Lyn Warren realised that retail was the career for her when striving to pay for her studies at university – and it’s an industry that has given her opportunity after opportunity.
The first in her family to go to university, Lyn Warren didn’t experience the typical late-night university parties because she was working to support her studies.
However, the shop job she took to pay her way through university was more pivotal than the course itself, as Warren decided that retail – rather than psychology, which she was studying – was the career for her.
In fact, it led her to make the difficult decision to quit university to forge ahead in retail – and it’s a decision that paid off.
Now the retail and people director of fashion retailer Joules, Warren has built a career to be proud of in retail.
Growing up in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Warren lived in a coal-mining village where almost every family had members working in the local mines or steelworks at some point in time, and her parents were no different.
After attending what she dubs a “challenged” comprehensive, Warren left behind many of her peers to complete her A-levels at sixth form college, and worked in Woolworths to pay for her bus fare and lunches, sparking a love of retail that followed her to university and beyond.
In fact, she still has her Woolworths uniform and name tag in her attic.
Fish out of water
From Woolworths, Warren moved to Shoe City – which became Brantano – where she worked during university to support herself financially.
She says this made her feel like a “fish out of water” as she was one of her few friends who had to do so.
Warren worked both evening and weekend shifts to make ends meet, which made it a struggle to keep up with her studies.
Ultimately working more than she was studying, her drive to complete the course waned and she made the decision to leave university.
“I look back and think: if I’d been from a different background, my experience at university would have been very different,” she explains. “I wouldn’t have had to work to support myself and I wouldn’t have felt that pressure.”
However, Warren says working gave her a different perspective to many of her fellow students and ultimately helped her decide what she wanted from her future career.
“I really enjoyed work and I had a moment of realisation that as soon as I finished my degree, I would just go and work in retail full time. I thought: ’Why am I killing myself to do both things, really struggling to make ends meet, when that’s what I’m going to do anyway?’”
An egalitarian retail industry
Warren believes the retail sector is the perfect place for anyone from any background to thrive – as long as they put in the hard work.
Restarting her career after university at Currys in Rotherham, Warren moved from an administrative role, to sales with “all the men on hi-fis and TVs”, and eventually into HR. She says her manager at Currys John Holt was the driving force behind her progression, pushing her to take any opportunity that came her way.
She never had a set career plan or her sights on a particular area of retail, and describes her journey as more of an accident, with one overarching factor: to support her son, Jack.
Jack was born when Warren was working as a sales advisor at Curry’s. She left for maternity expecting her career to plateau, however Holt encouraged her to continue pushing ahead.
After splitting from Jack’s father and becoming a single mother, Warren became more determined than ever to progress and build a good livelihood.
“They believed that I had the capability and the potential and that I didn’t necessarily need the knowledge already. That wouldn’t happen in any other industry”
“I was really determined that Jack was going to have a good life and that I would provide that. So I took my responsibilities really seriously, almost out of necessity,” she says. “The plan was for me to build a really nice life and let him fulfil his potential.”
Warren vowed to put herself up for every opportunity offered – and even some that weren’t.
Currys offered just six secondments to regional head offices for store managers and deputy managers across the country. Sales assistant Warren didn’t let her junior status put the kibosh on that, asked to be put forward and was successful.
From there she built up her contacts across the group and was given an HR role.
“On my first day I turned up to take notes on a disciplinary. I didn’t even know what a disciplinary was, let alone had been to one,” she recalls. “I was dropped in at the deep end. We didn’t have the internet so I had to read up in some books.
“They believed that I had the capability and the potential and that I didn’t necessarily need the knowledge already. That wouldn’t happen in any other industry.”
A different perspective
As she progressed in head office roles, Warren did start to notice some disparity between herself and her peers.
“As I started to get into more senior HR roles, people would ask, ‘Oh, you haven’t got your CIPD qualification?’ or ’You didn’t finish your degree?’. There was then this perception of me, my background and my education,” she says.
But what she once felt uneasy about, Warren now uses as her strength.
“The industry is always more varied, diverse and inclusive, particularly at that store and field level. Everyone is welcome and everyone can bring something”
Sat in a boardroom, her working-class background is actually “commercially helpful” – bringing a different perspective to the table from what she describes as “middle-class, privately educated” co-workers.
While her work ethic led her to where she is today, Warren says it’s the people within the retail industry that help drive progression internally.
“Retail is quite home grown. They [Currys] didn’t really believe in getting someone in who was more qualified or more experienced, they preferred to give me a chance.
“If I had to pick one thing that made the difference, it’s that people gave me a shot”
“I think there is something about the broader industry – you’ve got people who support you, you’ve got great training programmes. The industry is always more varied, diverse and inclusive, particularly at that store and field level. Everyone is welcome and everyone can bring something.
“I think if I had to pick one thing that made the difference, it’s that people gave me a shot.”
Taking a chance on people
As retail and people director for Joules, Warren similarly likes to give people a chance without taking stock of their education or qualifications.
“I recruit people who I believe will have the tenacity and passion to do a great job; they learn the rest,” she says. “I have taken people from store or operational roles who have ‘grown up’ in retail and brought them into HR teams with no experience to give them a foot in the door.
“Quite often store colleagues will express an interest in a career in HR and I get them involved in projects with my team, which gives them exposure and confidence, and has often resulted in my team trying to find a full-time role for them.”
“I recruit people who I believe will have the tenacity and passion to do a great job; they learn the rest”
Outside of her day job, Warren also works to inspire young people to have higher aspirations and fulfil their potential regardless of their family history or experience.
She acts as a mentor both in schools in deprived areas and for programmes for high-potential individuals, hoping to open up the world of work and the prospect of a career for those who may come from families who have not worked for generations.
“I have worked with people who may not be seen as ‘polished’ but have amazing potential. I believe that using my role and being an advocate can help others to open their mind to their potential even if they don’t have the ‘right’ background and experience,” she concludes.
Get involved in No Limits
If you are a senior retail leader and want to get involved in the No Limits campaign or if you are a retail employee with an inspirational story of how the sector has changed your life for the better, contact Retail Week editor Luke Tugby on luke.tugby@retail-week.com.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #RWNoLimits.
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