Up Close and Personal with Colleen
Meet Colleen Callander, she is the Former Sportsgirl CEO and Founder of ‘Mentor Me Women’ and Author of ‘LEADER BY DESIGN’ and Business and Leadership Coach.
Up Close and Personal with Colleen
Meet Colleen Callander, she is the Former Sportsgirl CEO and Founder of ‘Mentor Me Women’ and Author of ‘LEADER BY DESIGN’ and Business and Leadership Coach.
💬 Could you share with us a bit about your background and how you got started in your career in retail? And what drew you to the retail industry specifically?
Born and raised in Geelong, I was brought up in a hard-working business focused family where there was always a job to do. After working in family businesses from as young as she can remember, I had my first taste of retail at the age of 16 starting as a summer casual sales assistant at my local jeans store. I absolutely loved it from the minute I walk in the door. I loved serving customers, being surrounded by fashion and learning about the products. I worked all summer and at the end of that summer break they ask me to stay on with the Just Jeans team as a fulltime sales assistant…I was ecstatic!
Unbeknown to me at the time, this summer job would be the start of a fashion retail career that would span over 30 years with 13 of those years at the helm of two of Australia’s iconic fashion brands.
💬 What do you believe are the key leadership qualities that women need to succeed in the retail industry? Can you provide examples of how you have demonstrated these qualities in your own career, particularly as CEO of Sportsgirl?
The old era of leadership was about status, title, power, dictatorship, self-serving, and having people do what you say.
The new era of leadership, the one I have been living in for a very long time is one trust, compassion, authenticity, collaboration, and kindness.
It’s a common misconception that being a kind leader makes you a weak leader. I believe that being a kind leader requires courage and strength and kind leaders are very capable of making good and strong business decisions – even tough decisions with kindness.
Kindness is one of my values and was right up there when it came to the way I led throughout my 13 years as a CEO. I always made time to get to know my people, understand how I could support them to reach their goals, and how I could create an environment where people thrived. Great leadership is about being a leader people choose to follow.