Season 3 Episode 7: One of our trauma friends joins us to reminisce our time as Buying Assistants, tells us why working in Buying has set the scene for the rest of her career and how transferable Buying skills are for any job

In Episode 7 we chat with one of our OGs, a very special trauma friend! We all started Buying as BAAs, and wow it was a wild time. We recount some of the ridiculous and hilarious memories of the Buying office - working on the hats, gloves and scarves team when you’re allergic to wool, the crazy fads we tried out, being very young and impressionable, wanting to be cool and raising our profile - plus a very sad story of a promotion that was taken away. Calli tells us why working in Buying has set the scene for the rest of her career with the many transferable skills she learnt during her time in Buying, and we discuss what it’s like working in a 90% female based office, the good the bad and how we think it should be! 

Some of the key takeaways from this episode are:

1. There’s nothing quite like a trauma friend - it bonds you for life!! Whether that is going through crazy fads and fashions together, trying out new trends, or competing and challenging each other to be better and go further in your career. Often the Buying offices are 90% female, and a whole lot of emotions, but this can be channelled to drive sales harder, not act harder. Be intuitive, supportive, and encourage development of your co-workers - rather than throwing socks!
2. So many of the skills that you develop working in Buying will set you up for life. As Calli has shared, once you’ve worked in the intense environment of a Buying office, nothing will phase you anymore! You’ve got this!! 
3. It’s not really as glamorous as it looks - it’s not all glitz and glam, that’s all smoke and mirrors, it’s actually more spreadsheets, numbers and data and that shiny gold necklace plating will wear off! We imagined it being all travelling the globe, fancy food & drinks, buying whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, living that high life…and there is a little of that. But really it’s moving heavy boxes of product, wearing high vis jackets at warehouse visits and not sleeping for days as you travel to as many factories in as little time as possible! It's exhausting, but it's fun. It's just definitely not glamourous!

Join us for our next Retail Buyer Meet up in London on Wednesday 28th April! Go to www.jointhebuyersclub.co.uk or DM us @jointhebuyersclub

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