Manager - Debbie - Whitianga

How long have you been working for Annah Stretton?
I started with the Annah Stretton team in 2019.

 What made you want to work for Annah Stretton? 
I'd recently moved from Sydney where I'd been living for almost 14 years and working in the corporate world.  I've always had a 'passion for fashion' having worked in the industry in my early career and this opportunity came up. I am truly lucky/blessed that Annah saw something in me at my interview that perhaps I didn't see in myself at the time.  And of course, I absolutely love coming to work everyday and working amongst all this gorgeousness.

 What do you love most about your job? 
Our customers, the beautiful designs and fabrics which are different from anything else in the market, the 'fully supported autonomy' to manage my store, my work/life balance and the opportunity, in a beach town, to get dressed up for work each day!

 What have you learned in your time with the company? 
Every woman is different, not only their size and shape but how they feel about themselves and what they see when they look in the mirror - I learn from my customers everyday. I've also learnt that retail is very hard work, my previous desk job for 20+ years really was 'cushy'.

 What is the best thing about working in fashion? 
Simple answer - I just love clothes and I see what's up and coming before it makes its debut into the stores.  We also get a generous staff discount so I now wear pieces I perhaps wouldn't have purchased for myself in the past.

 What role does the job play in your life? 
 I now live in a beach town and wanted to ensure that I had the opportunity to appreciate this every single day.  For majority of the year, other than our peak summer season, I work 4 days per week 10am-4pm so I get to dress up and feel fab at work as well as exercising my brain but still have plenty of time to take long walks on the beach, do my Pilates and see family.