Whether you see this as an entry-level job, something to support your side-hustle, or an opportunity to grow towards a career in retail, the transferable skills that shape your work ethic are developing all the time.
The key skills that I developed through working in luxury retail were communication and understanding that a customer is not just a transaction. A customer is a human being like yourself who wants to have an enjoyable day. They are coming in for an experience and it’s you, it’s how you communicate, what the store wants you to communicate. What message do you want to send over to that person? How can you improve their day?
Attention to detail, as well. Setting a standard. When I worked for Roja Dove, one thing that he always said to us was, what will do, will never. That really stuck with me. Anything that is mediocre or everything that you think, “oh well that will be fine”, is never enough. If you do set that standard, if you do take it upon yourself to say “Is this the best that we can be doing? Is this really setting an example for everything that I want to go into?”, whether that’s being on the shop floor or being a Barista or being a director of a company, you strive to be the best that you can be every single day. This is what I do now.
As a director is that within our company, I want to have that communication and understanding on a day to day basis. We have a morning brief every morning. Everybody tells us a little bit about what they’re doing during that day, making sure that they feel that they can come to me about anything. Through this, I feel like I am communicating to them the mantra we want to create within our company. What sort of journey do we want to give to give to a new team member, a new crew member coming into Chimera? What journey do we want to give to a new client working with Chimera? What standards can we set? Can we be the best? Can we be the best agency in town?
