Hayley Morrow
Senior Footwear & Accessories TechnologistAre you a graduate? If so, what did you study?
No – high school education only.
Brief description of what you do.
Technically assessing all styles per season - this covers fitting, testing, catalogue proofing, daily contact with the suppliers, factory visits & audits, production inspections, risk assessments,
What is a standard day for you?
Check emails, attend internal meetings about critical paths, attend fit meetings, send fit comments to suppliers, check testing results, send approvals to suppliers.
What skills have you come to rely on most in your position?
Good communication skills, risk assessing, decision making
If you had to pick one positive and one negative aspect of your job what would they be?
Negative – constantly fire fighting (but that comes with the territory!).
Positive – knowingly supplying a good quality, good fitting, safe product to the public.
How did you get into your role?
By showing interest in the technical aspect of a product rather than the design of the product – “how things are made” interested me more than assisting with designing a product. I got lucky 10 years ago when I joined my first footwear company, got the role through a friend as a sample manager. I worked in the clothing industry before that.
Do you do any type of networking? If so, what?
Attend seminars and courses for this industry, attend regular ETI trade meetings, monthly technical meeting with other technologists within the company
Is there any advice that you would give students looking to get into your field?
Be interested enough to want to learn more about products.
You must be able to make decisions and conclude things, suggest alternatives.
If you are unsure about what area you would like to specialise in, try all areas before you get stuck in one area – ie, do a few months as a merchandiser, do a few months as a buyer, and then attempt the technical side – it is imperative that you have a FULL understanding of this industry from start to finish, from initial development to buying to final shipping.
