Rachel Davies graduated from Somerset College with a BA Hons in Fashion Design in 2011 with a 1st award. Following completion of her degree she traveled to Melbourne, Australia, where she now works as a Sales and Marketing manager for a small, independent footwear label. Rachel says, Working for a small brand means adopting a very broad range of job responsibilities that encompass most aspects of the day-to-day running of the business. My role largely includes the final stages of product distribution and marketing strategies, retail distribution and customer sales. Over the past two years I have managed all of the companies retail outlets through our three stores and also the online web store. I maintain the stores’ image through creative visual merchandising and window installations to ensure the physical outlets completely embody the brand philosophy and are successfully driving product sales. I also select and recruit new staff members and implement all training, issue store rosters and conduct 6-monthly training events delivering sales strategies and results – both on an individual basis and as a group. I closely monitor sales performance daily through detailed reporting which gives feedback to the business owner and helps build strategies to move forward and build the brand. Studying the degree course ran by Gary Mills and the fashion team at Somerset College gave me a real insight into the frameworks of a small fashion business and gave me a platform to start my existing career from. Although the course was specialized within fashion production and product design, the course is tailored in such a way to give experience in other areas applicable to final sales and marketing stages (customer demographics / target markets / small business set-up module). I was also given ample flexibility during my second year to partake in business work placements which again showed how to market and sell a finished product. The diversity in study within the 3 year-course was extremely beneficial in the recent years since graduating and imperative to my current and future career.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 11:09:53 +0000