Meet Penny........

It’s not really a revelation to hear that the role of a receptionist is crucial to many a business. They create the first impression and reflect the business values & culture.

Here at SFG HQ we are very aware of having the best person/people in the role and are lucky to have two wonderful ladies who job share the role at SFG Reception. Penny & Nina are true superstars, hard-working and ever smiling. They are approachable, engaging and always happy to help!

The other day our Editor was in the buzzing reception hub at SFG, chatting to Penny and she had some wonderful things to say about her role & time so far at SFG, so we thought we’d share her thoughts. Meet Penny………

Ahhh, Penny, you are looking lovely yet again today – wearing any of our brands?

I am! City Chic top and earrings today!

Such an ambassador! Love it! Right, so tell us a bit about you?

I’m married with two beautiful boys aged five & three. I love travelling, especially to Greece and exploring the beautiful islands & villages where I can indulge my passion for food and cooking. I also love spending time with friends and family.

I Joined SFG almost one year ago in a part-time Reception role that I share with my lovely colleague Nina. I work 5 days a week either a morning or afternoon shift and handover with Nina at lunch-time. This has been the perfect arrangement to allow me to balance my child-care arrangements, secure fulfilling work and ensuring work/life balance.

What attracted you to the role at SFG?

Being a mum, I was attracted to the hours but more importantly I loved the SFG brands. I grew up with Katies and Millers as my Mum and Grandmother would frequently shop there. I also love fashion so when I saw the role advertised, I thought why not work within the fashion industry!

Penny @ SFG reception in Sydney

As a receptionist, what does your role entail?

The reception area at SFG is super busy, so my hours flyby! My day to day tasks include meeting and greeting clients, customers & suppliers, answering incoming calls and receiving and sorting deliveries. We have anywhere from 50 - 200 parcels delivered each day! I’m also responsible for sending out all international samples and managing the couriers as well as responding to email enquiries and requests from SFG team members.

What’s your favourite part of the role?

People! My day centres around interacting with people all day from all different walks of life, whether that’s my colleagues, suppliers, customers or our couriers. This gives the busy role a lot of variety.

What are the perks to working here?

There are so many perks working at SFG! One the best ones being our generous staff discount (40%) which means there is an even bigger excuse to shop and I have a happier husband! We are also able to attend samples sales, again receiving a significant discount as well as getting to see the latest fashion trends, first, before it hits the stores. I was recently asked by one of our suppliers if I would mind wearing a few bits of their jewellery, which are currently stocked in our stores, and the best bit is I get to keep it! However, by far my favourite part of working at SFG is the team culture we have, everyone is so friendly and approachable it means coming to work is always fun!

What would your top tip be to someone considering a role at SFG?

Don’t be intimated by the stereotypes that the Fashion Industry has. At SFG that couldn’t be further from the truth – the people here are down-to-earth, friendly and welcoming and the culture is great! If you want a great role, in a buzzing environment all you need to do is demonstrate the SFG values and work hard and I’m sure you would be a success!

Now Penny, I don’t want to cause any ruffling of feathers internally but who is your favourite SFG brand & why?

Hahaha – I love them all! But if I was pressured to pick I would say that I have two favourite brands, City Chic and Katies; I love what City Chic represents in terms of giving confidence and sass to plus-size women to wear whatever they want and to look & feel fantastic! And with Katies it’s about accessing latest trends and fashions whilst also being affordable and keeping some classic pieces.

Favourite fashion trend of the moment?

I’m obsessed with leather look coated jeans at the moment they are so versatile, you can dress them up or down, are comfortable but with a bit on an edge!

Who’s your style icon?

Penny's dream destination

My current style icon is Sally Obermeder! I love her sophisticated & classic style, she always looks so well put together without trying too hard.

Now, obviously you want to be at SFG forever (!) however if you weren’t working at SFG what would you be doing?

I would be living on an island somewhere in Greece, sunning myself with a cocktail, sampling delicious food!  

Celebrating the rejuvenation of our new look Millers brand!

This week we are celebrating the rejuvenation of our new look Millers brand! They have a fresh new style with beautiful logo, feminine colour palate and have launched a new brand campaign ‘Millers & Me Made for each other’ featuring our real Millers customers as the stars of the multi-channel advertising campaigns.

This blog will provide an overview of the rejuvenation and over the next few weeks we are going to share more details behind the Millers & Me and Seeing Me projects.

Brand rejuvenation

In order to truly understand what our customer was thinking and feeling we undertook Australia’s largest survey of women over 40 – and had 4,200 responses:

• 75% didn’t feel defined by their age
• 80% believed they were under represented in popular culture
• 50% felt invisible

 

The new look Millers logo 

Millers Brand Director, Jane McNally explained the ethos behind the new look Millers; “At Millers, everything we do is for the love of our women. Our women are used to putting everyone else’s interests ahead of their own and our customers felt very misrepresented in the media. The way they were being presented was dowdy and frumpy. So we put out a call on Facebook for models to be able to give them something back. We talked to customers and found out about what they really wanted. In response we created the biggest multi-channel brand campaign since our launch. It is a brave step in a way - to use real women.”

Take a look at the new look Millers website: Millers

The new look Millers stores - Bankstown, NSW

Millers & Me

Over the years, the brand has struggled to find mature models through the usual casting agencies. We’ve always wondered why this age group are so under-represented. Particularly when we see so many beautiful women in our stores!

 

New campaign image

Our new campaign is called ‘Millers & Me’ and it’s where we showcase our real customers. We wanted our women to feel proud of who they are, and who they’ve become.

Our women deserve to look and feel amazing, because they are amazing!

Seeing Me

As part of the new Millers & Me campaign featuring ‘our women’, the Seeing Me Project is also being launched.

In society, culture, fashion and advertising the mature woman is under-represented, some might say invisible, and we’d like to change this. 

The Seeing Me Project is a long-term commitment by Millers to celebrate the mature woman. Our mission is to encourage the world to see women the way we do. Our women have raised families and supported them. They’ve given love and life. They’ve given everything. They’re stronger than they realise, wiser than they know and more loved than they could ever imagine. Our women are amazing. And they deserve to be seen and celebrated! Seeing Me Project

Tracey Spicer, respected journalist, presenter & human rights activist has published a great article around The Seeing Me Project and new research on Debrief Daily here - Tracey Spicer on The Seeing Me Project

The latest catwalk from our Millers Brand; gently transitioning you from Summer into Autumn!

Over the past few days our wonderful team of regional managers from our Millers brand, have come together for a conference to introduce the trans-seasonal range to the team and provide an update on the next chapter of Millers. 

The conference was upbeat and energetic with our Team Members discussing how to provide our Millers customers with the best shopping experience! 

In the picture below are three of our lovely Regional Managers; Jenny, Rebecca & Monique. In this blog they give us a behind the scenes insight to the conference and the fantastic new range.

Left to Right: Jenny, Rebecca and Monique

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Rebecca: The people! The team I work with are amazing and everyone pulls together to get results. The customers treat each other like family; it’s a wonderful part of the job. 

Monique: I get to work with amazing women every day and meet incredible customers. They are very special; they are loyal and like a family, it’s so great to have that. 

Jenny: The people; the team and the customers. They are so lovely, I’m so lucky. Many customers know the names of the store team members and they know theirs! That’s really special and makes our customers unique.  

What’s the best quality of our Millers customer?

Rebecca: All for one, one for all! I’ve said it already, but just coming back to the idea of the Miller’s family; there’s no them and us - we are one big family. It’s also great that they represent all different types of Australian women. 

Monique: They are genuine, real women. They are grandmas, mothers, they’re us! We can relate to each other really well.

Jenny: Our customers are down to earth, real women. 

What are your favourite trends this season?

Rebecca: Animal print!

Monique: Palazzo, soft pants – they’re so comfy!

Jenny: I love the animal print too!

What are you most looking forward to for Millers in 2015?

Rebecca: Taking the brand to the next level and giving our customers what they deserve! 

Monique: I agree with Bec, I’m so excited to be a part of a brand giving back to Australian women and giving them something that’s unique to them. 

Jenny: Miller’s is launching the first new concept store in New Zealand – it’s super exciting!!  

A sneak peak at the trans-seasonal evening wear!

What's your favourite Miller's accessory for the season? 

Rebecca: Statement necklaces – you can wear them with a whole range of outfits and mix and match them with your looks. 

Monique: Scarves – You can wear them so many different ways!  I experiment with tying them in my hair, around my head or as a neck scarf; they have such functionality and versatility!

Jenny: Jewellery – You can instantly dress up outfits and add a touch of glam.

What 'sneak peak's' can you reveal? 

Rebecca: There are loads of transitional pieces that mean you can mix the new range with last season’s pieces to create a versatile wardrobe.

Monique: I love the look of new dresses using fabric such as such as lace. We also have a great new ‘after 5’ range that has stepped up a level. 

Jenny: It’s very on trend, not over the top, so, anyone can wear it.

The conference also featured a fabulous and fun fashion show displaying new tran-seasonal outfits that will be hitting stores and online soon!

What’s your fondest memory of Millers so far?

Rebecca: This conference! It’s easily been the best I’ve ever been too. There iss a united team and everyone’s on the same page. Everyone’s very passionate and excited and that’s great to see.

Monique: There is one customer who brings baked goods every fortnight to her local store. Why? Because she feels like Millers was a part of her family and she loves them. It was so great to see such wonderful and strong relationships and staff who are passionate about their customers. 

Jenny: I love going into stores and seeing customer’s husbands come with them and they would know the staff’s names! It really shows how unique our customers are, and how strong the relationships are. 

What’s your top pick for the season?

Rebecca: The wrap scarf – It’s never out of fashion and can be easily added into your wardrobe. It can make an outfit – you can have a simple outfit and with a wrap it can dress it up a level and make it modern. I also love the new knits, they have such a luxurious feel. 

Monique: The crepe jacket; it’s fantastic value. It’s a statement piece on its own and ladies can dress it up or down. The colour range for the season is very on trend and won’t date quickly. 

Jenny: The new knitwear looks fab! It’s glamorous and practical. The long-line cardigan, 'coat-igan' and sweater have such soft fabrics. In NZ, it can get so cold and it’s wonderful that we can be warm and stylish.

Any last words?

Rebecca: We’re on a journey together with our customers and it’s about giving customers what they deserve.  

Monique: As a customer myself, I’m very excited for the next chapter of Millers. 

Jenny: I’m excited about the journey, every step we take is a step closer to giving back to our customer.

Team Millers

Meet the SFG Careers team!

Welcome to the new SFG Careers blog! We are super excited to launch our brand new blog plus be able to provide a picture that puts some faces to the names of the recruitment team here are Specialty Fashion Group. This financial year has seen us re-invent the recruitment, talent and careers function to improve process and most importantly candidate experience.

The aim of the blog is to provide an insight into life at SFG, what career pathways are available, who’s who and anything else you would like us to share with you!

In the picture above we have (left to right): Neveena Gill – focused on our Millers & Rivers brand and a lover of all things fashion; Lisa Donovan – our Recruitment Manager, passionate about showcasing what a great place to work SFG is (oh and her cat Harry Winston); Megan Conway – our enthusiastic and extremely hard working Recruitment Assistant who prides herself on providing candidates with an amazing first impression of SFG and finally myself, Lucy Hibbert, in the foreground – I look after our Autograph, Crossroads & Katies brands and am a wannabe ‘Social Media Manager’!

Together, we are committed to engaging with talented individuals who love what they do and the contribution they can make to a business. The SFG brands are about making people ‘look and feel great’ – wherever they may live, whatever their size, shape or age.

So connect with us!! You can find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ & Twitter. We would love to hear from you all! 

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