Building a Life Beyond Retail - Tips for Balance and Career Growth

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In this special episode, we're going behind the scenes with the team at the Retail

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Champion. And today you get to meet Steph and understand a little bit more

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about who she really is.

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Today we're back with my colleague Steph, who Talked about Quarter

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4 and E Commerce on a recent episode. But instead of talking about

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peak season basics and tactics, we're going to talk to

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Steph about the person she is, the work she's doing now,

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her contribution to the Retail Champion and everything else as well.

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Behind the spreadsheets and the strategies is someone who's consistently involving

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both in business and life and I think serves as an inspiration to

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many of the independent retailers out there. Yeah,

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Retail reckoning. Retail

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reckoning. No space for dusty

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shelves. Retail reckoning

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owns the floor. So, Steph,

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your E Commerce journey is genuinely inspiring, but now

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you're at a new stage. Tell us about your move to Scotland and

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now your newfound focus through stephbriggs.co.uk.

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It'S a new chapter. Moving to Scotland was partly about

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lifestyle, but also partly about opportunity. I wanted to create

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a different life where work supports living and not the other way

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around. I'm sometimes not great at getting the balance right,

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historically. The consultancy gives me the space to advise and

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share all of the experiences I've learned and the mistakes I've made and helps

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people avoid those and still have time for the things that I love, like

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my horses. Yeah, work life balance is so important

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and I can actually relate to your move. I moved

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from down south to rural Lincolnshire to get that work life

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balance so that I didn't have to work every hour. God sent. And have the

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kids in holiday clubs and breakfast clubs and after school

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clubs just to make ends meet. So it's something I think a lot of business

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owners do have to face up to, certainly once family

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pressures take over. And the fact that you've lived the retail

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challenges makes your advice much more practical rather

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than theoretical as well. It's interesting to be able

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to tell those clients about how to manage the

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juggling act and not choose which a hundred hours of work

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they do a week. I mean, running your own business is fun

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many times, but I have heard that comment about,

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yeah, it's great. I have the freedom to choose the 100 hours a week

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I work. And that's not a really great life. And we always use that

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adage, don't we, that if you do a job you love, you'll never work a

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day in your life. And I think that's also really important. But helping people

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Fall back in love with their work is where experts like

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you come along so that they can develop the strategies and

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make it a success. But I'm more interested at this moment in

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time about the horses that you mention. Explain

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how they fit into your story. I've been addicted to horses for

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many years, since I was a little girl. They keep me grounded

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and retail can be absolutely relentless. Running a business

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is relentless. But looking after horses really

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helped me step away from the laptop, step away from the phone

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and just reset and just have that moment of being in the

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moment, really. It's a perspective and reminding me that life is bigger than

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just the next product, drop the VAT return or the next campaign. I think that's

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a real valuable message for independence and building a

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business should enhance your lifestyle, not consume it.

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So whatever your hobbies are, make sure you have me time,

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I think, is the key message there.

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Of course, you're now very much an integral part of the Retail

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Champion team, have been for a number of years, from your perspective,

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because obviously I have my view. What does that role look like to you?

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It's about being that second pair of eyes that help clients see

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opportunities that they might otherwise miss, either in pricing,

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promotions, e commerce, branding, whatever it may be. I

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bring the operational lens from my own retail journey and my

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understanding of how it feels to be in that moment and

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translate it into practical actions for other people to take.

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So the blend of empathy and expertise is why our clients

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trust you and they know you've walked the walk. But you also

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do an awful lot for me within the business too, don't you? I think you

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should share a little bit about some of that. I

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caretake the website, I look at content,

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I look at digital presence. It's how we get

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found. Steph is also the custodian of all our

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internal content, Blogmaster General

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and SEO aficionado. I think we need to look ahead

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now because obviously you've come out from having

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originally had a shop, then the move to Scotland, moving to online

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only, and then the decision to use everything you've learned over the years

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to help others and move into the consultancy side.

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What excites you most about the next stage of your career? What

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kind of things are you looking forward to and where are you

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investing your time and energy in terms of things like personal development?

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With regard to personal development, obviously AI is a

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massive area of growth within, well, within any industry

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at the moment. So I'm really enjoying exploring that and

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learning more and more about it. What excites me about

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working with the retail champion is working with the independents who are

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ready to evolve and grow. Not just the ones that

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want the quick wins, but want real long term value and long term

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resilience so that they can face, dare I say, the next Covid or whatever

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the next curveball is that's going to throw retail way.

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Personally, I'm really excited about now having a little

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bit more time to balance consultancy life outdoors in

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Scotland. Obviously I have my horses, but also I like a quick

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dip in the sea, even in Scotland. And it's about

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shaping life outside of work as much as helping

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to shape retail businesses. Brilliant. And I think that's the

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kind of future proofing we all need so that we have

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work that funds a happy and successful life. Thank you very much,

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Steph. Today's episode has shown that retail success isn't just about

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margins and marketing. It's about building a business and a

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life, a quality of life that align and support whatever

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phase you're in in your career and your personal

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goals. And it's also something worth really listening to to

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understand that if you want to do things

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differently, you can and you can make that balance

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come to life for the benefit of yourself, your family,

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your hobbies and your income. Thank you, Steph.

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You've been listening to Retail Reckoning. My name's Claire Bailey, the Retail

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Champion. See you next time.

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Owns the floor.

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Sam.