Thrive in Fashion Buying and Merchandising

There are lots of questions in buying that are left unanswered. In this episode, Elisabeth Mac Hale answers some of those directly: these are questions that come up repeatedly from buyers at different stages of their careers, and that the person asking rarely wants to raise out loud.
In this episode:
- How to know if your OTB figure is right
- What to do when a supplier keeps pushing back the delivery date
- Do you have to choose between product instinct and commercial data
- Why the feeling that everyone else in the room knows something you don't is not unusual
- When the right time to put yourself forward for more responsibility

To build the commercial foundations that underpin all of these questions, explore the Buyer's Toolkit Mini Course:

To go deeper and develop your fashion buying career sills from concept to customer, explore the Thrive in Fashion Buying course

Website and Podcast Notes DESIGN DIRECTIVE

Email your questions Hello@thriveinfashion.com

The relationship between buying and merchandising influences how a season performs.. 
It is not always obvious but when it works well it shows in the way decisions are made, how the two roles challenge each other and how smoothly the work moves from one to the other. When it struggles, the commercial impact can appear long before the real problem is clear.
In this episode, Elisabeth Mac Hale explores what the best buyer-merchandiser partnerships have in common and what tends to gat in the way when they don't work well.
- Why financial fluency is the key to a strong buying-merchandising relationship
- The practical importance of clear decision ownership
- The difference between working in silos and solving the same commercial problem together
 
If you would like to develop your fashion buying knowledge from concept to customer, and to understand more about the role and responsibilities of Buyers and Merchandisers, explore the Thrive in Fashion Buying online course:
https://designdirectiveme.com/online-fashion-buying-course
Find more info on the Website
https://www.designdirectiveme.com

Professional development in Fashion Buying is largely self-directed. Most organisations do not have a structured approach to developing their buyers, and the ones who wait for a plan from above tend to wait a long time.
In this episode, Elisabeth Mac Hale shares some examples s she used throughout her career to manage her own professional development, and the signals she looks for when she sees buyers doing the same.
 
In this episode:
- Why tracking your decisions and their outcomes is one of the most effective development tools available
- How to seek out exposure in buying offices
- Identifying the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and targeting it deliberately
- Four signs that a buyer is taking ownership of their own development
 
Take the FREE “Are You Buyer-Ready?” Quiz to understand your current strengths and development gaps and where to focus next:
https://learn.designdirectiveme.com/fashion-buyer-ready-quiz
 
If you would like to develop your fashion buying knowledge and skill further from concept to customer, explore the Thrive in Fashion Buying course Here is the link directly:
https://designdirectiveme.com/online-fashion-buying-course
 
Check out the website for more information and blog articles.
https://designdirectiveme.com

In this episode:
- Why most buying offices run on an undesigned apprenticeship model.
- The most important professional relationship to build it deliberately from the start
- What to do when your product instinct and the commercial data do not match.
- How to read the room before you speak in it.

If you want to understand where you are in your development and what to prioritise next,
take the free ' Are You Buyer-Ready?' quiz:
If you would like to develop your fashion buying knowledge from concept to customer, explore the Thrive in Fashion Buying Online course at www.designdirectiveme.com

Most fashion buyer CVs share the same problem: they read like a job description. They list responsibilities, use business jargon, and tell what a buyer was supposed to do not what they actually achieved or what they can bring to a new role.
Elisabeth Mac Hale has worked in Fashion Buying for more than 25 years and reviewed hundreds of buyer CV's.
In this episode she shares what she consistently sees on the CVs that don't make it through the initial review, and what the ones that land at the top of the pile actually contain. She covers the mistakes that cost candidates an opportunity before anyone has read a word, the difference between responsibilities and achievements, and how the CV opens the door to the next stage..
 
In This Episode
• Why listing responsibilities produces a job description
• Presentation and layout
• The difference between responsibilities and achievements
• How to quantify your commercial contribution

Resources Mentioned
The FREE Buyer-Ready Assessment Quiz  https://learn.designdirectiveme.com/fashion-buyer-ready-quiz

Book a CV / Resume Audit   https://tidycal.com/design-directive/resume-cv-audit-for-fashion-professionals

The Thrive Signature Fashion Buying Course https://designdirectiveme.com/online-fashion-buying-course

Connect With Elisabeth
Website: https://designdirectiveme.com
Instagram: @designdirectivedubai
LinkedIn: Elisabeth Mac Hale