MEET THE TEAM: DONNA PLAYER, MERCHANDISE DIRECTOR

Donna Player’s varied career is certainly impressive. With more than 40 years in the fashion industry, she’s worked for department stores, speciality stores and discount department stores, before joining CAMILLA almost five years ago as its Merchandise Director. She now resides in the “trading heart” of the business, overseeing all buying, planning and production for the brand. What’s just as impressive as her career? Her presence. Donna commands a room (even over Zoom) with her cool and calm demeanour, and her euphonious voice which, interestingly, is the result of years of elocution lessons thanks to a childhood lisp, is considered and compelling. She’s the kind of person who reminds you how great it is when people are honest and direct and interested and interesting. Here she shares some of her working wisdom and life advice.

REMEMBER, TIME IS FINITE: “One thing I tell my team – and I can tell them this because I’m 60 – is that you think you have more time, but you don’t. You can always acquire more money – it’s a replenishable resource – but you can’t get more time. If my team asks me to do something, I’ll tell them ‘I’m not going to spend my day on that because I’ve only got 12,326 days left. You can do it because you’ve got 36,000 days left!’ I mean, they laugh at me when I tell them to be more mindful with their time because they’re still young, but I think it’s so important to be reminded of it.”

NOT EVERYONE WILL BE PEACHY KEEN: “I wish I knew at 20 not to care so much about what other people think. All those things I worried about – what will people think of me, will they like me, what happens when they figure out that I don't know what I’m talking about…? – and that Imposter Syndrome that would surface so quickly. I read this fantastic quote from Dita Von Teese the other day: “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, but there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” Isn’t that brilliant? I think about all the time I wasted trying to get people to be on my side, but it was completely futile because they were never gonna be on my side.”

BUILD A TEAM THAT EVENTUALLY MAKES YOU IRRELEVANT: “I really enjoy coaching and mentoring my team. I want to get to the point where I’m irrelevant in the business because I think that’s part of my job. I won’t be here forever, so all decisions do not have to come through me. I’m very happy at some stage in my career to be able to step away. I know when the time is right that I’ll be able to do this because I’ve got a really strong team who will go on to perform fantastically and achieve great things.”

BE A LIFELONG LEARNER: “I wouldn’t say I’ve made particularly bold career choices, although it’s not been a linear progression. I’ve kind of zigzagged, and I’ve been doing what I do for many years. And during that time, I’ve always sought out people, not so much formal mentors, but people who I could learn something from. I try and learn something new every day – I’m very curious by nature.”

STAY EXCITED: “I love that CAMILLA is essentially a print brand. Many people refer to it as ‘the kaftan brand’ but we look upon it as being all about the print. I really enjoy seeing the evolution of each collection, from its conception, right through the pregnancy, to the birth, and then trading it through its toddler times. CAMILLA is also in incredible growth and has a unique selling proposition – that’s what excites me most about the brand.”

KNOW THAT LEADERSHIP IS MULTIFACETED: “A good leader is someone who has a great deal of humility; someone who can articulate a vision and get us all dressed up and on the path to realising that vision. I also think showing some vulnerability is important. And I think a great leader is someone who doesn’t have all the answers. Instead, they look to their team and encourage them to think innovatively and creatively to come up with solutions. It’s about creating that environment where people aren’t frightened of failure. A mistake is fine. Gosh, over 40 years, there have been plenty of them in my career.”

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE TEAM WORK: “At CAMILLA, the executive team is a great team. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort getting ourselves to be that way – it didn’t just happen by good luck… Well, there’s a certain amount of luck initially because you’re thrown together, but then it’s also a lot of hard work to get you to a place of working cohesively. We’re a really good team.”

?KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS: “Maybe some would say this is a weakness, but my strength is my ability to look at things with a very clear and cynical eye and work out what’s got to be done. I think cynicism can sometimes be seen negatively but I think it’s a great strength of mine.”

ALWAYS BE CUSTOMER-CENTRIC: “As the old adage goes, ‘follow your customer and you’ll never have to look for business.’ As long as you understand who your customer is, and you’re doing everything to make sure that they are the centre of your attention, then you can’t go too far wrong – global pandemics notwithstanding.”

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE: “I’m very lucky to have quite a few people I can turn to for business guidance. I would go to our CEO Jane McNally – we have very similar life and work experiences. I would also look to a very close colleague on the executive team for counsel. I also sit on a number of ASX boards so there are many people I can turn to.”

BRAND PURPOSE IS EVERYTHING: “CAMILLA customers are evangelical about the brand, and they normally come to us after a major life event – it might be a divorce, a death or a sickness. I met one wonderful woman who hadn’t been to a work social event with her husband in 10 years because she couldn’t find something that she could wear with confidence. Then she found CAMILLA and everything changed. I often reflect on that – her relationship with her husband improved, she felt more confident. That’s the power of a brand, isn’t it? You can say glibly that it transforms lives, but you talk to these women and it really does.”

KEEP IT CASUAL: “I would say great ideas come from casual conversations, rather than structured strategy meetings. They come from my team on a Monday morning, discussing what they’ve done over the weekend, what’s in front of them and from somebody coming up with a cute idea. I think great ideas come from creating an environment where people are cool about throwing all kinds of ideas on the table. That’s how we work at CAMILLA.”

SILENCE IS GOLDEN: “One person who had a tremendous impact on me as a leader was Greg Foran from Big W. I learned the value of having well-developed EQ, and the power of just talking to people and listening to what they have to say. It’s such a great piece of business advice – just be quiet and listen. And don’t be afraid of the silence in conversations because that’s often where the magic happens.”

?TAKE FIVE:

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Energetic, demanding, curious.

Best decision you’ve ever made?

Deciding to marry my husband. The second was deciding to have a child.

?One thing about you that would surprise people?

I started running marathons in my early 50s.

?Which women inspire you?

My favourite woman in the whole world is Barbara Hulanicki who started Biba in London in the 60s. A fashion icon – I think she would have been one of the coolest cats in the world.

?Favourite Camilla piece?

The ‘For The Love of Lhasa’ coat. I feel like I’ve fallen out of The Matrix when I wear it!

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