ABOUT Anna
I spent 20+ years in retail working my way from the shop floor to the boardroom. In 2020 I left my role of buying & design director to start my coaching practice and my set up my resale brand Positive Retail. Both ventures use my experience and heart to create supportive, inspiring, bright futures for leaders & business. I feel very lucky to work in areas I am incredibly passionate about.
The retail industry taught me about people and relationships and that the key ingredient to success is understanding people and how they operate. I saw and felt this early on in my career.
Over the past past decade my learning journey has enabled me to discover and understand what makes people (and me) tick. I’m incredibly well placed to to help you get where you want to be. So what got me here?…..
A decade into my career I found myself completely preoccupied with how we behave at work and why.
Indulging my curiosity was the key to success and feeling fulfilled in my role. I qualified as a counsellor which led me to a Masters in leadership, to my executive coaching at AOEC and then to LSE’s leadership & change course.
When I'm not coaching I can be found leading my business Positive Retail.
After 2 decades as a buyer on the high street I knew I had enough experience and belief to found my own brand. I’d worked for many brilliant brands, travelling the world, working with creative minds on exciting ranges but I grew tired of the overproduction, overconsumption on the high street and the massive waste. I knew things needed invigorating. I spotted a gap in the market to create an innovative resale brand.
PR partners with brands (to sell unsold stocks) and with its community of sellers (to sell preloved items) providing a premium retail space to honour value and design while giving customers a great experience. Simply put, we’re part alternative to TK Maxx, part alternative to Vestiare or Vinted all under one roof. I’ve created something unique and special.
Positive Retail was featured by Mary Portas as one of her ‘Portas Picks’, and made The Sunday Times Style Magazine’s Top 50 Independents list. Artist Tracey Emin,’ Queen of the High Street’ Jane Sheperdson, actress Emma Corrin and influencer Kat Farmer are fans. Through our carefully curated resale model we bring a fresh buzz to the high street.
I didn’t just want it to be ‘Anna’s resale’ and have a store selling secondhand stuff. I wanted to create something bigger than that. A new movement, a new way of shopping on the high street. I wanted to use my story of change to filter into people changing their buying habits too.
Ramsgate
margate
deal
Three years in, Positive Retail has grown - and is continuing to grow. We are a team of six now across three stores and HQ as well as online.
Running my own brand has opened my eyes even further in business and leadership. Well, of course it has! Running your own things takes tenacity, vision, self belief and extreme determination.
It’s deepened my coaching practice in many ways. Not only can I see from a business owners perspective but it’s given me even more insight into people, relationships and vulnerability. Starting something from the ground up is daunting and requires an extraordinary amount of vulnerability and honesty. But the best brands do that don’t they? They reach into themselves and bring you along, they explain why they exist and what they are there for.