Season 4 Episode 3: A full circle moment. Ex NEXT Buyer and founder of Mardy Bum Active Club Anna joins us to tell us her incredible and emotional story of how events in life have taken her from Fashion Retail Buying to Founder of an activewear brand.

Anna joins us to tell us her incredible and emotional story of how events in life have taken her from Fashion Retail Buying to Founder of an activewear brand. Anna loved her job as a Retail Buyer but events outside of her control ended her career. Her passion for fashion, buying and retail shines through in this episode, as well as her determination to turn every moment into a positive. There is an amazing full circle moment from her dissertation to the ethos of her brand now. Mardy Bum is a feel good brand, put comfort first and encourages positivity. Anna has made a conscious decision to ensure all of her products are sustainable, and believes these are non-negotiables that should be part of every retailers core. Organic growth, quality over quantity - it might be cost a bit more but she’s doing it the right way. *please be aware this episode has a emotional story involving an accident which may be triggering for some. This is such an incredible story that it is hard to find fjust 3 takeaways as there are so many, but here we go: Find a course you love, don't be afraid to change course if you don't feel like that's a path for you, courses with placement years are a great way to get into industry. Grad schemes are also a brilliant way to learn the ropes. Lots of retailers have these- with amazing training schemes Buying is a really colourful creative exciting career full of travel and amazing opportunities to product develop ranges within the security of an established brand BUT you have to work to get there, admin and the training process is fundamental to get you to the role of a buyer. Life is a journey and its how we roll with our experiences and use them to help shape our future - trust the journey through the ups and downs. Stay true to your personal brand values. Support the show If you've liked this episode please rate, follow, subscribe and share :) - and if you already have, thank you! It honestly really helps to keep this going and growing! Follow us @buyingandbeyond on Instagram Send us a DM or email [email protected] We also have a retail buyers membership @jointhebuyersclub Find out more at www.jointhebuyersclub.co.uk Autumn fair coffee meet up- come and meet us at Autumn fair at our coffee meet up and podcast live, see link below for all the details on how to sign up: https://www.autumnfair.com/buying-beyond?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=buying_beyond_channels&utm_campaign=buying_beyond If you'd like to show a little more love, then head here to give us just a little bit *extra* and show us your support :) thank you! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2300060/support