About

My first taste of fashion came in 1997, when I took a summer job at Tessuti, a designer store in Chester. I was 19, had just finished my first year at university and, unlike most of my friends, had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

That summer changed things. I discovered I could sell - and that I loved it. The clothes, the customers, the buzz of the shop floor. For the first time, I'd found something I was naturally good at.

So when I graduated a few years later, I decided I wanted to start my own business as a personal shopper. I went back to Tessuti to get a part-time job while I worked out how to make it happen.

On my first day, I was called into the office and asked if I'd like to fly to Milan that weekend as a buyer.

Obviously, I said yes.

And that part-time job became an incredible education in fashion. I travelled to Milan and Paris, buying collections from Gucci and Prada to DVF and Armani, while spending my days on the shop floor learning what women actually wanted to wear - and why.

A few years later I moved to London and into fashion wholesale, before eventually coming back to the idea I'd had all those years before.

In 2006, I launched Style Struck.

EXPERIENCE

STYLE STRUCK - EST. 2006

For more than a decade, I worked with hundreds of women.

I spent days clearing out wardrobes and eight hour shopping days building new ones. I helped women find their wedding dresses, choose their first investment handbags and navigate changing bodies and changing lives. Sometimes that meant clothes; sometimes it meant a trip to the hairdressers, make-up and the works.

It was always personal. And it was always about helping someone feel more like themselves.

A DECADE AT BICESTER VILLAGE

Alongside running Style Struck, I spent ten years working closely with Bicester Village’s marketing team - although my role went far beyond shopping with clients.

I worked with VIPs and private clients in their VIP Lounge and latterly The Apartment, curating the best pieces from across the Village; pulled my weekly edit for fashion shoots; took over their Instagram to share my favourite finds; and hosted styling and shopping events for groups of clients.

Essentially my job was to edit the Village - finding the pieces worth knowing about and showing women how to wear them.

Turns out, that’s still pretty much what I do today.

FASHION, BRANDS & A MICROPHONE

My work has always gone beyond one-to-one styling. I’ve hosted fashion shows, spoken at The Ideal Home Show and given talks to rooms of more than women at a time - including an hour on why there’s a little bit of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha in all of us.

I’ve worked with brands including Swarovski and Jaeger, training their teams in styling and understanding their customers, and worked alongside sales teams at launch events - inspiring them, engaging customers and, ultimately helping them sell.

Because knowing what works is one thing. Being able to explain why - and get someone excited about it, is another.