From the outside in – A recruiter’s journey from agency to internal recruitment functions.....

Courtney Sertdemir joined us as an Internal Recruiter 10 months ago and here, our little ray of “sunshine” explains her journey.

I think it was about two years into my recruitment career, when I was starting to feel more established and confident in my role that I began considering the move into internal recruitment, or as agency recruiters call it, moving to the “dark side”.

More and more I started to wonder about the people I spoke to on the phone, what exactly were Talent Acquisition specialists or Internal Recruiters accountable for? Was their day just like mine? Did they have as many vacancies to fill? Was there any difference working internally? Did they have strict KPI’s?

So I started to look around. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job but thought why not see what’s out there! So, like every semi passive/ semi active candidate I’ve ever met with, I tried my luck and became one too.

Courtney climbing the corporate ladder! 

To start off, it’s a tough gig trying to get an internal role, why? Because just like me there are plenty of agency recruiters thinking the same thing about their career. So, you’re now competing against every other agency recruiter out there. I mean, you already vie for jobs and candidates in the market but now its recruiter against recruiter on the same catwalk trying to be “internals next top model.”

Now, I know what people think about agency recruiters going internal, we are over it; over the sales targets, KPI’s and cold calls. Yes, for some this is the case but for me, I enjoyed all those things, I just didn’t enjoy sending out non relevant resumes just to meet my quota, I didn’t enjoy doing whatever it takes to get a placement across the line, even if it challenged your own ethics. Unlike some of my peers, I didn’t see candidates as a dollar sign.

What I did want was to be a brand ambassador, a true subject matter expert. Why work 20 roles with multiple clients when I can work 20 jobs with one brand. You start to want to make a difference on a more personal level, you become an integral part of the organisation, believing in what you do and why you do it.

So, eventually your times comes and you land your internal dream job. Its everything you had hoped it would be and nothing like you thought it would be! For me I think the hardest thing to get used to was the silence - no radio, no bell rings and no consultants yelling over each other on the phone. Because that’s all we really did at the agency, we lived on the phone – sales, sales, sales.

You start to learn new things too; you recruit for roles you have never recruited for before – even ones you never knew existed! You have meetings with GM’s, you start truly caring about the commercial elements of running a successful business, like strategy and team member on boarding. You learn more about HR processes and work force planning.

But ultimately I got what I really wanted, a chance to place people in their dream job, a company culture to live and breathe, a chance to learn more about how a business operates from a Support Office point of view, to create long lasting partnerships and to be a trusted advisor.

So far, it’s been an amazing journey and I wouldn’t change a thing, except for maybe putting a radio in the office!

Simone Says....

Over the past year, I found myself finishing a 3-year Bachelor of Business at UTS, working part-time in a medical practice as well as at the concierge desk of my local Westfield, all while frantically looking for a graduate job. I knew the best way to kick start my career was to get ahead of the pack and land my first role within an HR team. A plan, that at times seemed easier than initially thought!

"Hi, I’m Simone… probably should have started with that! I recently completed my Bachelor of Business, majoring in HR and celebrated my 21st birthday last month. Many of my friends would describe me as happy, loud… in fact very loud, sometimes funny, talkative and the mother of the group. I think it’s the loud and talkative qualities that have always drawn me to customer service type roles. So, when deciding where to focus my studies, Human Resources seemed to be a natural choice; a career path where I could build relationships and foster positive cultures.  

My 21st Birthday & beautiful desk decorations

In the first semester of my last year at UTS, I thought it was time to get serious about my job search. I applied to multiple graduate programs that involved centralised numerical testing as the first hurdle of the application. It was weeks of endless cover letters, tests and rejections that pushed me to look beyond.

After all, applying to job ads, isn’t the only way to job search. I asked my friends and families to put the word out that I was looking for a job in HR, and sure enough I got a bite! Through an elaborate array of connections, I found SFG and well, I haven’t really looked back.

I was contacted by, my now close colleague, Courtney, to talk about my experience and then invited for an interview. It was a breath of fresh air to be given a chance to talk and actually connect with a person. Before my interview I prepared by learning about the company inside out; I read about SFG’s history and their SHIRT values.

Despite it being an interview, I experienced the relaxed and friendly culture I have come to know at SFG as soon as I entered the room. We spoke about many different aspects of my experience, both on and off my resume. I may have gotten slightly sidetracked on a horse riding story from 2009, but luckily they didn’t seem to mind! Although, I think my winning line was “I feel like I have only learnt 5% of the HR profession from my degree and the rest I will learn in a job like this”.

Skip ahead to my first day as the new Recruitment Administrator and everyone was lovely; I was introduced to over 30 people in a bustling HR team and managed to remember only one name… my manager says it’s a New Year’s resolution I should work on! The rest of the day consisted of me getting to know my team through 1:1 chats about how recruitment works and what my role would entail. 

It took a little while but soon I started to feel confident in my role; i was willing to be thrown in the deep end and my team had no problem with that. I definitely made some mistakes, but I had not only my team but others in my office to teach and guide me, which if you ask me is the best way to learn.

I remember at about the three-month mark my colleague Lucy realised I didn’t delete or file emails… it was clear I hadn’t worked for a big company before, I had over 2,000 emails sitting in my inbox. Although, I was quickly reassured by some other colleagues that they had over 3,000 i knew being organised was a key requirement for me to stay on top in my bust role. Rest assured, all of you organised, detail oriented types, I am proud to announce I currently have 3 emails in my inbox… progress!

My stint on reception! 

I have enjoyed every new experience and challenge thrown my way at SFG, even the day I was asked by my manager to cover for the receptionist who had called in sick. Naturally, everyone thought being a receptionist at a medical practice would be the same as a 450 employee support office. Despite my state of terror, it was a great test of those transferable skills we talk about on our resume. If not just to help me learn some of the hundreds names at SFG.

Although I won’t lie, I was definitely happy to return to my comfy chair in the HR office. Right now I am immersing myself in everything I can, becoming more confident in what I know and taking in all that is new. I feel so lucky to be a part of a team that invests in my learning and growth. I can’t wait to expand my understanding of HR in 2017."

Top tips to secure the job you want in 2017

Many of us spend the first few days of a New Year pondering what the year has in store for us; thinking about what elements of our lives we would like to change or improve upon and career is often at the top of the list.

Job hunting can be a daunting prospect; trawling through job boards and websites, tedious application processes and never hearing back! Bear in mind the average job search takes time and generally requires a lot of effort and activity on your part. A scary US statistic states that it takes 24.9 weeks to get hired!

Here, one of our senior recruiters, Lucy Hibbert, shares her top tips to help you win that prize!

Your Resume

The first step needs to be producing a great resume. It has to be clear, concise, readable, truly reflective of your skills and experience and most importantly relative to your profession and the market you are targeting.

For example, if you are in a creative profession such as Graphic Design, your resume needs to be a reflection of your portfolio and skill set and we would expect the CV to have a creative flair to it – that said it still needs to have all the content of a traditional resume. Conversely, if you are in a more corporate function we would not expect to see graphics/ pictures/ charts or animations!

Example resume 

Personally, I don’t mind a bit of colour on a resume, for example if you use a different colour for sub-headings it can break up the monotony of reading multiple CV’s and make yours stand out; however, don’t make it a rainbow of colour! Think about using different sized fonts (but always the same in one document) and bold to highlight different sections of key areas.

Obviously, the following all apply; spell-checking, having your work history in reverse chronical order (most recent work experience first) and including your contact details goes without saying! You also need to get someone to proof-read your resume, multiple times and be open to feedback and constructive criticism. Typo’s and errors are a pet peeve for me in a resume, especially if the role they are applying for requires you to have strong attention to detail and/or impeccable written skills. Even if your actual experience is strong, these errors can see you sent to the reject folder in a flash!

Keep it concise; no one’s resume should be more than three pages and I mean NO-ONE! Even if you have 20 years work experience the roles from the first 10 years should be title and organisation only. At the other end of the scale if you are a recent Grad with limited experience, of course include extra-curricular activities and experiences gained but do not submit a 10-page CV telling me about essays you have written in Year 10! 

You do not need to include; age, DOB, address, photo (please don’t), referees (at this point) or hobbies (unless remotely linked to the job/ industry).

Now let’s talk personality…… Of course, what makes you is what makes you great! And you may be keen to give us insight into “you” in your career statement/ objective statement at the beginning of your resume. Again, I am not averse to this but it is a fine line between quirky, cheesy and out right odd! So you collect Star Wars figurines – cool if you are applying for a job in a marketing agency or tech-start up not so cool if you are applying to clerk in a top-tier law firm. Choose your tone carefully and again get a friend, mentor or family member to review.

Cover letters – Yes or No?

I’ll be honest, I rarely read them and if I do it’s after I have already selected you to be screened. If you do attach one make it short, sharp and insightful. Explain why you are interested in the role/ organisation and address any anomalies in your career history such as gaps in employment or work rights.

Going back to my earlier point about personality, perhaps this is the best place for you to include this insight…….

LinkedIn

Now that you have perfected your resume approaching your LinkedIn profile should be a piece of cake! Make sure it is up-to-date and that you have linked your experience to the correct companies, with correct dates.

Always include a photo but make sure it’s appropriate. Think smart business casual; a head shot is best and no sunglasses or selfies! I’m not a big fan of you using your wedding photo either! You need to look professional, approachable and normal! A smile goes a long way and make sure it is reasonably recent.

Like all social sites, LinkedIn works on an algorithm based on key words – therefore if your profile contains the matching words someone is searching for it is more likely to come up in their search. Your dream job might find you! For example, if you work in HR make sure you also use the full words Human Resources and then think about including variations on theme e.g. People & Culture, Talent, Performance, ER & IR, Business Partnering etc.

Make some connections! ‘Link-In’ with people you know first; former colleagues, people you have met at conferences/ seminars, current colleagues, tutors and friends who are in professions. Then think about expanding your connections to people of interest in organisations of interest. Top tip: make sure you activate your privacy settings on LinkedIn so connections cannot see your activity. (you don’t want your current boss to know you are on the hunt for a new role!)

Follow companies of interest and like and share their posts. Follow LinkedIn ‘Influencers’ you are interested in. I also recommend following a few media outlets/ publications/ distributors as your LinkedIn ‘feed’ can be a great one-stop-shop of catching up on some business/ industry news.

Job applications

Do your research: Before applying check the role is one you are truly interested in and check the company is one you would like to work for. Are they based in a location you can get to? What are their products/ services? Can you review them on Glassdoor or Job Advisor? Look at them on LinkedIn – do you know anyone that already works there? When we ask a candidate what they know about our business and the answer is little to nothing, I question their level of genuine interest.

Be honest: If you are asked to fill out a questionnaire or form, be honest. Nine times out of 10 there is a prescriptive brief that the recruiter is trying to meet and whilst you might still be an ‘interesting’ candidate they will prioritise those that more closely meet this brief. If you are unable to progress your application, as you cannot move on from a selection criteria page as you do not meet it – do not lie! Make a note of that organisation you are interested in and Recruiters name, if you can access it, then email their recruitment team directly. Explain that you were disappointed not to have been able to apply as you didn’t meet all of the selection criteria but are still interested in an opportunity with the organisation and were wondering if there was anything else you could be considered for. #greatcandidatebehaviour

Keep a tracker: I’m a big fan of a spreadsheet! Keep track of the role/ company/ date you applied (and any other info you want) so that you can follow up and remember which roles you applied for. I would also suggest saving a copy of the ad copy/ printing it out, so you can use it for reference. There is nothing more off putting than when you call a candidate to chat about the role they have applied for and they say “Sorry, which role is this I have applied for so many in the last few days I’ve forgotten.” #badcandidatebehaviour

Follow up: By all means sending a follow up email after the closing date or a few weeks after an application is fine. Do be mindful that if you have been informed ‘only successful candidates will be contacted’ then there is a chance you haven’t been successful. Of course, this is disappointing if you felt you were the right candidate for the role but pitch your email/ phone call appropriately. Be upbeat and friendly not aggressive or challenging. Ask for some open feedback and be open to what you might hear.

Selection & interviews

If you are selected for a telephone interview/ 1^st interview……… congratulations!

Be prepared, have the job advertisement to hand and if the first point of contact is a phone-call make sure you can really talk and that you are in a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. Hearing a candidate whisper and be insistent they are “okay to talk” when they are clearly at their desk or in a stairwell is not setting yourself up for success!

Do your research, be on-time and look the part! Check with a recruiter about the dress code if you are unsure. Smile, try and relax (as much you can) and take your time to listen and answer questions.

It’s inevitable that you will be nervous and all good hiring managers/ recruiters will be sympathetic to this, to a degree. An interview is an artificial environment so the more you prepare the better it will go. Practise your answers to standard questions & think of examples you can provide of certain scenarios. If you can’t answer a question, the perfect answer is “I’m afraid I haven’t had that experience yet but what I would do is X, Y & Z” or “I don’t know the answer to that but I would be honest and up front and want to research and learn. I’m not afraid to ask questions where needed”.

Have a notebook and pen (that works) so that you can jot any interesting points down and have some pre-prepared questions to ask at the end of the interview. If you aren’t told what the next steps are – ask so that you know what to potentially expect & timeframes.

Offer

You get the call and are offered the job you wanted…… again massive congratulations!

Negotiating: Be reasonable. At some point in the process you should have been asked about your salary expectations, now is not the time to add on an extra $20k to try your luck! If the role has grown in size in terms of responsibility/ scope and you now think it is reasonable to negotiate on the package, then do so, but you will need to be able to justify why.  

Accepting: If you want the job it’s ok to be excited! Follow all the instructions of documents that need to be completed and sent.

Yay!!!

Congratulations – can’t wait to see you on your first day at SFG! 😄

Being rejected

No-one likes being rejected and if you really wanted the role and were genuinely excited then it can be a genuine blow. Try to contain your emotions but it’s perfectly ok to say you are disappointed. Ask for feedback and if you can, make some notes. Ask for more clarification/ examples if they can be provided. Then go away and reflect. Is there some constructive feedback there that you can take away and work on? On reflection can you agree with any of the points made and how would you improve for next time? Remember no-one shots the bulls-eye with the first arrow nor without practice.

Then pick yourself up and dust yourself down and get back out there – the right job for the right person is out there for all of us. Happy Hunting!

Ground Breaking…

In the culmination of plenty of planning & hard-work, Friday 5th August saw Specialty Fashion Group & Toll Group announce the start of their partnership in constructing a new state-of-the-art distribution centre in Sydney’s South-West.

LEFT TO RIGHT: John Sidoti MP, Member for Drummoyne, Parliamentary Secretary for Roads, Transport, Industry, Resources and Energy; Brian Kruger, Managing Director, Toll Group; Gary Perlstein, CEO, Speciality Fashion Group; John Marsh, Managing Director, Logos; Ned Mannoun, Mayor of the City of Liverpool.

A core part of the SFG Logistics five-year plan, the new 32,000 square meter facility will be at the cutting edge of logistical solutions for Omni-channel retail in Australia.

Moving from a largely manual facility in Homebush to one with advanced automation and an additional 14,000 sqm space will capitalise on speed of pick & pack, improved inventory, throughput volume and other enhanced capability to meet the change in customer demands as digitalisation moves to the forefront of retail business strategy.

SFG currently handles over 300,000 units per week of replenishment and online units which are sent out to the stores network or individual customers. The new warehouse will double that capacity, with the further potential to increase to over 1 million units per week. We have worked closely with Toll, over the design phase to create a facility that focuses on efficiencies such as store product sequencing, auto e-commerce bagging, and automatic carton optimisation.

To celebrate the partnership of this innovative new distribution centre and start of the build a soil turning ceremony took place on site, in Prestons last Friday, attended by key Toll executives and our own CEO, Gary Perlstein along with members of the SFG Logistics team.

Tolls’ Managing Director, Brian Kruger said; "Our aim at Toll, is to connect people and products, and we look forward to working with Specialty Fashion Group to enable a fast, efficient and cost effective supply chain for its customers."

Gary Perlstein also spoke of the collaboration saying; "We have worked with Toll to create a supply chain solution that enables our Omni-channel strategy across all brands, for a streamlined and memorable customer experience."

The facility will employ over 100 warehouse operators when the final phase of the construction, by the LOGOS Group Australia, is completed in October 2017.

“I am extremely proud of what the SFG Logistics team, in partnership with Toll, have been able to plan and achieve to date on this project.” Said Alex Linton, GM of Logistics. “The next 12 months of construction & transition will be both exciting & challenging times but the end result, of being at the forefront of logistic solutions, to aid business growth, will be extremely rewarding for everyone on the project. Ultimately, the customer is at the centre of all our business decisions at SFG and the impact on the overall customer experience will be huge. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all those involved, as it is a tremendous achievement.”

The commemorative spade!

So what’s next on the horizon for the Logistics function at SFG? A focus on the expanding international operations, in particular a consolidation of the warehousing in the US, optimisation of the bonded shipping hub in China as well as importing directly to Australian domestic regional ports are all on the cards!

Well done to all those involved on this huge endeavor. A massive step forward to put SFG ahead of the game in retail and into the same arena as the big, international players.

Credit to Big Rigs 

Meet Justin Pigozzo, Marketing Assistant for Rivers and recent winner at the Australasian Catalogue Awards!

Today we would like to celebrate some more SFG success and introduce you to Justin Pigozzo who is fresh from his win at the 24th Australasian Catalogue Awards. Over to you Justin…..

24th Australasian Catalogue Awards

“Hi, my name is Justin Pigozzo and I’m a Marketing Assistant for Rivers. I began my career with SFG back in May 2014. Like every new grad I trawled the internet everyday hoping to find a dream job and someone who would give a recent graduate a go!

With a degree in Graphic Design and a true passion for fashion and retail I was determined to work within the Retail Fashion industry. Whilst I was visiting family in Western Australia, I had a Skype interview for the role in Rivers, I then caught an earlier flight home to come in for a face to face interview and… a few days later I found myself as a new employee at SFG!

The Rivers Marketing team celebrating success

I joined SFG when Rivers was still a new brand to the Group. I am very fortunate to say that I have been part of the Rivers amazing transformation journey since the acquisition… and I look forward to what becomes of the brand in the future!

Working with the Rivers brand has definitely lived up to the “fast paced environment” it stated on the job description! My main role within the brand is Creative Producing – this means helping execute our frequent photo-shoots and TV commercials. With a catalogue produced every two weeks and over 3.5 million copies printed and delivered across Australia, along with countless TVC spots hitting the screens weekly, the need to be accurate and on time is hugely important. The role is hectic but that’s exactly the way I like it! No two days are the same, one day I’ll be casting models for our upcoming catalogue and TVC shoots and the next I am helping to organise a new store opening.

Justin and his giant cheque!

What’s also really amazing about working at SFG is the opportunity to succeed and be recognised for your achievements. Last month I was given the greatest honour to be nominated and become a finalist at the Australasian Catalogue Awards. I was up for the “Best Young Talent” category and was really excited at the prospect of winning! A group of us from Rivers Marketing flew to Melbourne for this fantastic event dubbed the ‘Catalogies’ that was held at the Crown Casino. We had an awesome night celebrating success as a team and enjoying dinner and a few drinks. When it came to the award announcements, I was nervous, but elated when I won my category (and a giant novelty Cheque) which was truly amazing!”

Sally Patman, Creative Director for Rivers said: “Justin’s ability and logical approach to creative production is a true asset to the team. His ability to negotiate model contracts, location fees whilst keeping the art production rounds on track is to be admired.”

Well done Justin – awesome achievement, keep up the hard work, creativity and dedication – here’s to many more years of awards & recognition!

How a creative approach to job applications can work in your favor

• Want to know how to secure your dream job?
• Want to stand out from the crowed and get noticed?
• Tired of applying on-line and not knowing if your application gets seen?

If you’ve ever been on the hunt for a new role then it’s likely you have answered ‘Yes’ to one or more of the above. In a crowded and competitive market it can be hard to stand out and grab your perspective employers attention. However, one of our newest Team Members did just that! Hear how Stuart Christie took control of his job search and landed a Buying role with our Katies brand!

“When I first moved to Australia I became aware of SFG through a friend who was temping on reception; she raved about the offices, the team members and of course the SFG culture in general. After working in fashion in various capacities in the UK I had set my sights on re-joining the industry and when the time was right SFG was my first choice. I did some investigations and set my eyes on the prize, coming up with a plan of how I would make it happen.

I had been working in an Australian Government recruitment role trying to place people with disability into work and we had to employ various innovative strategies in securing opportunities for the candidates. This got me thinking about my own job search and I came up with a creative way to put myself in front of the right people at SFG. I wanted to show that all my previous (and very varied) work experience, in the fashion industry, would be right for them and make for a great investment for the company.

Having had a great deal of contact with employers and businesses it was clear to me that many candidates fail at the first hurdle due to their resume so I wanted to tackle this head on. I set about creating a document that was both visually different and also included content presented in a fresh and easily digestible way. I used logos instead of company names and formatted the whole thing to A5; placing the finished document into a blank cardboard folio style binder.

With the use of LinkedIn I created a mailing list of all the important people in HR and Buying across every brand under the SFG umbrella. This list ensured I had a targeted approach and made sure my document landed on the right desk. In addition to my creative resume & target list I decided to give each recipient an incentive to take time out of their day to review my skills for relevancy; so  I popped a gorgeous, individual tea bag into each 'resume pack' in the hope they would enjoy it while reading 'my story'. 

 

Stuart's awesome resume 'pack'

It worked. 

I was contacted by SFG a couple weeks later to arrange a telephone interview, they didn't have any opportunities at the time but thought my approach and initiative, coupled with my skills(!), suited SFG's ideology and of course the SHIRT values at the core of the business.

I wasn't hired immediately, as there wasn't an opportunity, but as soon as one came up I received the phone call I had been waiting and here I am working at SFG and I am VERY happy about it. The team at Katies are amazing and have been very supportive in me learning the role and business. Everyone is really friendly, approachable and hard working.

I thank SFG for being open to my unusual approach and I really feel it is a true reflection of the open-mindedness and resourcefulness of the business to go outside the box to improve the business at every level. I hope to be a member of the team here for a very long time to come." By Stuart Christie

Stuart Looking very happy in his role at Katies! 

Notes from the Editor - As a lucky recipient of a 'resume pack' including yummy peppermint tea bag I can assure readers that this was one of the most innovative job applications I have received in over 10yrs. We LOVED receiving it! Well done Stuart we hope you have a long, happy & successful career with SFG!  

SFG’s expansion in to the USA

SFG’s expansion in to the USA

Last week our CEO Gary Perlstein was on the road in California visiting our City Chic stores in the USA!

2014 was a milestone year for SFG as we opened our first stores overseas as part of SFG’s growth strategy into international markets.

Gary Perlstein with some of our glamorous City Chic Team Members 

SFG’s purpose is that: We will be a global market leader as or brands change the perception of fashion; our City Chic brand is our first as they lead a world of curves through fearless fashion.

Gary spent time with our City Chic team in California, sharing with them our new purpose and seeing and hearing WHY they come to work every day.

• Why do we do what we do?
• What makes us get out of bed in the morning? 
• How will my contribution make a difference? 

No matter what your role is at SFG we want out Team Members to understand they are impact on SFG’s PURPOSE. Whether you work in a store directly interacting with customers or if you work in a support function, it’s important you remember the WHY so that you can deliver the best customer experience and having a great time doing it.

If you share a passion for our purpose being a global market leader as our brands changes the perception of fashion then we would like to hear from you! Please feel free to send your CV through to recruitment@sfg.co

Part 2 of our Company Purpose launch: Fail fast, surround yourself with extraordinary people, hire your weaknesses, and tap into your customers...

Last week we blogged about our Company Purpose launch evening and shared with you SFG’s purpose. Now that you know what makes us jump out of the bed in the morning – we want to share more about the event, the inspirational special guest, along with insight into what some of our fabulous brands have been doing to change the perception of fashion!

After we indulged in some tasty canapés, drinks and had an update on the State of Origin scores, we welcomed the motivational entrepreneur, Lisa Messenger, author, publisher, Founder and Editor in Chief of the Renegade Collective magazine. The Collective Magazine appeals to game changers, rule breakers and thought leaders with a common appetite for challenging the status quo.

Lisa is a dynamic, high energy individual with strong values led ambition. She lives and leads with purpose!

Gary Perlstein & Lisa Messenger 

Lisa’s philosophy and approach to life had such an uncanny alignment to our PURPOSE that it was a bit surreal. She is passionate and 100% living & breathing her PURPOSE – she believes that anything is possible if you back yourself, never give up and surround yourself with an amazing team. She told us to “Fail fast, surround yourself with extraordinary people, hire your weaknesses, and tap into your customers…”

To read more about Lisa Messenger or the Renegade Collective check out her site The Collective

After Lisa’s inspiring segment, our CEO, Gary, took to the stage once again and asked representatives from three of our brands to join him to share the brand journeys and how they are bringing our purpose to life.

First up, was Carly Turner, Marketing Manager for City Chic who spoke about their passion for their customer by giving her both what she wants and needs.

She told us about the brands light bulb moment that they could be more than just a clothing retailer; “We could be a community, a sisterhood and a brand that our customers really wanted to be part of.

It was from the creation of our community and sisterhood that we learnt our customers wanted to look like their skinner friends and have the same shopping experiences as them. They didn’t want to wear daggy moo moos, they wanted to wear fashion they could pick-up in, that made them look hot but more importantly feel hot!

Our customers showed us they wanted to be bold, sexy, glam and chic, they wanted to be part of a brand that embraced and celebrated curves, a brand that would change the face of the plus size industry.

To show the customers we were listening we knew we had to do something bold that would make a stand for curvy women everywhere.

City Chic made history as the first plus size fashion brand to walk the catwalk along straight size designers at Rosemont Fashion week. In true City Chic form we shocked the crowd and the press as international model Laura Wells tore off her skirt revealing a display of curves that had never been seen on the Australian runway!”

City Chic has grown from strength to strength and recently opened its’ 100^th store and is our first brand to spearhead SFG’s international growth as they launch stores in South Africa & the USA. The City Chic customer is bold, sexy & glam; she isn’t afraid to showcase her curves & lead a world of curves through fearless fashion.  To see more of what CC is up to Click Here and check out Inside CC!

Carly Turner, Linda Whitehead, Christabel Warner & Gary Perlstein

Next, our Crossroads Brand Director, Linda Whitehead, spoke to us about the Crossroads woman; she is real, down to earth and fun, she wants to feel comfortable in her clothes but she feels she doesn’t fit in the world of fashion today – this was their challenge! They had to redefine fashion for their customer and they took it upon themselves to deliver great products that build our customers confidence by understanding what she really wants.

A significant step was to start using a gorgeous size 12-14 model in their advertising campaigns as she represented the reality of Australian women. The feedback from our Facebook fans has been overwhelming! Women were suddenly telling us that they can finally see how the product would look on them and it was about time ‘average’ sized women were being used to advertise clothing. To check out our beautiful model In the Crossroads Style Edit

Crossroads is here to support busy women at different stages of her life and as her body changes. The brand has created jeans that fit and flatter woman at any age of any size. Through their ‘Fit Bus’, launched a the Easter Show in Sydney earlier this year, they are touring the east coast of Australia, helping women find great fitting pants, no matter what their shape or size.

Finally, we passed the mic over to Christabel Warner, National Operations Manager for Autograph. Christabel spoke about the brands journey of reconnecting with the customer and really understanding the struggles she has in life but also in finding clothes that make her look & feel confident.

We were introduced to the body image movement led by Taryn Brumfitt, and watched her thought provoking video. Watch this space for the brands collaboration with Taryn and the body image movement! We encourage everyone to take a look Body Image Movement

A little gift for our Team Members to keep the PURPOSE fresh in their minds

As the evening was drawing to a close we turned our attention to the screens to watch another short video – but this time shot by SFG’ers - where some of our Team Members and customers spoke about their roles bringing our PURPOSE to life & WHY they do what they do.

Here at SFG, we don’t take ourselves to seriously and always enjoy a good laugh so we prepared a bloopers reel! Some will say it was the highlight of the night!

The lights went up and each attendee was a presented with a copy of Lisa Messenger’s book, Daring & Disruptive and were given the opportunity to have it personally signed and even a photo with her!

It was a busy, full-on, fun packed event. We had a serious message to communicate but we had some laughs along the way. We left inspired, motivated and connected to our purpose. We appreciate everyone’s commitment in attending and really hope that they got something out of the event. Maybe inspiration, a new idea, a connection to their PURPOSE? As Gary said “The characteristics we look for in our team members include; consistency, fair play, authenticity, scope to grow, learn & develop & persistence.”  

We’ll leave you with one final thought:

People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

And what you do simply proves what you believe.

Do you know why you jump out of bed every morning? Do you know why you do what you do

#ourculturecode

Last week we launched our new Corporate Purpose, or Mission Statement, to our 400 Support Office Team Members in Sydney. We kept the event a secret and built the suspense and excitement through enticing (but ambiguous) emails and teaser posters throughout the building – after weeks of speculations we had some very interesting theories about what we were doing!

The night was a huge success and a milestone in SFG history as it was the first time we had everyone together in one forum.

Beautiful product in the Ivy ballroom

From 4pm our Team Members started to fill up the Ivy Ballroom and at 5pm the doors shut when Gary Perlstein, our CEO, took to the stage. Gary started SFG back in 1993 and is a key figure in our business. Gary gave us an update on the business performance in FY15 and delivered our key focus for the new year ahead. He outlined our group KPI’s and goals to emphasise that whilst we are a multi-brand group, where each brand has its own targets and goals, we are one #sfgfamily, and it is important we all know what our common goals are.

Then our Leadership Team took to the stage to introduce their individual brands/departments along with key focuses for FY16 – we even learnt their star signs, both Western & Chinese which included everything from a Rat to a Tiger! We had a Q&A with Gary, with questions from Team Members, asking what they really wanted to know about him. They ranged from personal to the professional; one of the stories he told resulted in him rolling around on stage to re-enact a key store moment for him, early on in SFG history!! (there’s no photo of that unfortunately!)

Gary Perlstein, CEO

After this, Gary got to the core of the event – WHY were we all there? He introduced us to Simon Sinek’s, Leadership expert and Author, principle: The Golden Circle. Most of us know WHAT we do and HOW we do it – but how many of us know WHY we do it? If you can identify your WHY you will be inspired and inspire others. Successful, authentic and respected companies (and people) are connected to their WHY, they live it and breathe it.

As SFG has changed and grown over the years it was important for us to re-evaluate our WHY and make sure we knew not only what we did and how, but more importantly WHY we did it. To see more of what we are talking about visit Simon’s website: Start with Why

So, what is our WHY? What inspires us?

Our new corporate PURPOSE …….

We know our reason for being is a little aspirational, but we dream BIG because we believe we CAN!

You might be asking, WHY such an ambitious statement? You’d be right in stating it is ambitious – but we aren’t afraid of that. Let’s ask a different question?

•         WHY is fashion just for the young or the skinny?
•         WHY doesn’t everyone deserve to look and feel great in what the wear?
•         WHY should anyone feel marginalised because of their age or size?

Our brands don’t exclude anyone and cater for the mature and curvy because our customers deserve the right to look great and feel confident. To quote Gary on the night “We want to build confidence and self-esteem to help change people’s lives – to be life changing!”

Our lovely City Chic Team - looking bold, sexy & glam! 

Some of the stories we hear from customers in our stores would shock and upset you; women who have been abused because of their size, by both strangers and supposed loved ones; made to feel insignificant, not worthy and disgusting. People should not determine their success or failure based on their clothing size. Whether you lose or gain weight your self-worth should not fluctuate. There needs to be a shift in society towards promoting a body positive image and fashion retailers have a key part to play. 

This is WHY we are on a mission, we are living with PURPOSE.

In the second part of our blog next week we will talk about our inspirational guest speaker and provide more insight into what some of our fabulous brands have been doing to change the perception of fashion!