How I Got Here: The Iconic’s Senior Designer Buyer on never being above learning
WORDS BY BRONTE WINNEM
“There’s always something to learn and absorb by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.”
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 to Lisa Bean, the Senior Designer Buyer for one of Australia’s largest online fashion retailers, The Iconic. Her impressive career in the fashion world, meandering through wholesale, retail and eCommerce, began in her local mall as a pre-teen where she’d flip through brand catalogues and cheekily instruct boutique owners on what they should stock next.
Having worked with some of Australia’s most iconic labels and endured the most tumultuous period in retail history (COVID-19, we’re looking at you) below Lisa shares how she navigates the ever-fickle retail landscape by pushing herself out of her comfort zone and always staying open to learning more.
What do you do and what’s your official job title?
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I am the Senior Designer Buyer at The Iconic. I have the pleasure of working with my team to curate brands and collections, both locally and globally, for you to browse.
Take us back to when you were first starting out. Did you study to get into your chosen field, or did you start out with an internship/entry-level role and climb the ladder? Tell us the story.
During my early schooling years, I remember hanging out in my local shopping centre, where I would frequent my favourite boutique quite regularly. I would spend so much time there – looking at clothes, trying things on, chatting to the owner about what I was looking for (and what they were missing).
As a pre-teen, you can imagine this was highly entertaining to a business owner to take direction from a school kid. I would eventually sit with them, flicking through the catalogues, doing selects and buys for the store after school hours and on the weekend. This is what started my love affair with retail and fashion.
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Once I graduated there was no time to waste. I went straight into an entry-level role as a receptionist at Quiksilver, back when surf dominated the Australian retail landscape. Here, I learned the ins and outs of a wholesale business and how to build relationships with retailers and buyers. I was able to work with a range of different teams and climb the ladder internally, moving from state to state to develop and grow my experience.
From there, I scaled my experience when I moved to Billabong, to manage national sales for the country’s largest retailers. I had gone from being an office manager to a National Sales Coordinator, before I eventually made the move to buying at Australia’s first leading eCommerce retailer, Surfstitch.
I made the jump from wholesale to retail and started at the bottom of the food chain again, excited and ready to dive in head first with everything that I had learned in my years of wholesale management. Whilst there were many similarities in managing the brand from a wholesale/brand side, there were new skills to learn and grow into. This was also the start of my obsession with eCommerce retail. Back then, it was uncharted territory.
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Since then, I’ve worked at some of the country’s leading retailers (General Pants and Showpo to name a few) where I have jumped at any opportunity to learn and grow. I have managed almost every single category you can imagine. Kids, gifting and menswear, before making my way to women’s fashion where I have built a solid foundation across vertical buying, product development and branded buying, for both brick-and-mortar retailers, omnichannel retailers and pure-play online retailers. Now I lead our women’s designer department at The Iconic.
What challenges/hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now?
There is never a dull moment, and the resilience and agility of the last few years are a true testament to that. I’ve worked across a number of different retailers through the ‘unprecedented’ pandemic and working to manage expectations, relationships and of course, the trade and performance of a business, has been nothing short of intense.
No one knew how COVID-19 would play out. It essentially threw everything we knew about fashion and retail out the window. We needed to redesign and pivot categories, departments and strategies to be able to come out the other side. [It was] a roller coaster of emotions and quite literally an unteachable event. I have come out the other side with an eternally open mind on how to drive success for the business.
What do you want people to know about your industry/your role?
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Never stop asking questions, never stop learning. No two weeks are ever the same, no two brands are the same and no two businesses are the same. And from this, you can learn from all of your past decisions and direction to build strength in your current role.
What’s the best part about your role?
I love creating magic with brands. There are many stakeholders that we work with every single day to be able to bring products to life. Building a dream assortment for our customers is extremely rewarding. Working with designer brands, consumer spending lends itself to be a little more emotional, working towards investment pieces or something that [they have] desired for so long. And, of course, working alongside my passionate team to bring this to life!
What would surprise people about your role?
It’s not all glamorous. As a senior buyer, you will spend more time behind your computer screen than dressing up in your favourite designers. There are a lot of deep analytical skills needed to work towards building strong trade. The Excel and Google Sheets are endless! But the best secrets for improvement lie in the reporting. There is no such thing as a ‘perfect season’ as there is always something to learn from, and ways to improve your management, your trade and your relationships.
What skills have served you well in your industry?
I’m an insanely observant person, and this lends itself well to buying and trend predictions. Knowing what you want, before you want it! It also goes without saying that mastering the beast of Excel will serve you well. You will spend an obscene amount of hours in spreadsheets, and the more you master formulas, lookups and shortcuts will help you exponentially.
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Negotiations also play a huge part in driving performance and trade. Be it with brand partners, stakeholders or team members. Having great negotiation skills will set you up for success for mutually beneficial reasons that will not only help support growth for yourself and your team members but also for the growth of your departments and the business.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
Never say ‘no’ to an opportunity. There’s always something to learn and absorb by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. I’ve leaned on some influential mentors in the retail industry for guidance, support and knowledge, so making sure you find these mentors throughout your career is extremely important to your growth.
What about a practical tip?
There is nothing more beneficial and practical than a clear mind. Logical, calm and level-headed thinking can never go astray and is something that I try to practise every day. Some time out to breathe, relax and move. There are always competing priorities, and being able to tackle the day head-on with a clear mind will completely change the way you work and the results that you get.
Read the rest of the How I Got Here series here.
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