting Goodbyes off the ground has involved long days and nights and seven-day work weeks, but her hard work has more than paid off. Goodbyes now boasts a team of 80 and has six stores around Australia, with more to come. Below, she shares her journey of bringing the business to life.
What do you do and what’s your official job title?
I’m Mon, Director and Co-Founder of Goodbyes, Australia’s leading brick-and-mortar fashion resale service. We are a high-volume operation where everyone can shop and sell quality pre-loved garments and accessories.
Take us back to when you were first starting out. Did you study to get into your chosen field, or did you start with an internship/entry-level role and climb the ladder? Tell us the story.
I’ve always really enjoyed working. I think I got my first job when I was 12 and even back then, I was interested in learning how a business worked. I think because of this, starting my own business was always on the cards. In school, I loved art and ceramics but never went to university. Instead at 18, I welcomed the opportunity to move to Wellington, Aotearoa (New Zealand) to figure out what I wanted to do.
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My first job there was at a clothing consignment store. Discovering a business model that aligned with my love for shopping secondhand and finding affordable, unique pieces was so exciting. I set out to absorb as much as I could, hoping to eventually return back home and introduce a similar offering.
I worked for that same company for five years, starting on the shop floor, climbing the ladder and learning the ins and outs of the industry. Eventually, I ended up in an operational position, training franchise owners, designing shop fits and opening new locations. I feel fortunate for the freedom this workplace gave me to explore my ideas. If you find yourself working for a business that grants you the autonomy to do this, don’t hesitate!
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I also crossed paths with my business partner and closest friend, Olivia Mangan, during that time – we’ve been working together for over 13 years now! We both had a strong work ethic and bonded over our love for secondhand shopping and dreams of running our own business. So, we decided to take the leap, move to Australia, work hard, save up, and eventually launch Goodbyes.
For me, that looked like moving home to Canberra and working in a David Jones concession then to Melbourne to work for the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation while I saved and worked on the business plan. We scraped together the funds and opened our first store in Brunswick in 2015, working seven days a week until we could afford to hire a team. The formative years!
What challenges/hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now? Can you tell us about one in particular?
The greatest challenge we’ve faced is doing things properly with limited resources. Being self-funded, we’ve opted for a path of responsible growth from the beginning, carefully considering every decision we make along the way. This has translated into many late nights spent researching everything from the ideal coat hanger to the retail award, to writing best practice policies.
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We’ve had to grasp all of these intricacies before being able to delegate to others. While this approach has been slow, it has been fundamental to Goodbyes’ success today. We know every inch of the business and I’ve learnt so much.
A hurdle slash a moment that rattled us early on was when we opened our doors in Brunswick. One of the first people to come in, a sweet-looking older lady, walked up and asked how we worked. With the enthusiasm you can imagine of two first-time business owners, we explained the concept of resale/consignment: how she could bring in items from her wardrobe she no longer wore, that we could sell them on their behalf, paying her 50 per cent if they sold. We finished, smiling at her, anticipating another question or two.
She paused, looked us dead in the eyes, and said “You will never succeed”. I wouldn’t wish an encounter like that on any new business owners! But we did learn quickly to laugh off the things we couldn’t change and work hard on the things we could.
What do you want people to know about your industry/your role?
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According to the Australian Fashion Council, the fashion industry manufactures and imports over 1.4 billion units of new clothing into Australia every year, more than half of which will end up in landfill. That is so much clothing to have in circulation.
Personally, I’m keen on making a big impact in my role by proving the value of resale businesses and highlighting their competitiveness to traditional retail. Beyond department stores, Australia lacks options that offer the affordability, variety, quality and volume found in resale shops.
Considering the abundance of traditional retail stores and the growing pressure from governments to address textile waste, resale just makes good business sense. I’m excited to see more attention on our industry, it has the potential to transform the way we shop and consume clothing. Goodbyes is showcasing in the Thread Lightly Runway x Deloitte for PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival for the first time this year. This feels like a huge win for us and for secondhand!
What’s the best part about your role?
I love my job! My favourite part is how different every day is, and how this has evolved over the years. We recently hit a major milestone in expanding our head office team to five people. It’s taken eight years to get to this stage and have time outside of running the business to explore new service offerings and ideas, it is an incredibly rewarding place to arrive at.
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And I have to say, spotting our green Goodbyes bags out in the wild still hits the same as it did in the first few weeks of opening. I love seeing all the different people who shop with us; our customers are the coolest.
What would surprise people about your role?
I don’t have my dream wardrobe yet! Maybe after seeing so many options and experimenting too much with my style, I’m still trying to figure it out. Each week our stores put out around 8000 new pieces, so there’s always something new to see. As I get older, I am desperate to create a highly wearable work wardrobe that makes me feel good. The impact an outfit can have on my day is tangible.
Something else that could come as a surprise (if you don’t know us) is that Liv and I read every bit of feedback, including all the Google reviews and anything that comes through our website. I like to think we’ll be doing this until the end of time. It’s an important part of our accountability to our customers and helps us to prioritise our system and service developments.
What skills have served you well in your industry?
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Open-mindedness, accountability, and perseverance – adopting a mindset that embraces reflection and can sustain a bit of grit is a prerequisite for running your own business!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
Understand your idea and business goals from the beginning. Try to seek out examples of similar concepts that are working or identify gaps in the market where problems need solutions. Then, be curious, work hard and approach less glamorous tasks with the same effort as the enjoyable ones. Foster relationships, build community and take the leap with a mindset focused on continual growth.
Equally important is prioritising balance when you can. It’s a significant challenge in the beginning, and honestly something I’m still figuring out. But where you can try to make time for the things you love outside of work, even if it’s just 10 minutes.
What about a practical tip?
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Try watching busy or successful businesses across different industries. Pay attention to their strategies and think about how these might be adapted to assist you with your own business ideas or goals. For instance, we consider ourselves a high-volume retailer so visiting large format stores and observing workflows and fit-outs is super interesting. I would kill to have the checkout technology that Uniqlo currently uses, where you put everything into a plastic tub and it self-scans – so savvy!
I admire the consistency of Aesop’s service and products, alongside the contrast of their unique store design. Visiting their spaces motivated us to strive for consistency in both service and store design, so we could hero the contrasting piece – the product! Being curious and exploring in this way can be a fun way to learn if you’re thinking of starting a business. Just step into a busy space and see what you can learn!
Read the rest of the How I Got Here series here.
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