Sharyn Kearns has just launched a brand new website for women, the focus of which is buying a capsule wardrobe with key pieces that you can build on. Life is hectic and sometimes in the midst of being mum, confidante, friend, employee or business owner you forget who you are. So grab you tablet or laptop, a cuppa (or a glass of wine) and read all about Your Style Your Story, Irelands newest website.

 

Tell us about yourself, your company, job profile, etc.

My profession started out as an Accountant and I established my first business over 10 years ago acting as an outsourced Finance Director for multiple companies.  Through my business I have had the pleasure of working with numerous international companies and travelled to locations that have really opened my eyes culturally such as Africa.

I have recently launched Your Style Your Story which is a community based online fashion boutique.  Our lives are so busy all of the time and as women we often put ourselves to the bottom of the list.  When our life feels out of control sometimes what we wear becomes our armour to the world.  We show up feeling well and confident and feel we have regained that sense of being in the driving seat of our life.  I wanted to create a platform where women can take ten minutes for themselves, share their story in our community or offer some help, read about some inspiring life stories in our fun blogs, or enjoy shopping and building their capsule wardrobe on our boutique webshop.  We only stock a limited range of collections so our customers can quickly shop for what they need and have it delivered to them the next day.  Giving our customers some time back to themselves and helping them simplify some aspects of their day to day lives.

 

Who has inspired you in your life and why?

My Dad has definitely inspired me to take more risks, live life without regrets as far as possible and travel, travel, travel.  He lived abroad and travelled for a lot of his earlier life and I loved listening to his tales when I was young.  He always told me that there was a big world out there and to grab it with both hands.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you have and why?

Chocolate – I simply could not handle the sugar withdrawls

Mobile Hair straightener – Remember what happened to Monica in Friends – my hair was definitely a contender for that role

My Journal – The free time would be great to put all my ideas on paper

In a team environment, what role do you usually take on?

I am normally the devil’s advocate.  When team members respond with what we can’t do I like to break the objection down into smaller obstacles and brainstorm how we can overcome each of these one by one.  More often than not we can find a way to overcome most things.

What three things do you need to be successful in your  job?

Be visionary – fashion and e-commerce changes rapidly, what will customers want in 3 – 5 years from now, what do they expect from us as a brand and how can we start now to make sure we live up to these expectations.

Empathy – Our brand is based on a community.  Like everyone our members have good days and bad days and we want to be there to pick them up a little on those bad days.  For this we need to really listen to what our members are saying, not judge and then offer our ways to help.

Courage – Building new brands is tough.  For weeks and months on end so much effort is put in and the return at the beginning is always much less than the effort.  However I only ever work in what I truly believe in and this gives me the courage to challenge the norms and try deliver a better customer experience.

How do you define success and how do you measure up to your own definition?

I define this as being able to create the lifestyle that I want to live.  Challenge the norms – I don’t believe work should only be 5 days a week, 9 -5 in an office building.  I have lived abroad on numerous occasions and still managed to successfully run my businesses while at the same time introduce my children to life in different countries and experience different cultures.  I am striving towards the lifestyle I would like to have but definitely still have a bit of a way to go yet.

Which of the two animals would you say you are most like — a sheep or a wolf — and why?

I would say I am more like a wolf.  Similar to wolves I prefer to work in a pack to achieve success quicker.  I love bringing together groups of different people, different expertise and experiences and working together to solve problems and move forward.  Although I am cuddly like a sheep…