Stephanie Doiron did not take the clean, linear path to SVP — and honestly, that’s exactly why this is interesting. She started as a seasonal employee at Old Navy, made her way through Parsons School of Design, grinded through 100-hour weeks at Saks Fifth Avenue, and eventually landed at Clare V..

After nearly a decade of building Clare V.’s digital and tech function from the ground up, she’s now stepping into SVP of Digital & Technology — which, if you know anything about fashion, is not a small feat.

Bella and Stephanie get into why chasing skills over titles is actually the career hack (even though nobody wants to hear that), and what actually works behind the scenes in fashion.

We also get into what fashion companies consistently get wrong about technology — and it’s probably not what you think.

This episode will give you a very real understanding of why the most important work in fashion and retail is the stuff no one’s talking about.

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Produced by:

GOGO STUDIOZ

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introducing Stephanie Doiron, SVP of Digital & Technology at Clare V

2:35 The Zig Zag Career Lesson: Old Navy to Parsons to Saks to Clare V

5:00 Why Skills are More Important than Titles

6:10 The MBA Debate

7:45 How to Get your Foot in The Door (Fashion Industry Edition)

10:15 The unsexy reality of working in the fashion industry

13:00 What Role Does Personal Branding Play in Landing a Fashion Job?

15:30 Fashion vs. Financial Stability: How to Think About the Tradeoff

17:25 How to Level up as a Manager

22:00 Fashion Tech is Having its Moment — What's Driving It

24:30 AI in Retail 101

30:00 Fit Predictions & the Returns Problem

32:00 How DTC Brands should Approach Innovation

35:00 Digital FAILURES: The biggest mistake brands make with digital transformation

37:15 Career Advice for Ambitious Women in Fashion & Digital Commerce