01 - Jane Shepherdson CBE on pushing the boundaries in fashion & finding purpose within your career

My first guest on The Fashion Feed podcast is Jane Shepherdson CBE who I've admired for years.  Jane worked at Topshop for around 20 years working her way through the ranks in buying & became brand director in 1998 before moving on to become the CEO of Whistles. In this episode we cover : Working at Topshop in the 90's and pushing the boundaries as a high street store with innovative ideas  Her time working with Sir Phillip Green How she made Whistles cool again as their CEO Finding purpose within your career to create new challenges The current state of the British fashion industry and her opinion on trends Why 2018 was 'peak shit stuff'   Following an 'adult gap year' (which you can read more about here) - Jane is a retail expert now working as a creative consultant.  She's also an ambassador for the charity Smart Works - a UK charity that provides high quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women in need. Jane also has her own podcast called Out of Fashion which she hosts alongside Jane Kellock (previously of WGSN.com) and is a must listen for anyone interested in fashion! I would welcome any feedback on the podcast so please leave a review or drop me a message and let me know your thoughts!   Are you ready to discover what it takes to become a 6-figure fashion brand?  Or maybe you're already there & looking for ways to improve! I have a really fun quiz for you to try out today!  It's just 21 questions that will determine a score from 0-100 and you'll automatically receive a personalised audit of how your business is doing. As a fashion brand owner, it can be challenging (to say the least!) to stand out in a crowded market and drive consistent sales. However, with the right marketing, product development, sales channels and pricing strategy, you can take your fashion brand to the next level! In under 2 minutes, ask yourself these carefully selected set of questions to determine if your fashion brand is on the path to success.   For example … *Do you regularly update your website and analyse your competitors' pricing?  *Do you frequently update your website's content and product offerings to keep customers engaged? *Does your fashion brand have a content marketing strategy?  Take the quiz to unlock the secrets of a 6 figure fashion brand and see how you compare. Once completed, you'll receive an e-mail with a fully personalised audit on how you can scale with success - it's honestly so cool, you have to try it to see for yourself…