of customers.  Here, she discusses career challenges, leadership tips and her advice for up-and-coming fashion designers.  Inside Retail: What is your current role and key responsibilities? Simone Coates: As creative director and head of product at Tigerlily, I lead the design and overall aesthetic of the brand from print and color direction, through to silhouette selection and styling for campaign shoots, as well as selling into majors and assisting in the production process end to end with the team.  Given we are a very small team, it’s a super hands-on role, where I get to touch product all the way through from inception to stock on floor. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to have such a close relationship with the product and customers right down to the retailer level, where we gain insight and historical data to help grow, improve and evolve the brand in line with demand for our natural aesthetic and current trends.  IR: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your career, and how have you dealt with them?  SC: Retail and fashion will always have their challenges, with the ebb and flow of the retail landscape. However, the hardest ones to manage have always been the ones that are out of our control. Financial crashes, unexpected foreign exchange issues, tariffs, etc. I’ve lived and worked through all the flu variants, but nothing prepared us for Corona, so the ability to pivot, be flexible and predict the next move is the challenge. IR: What are some of the key leadership lessons you’ve picked up over the course of your career?  SC: Consistency and transparency are key for me. Whilst it’s not always well received by the broader team or network, you need to set a strategy and stick with it, and have conviction in your ideas and plans. [It’s about] evolution, not revolution, on product and process, and never test more than one product theory at a time.  IR: What advice would you give someone who wants to get into your line of work? SC: Keep going, it’s not always easy, but if you find something you’re truly passionate about, it’s so rewarding.   I also love to follow timeless brands, new brand stories, start-ups and understand how they view the industry, and try and take a fresh approach to team and process or innovation wherever I can. I started in the fashion industry before email. I mean, how did we even cope? Embrace change, it’s coming in all forms, from the internet to AI and all the tech in between. Growth is good. Ask questions, understand the process from end to end, especially if you can get access to it. Have integrity and be consistent in your approach to work, and find a good work-life balance. Sometimes we have to remember we are just making T-shirts and not saving lives!