RISING STARS
Kiran Flynn
SEO & digital performance manager Taking Shape
Alex Naoumidis
Operations and CX lead July
T ravel retailer July has been growing over the past few years , recently expanding into the US market . While international expansion is a team effort , as the brand ’ s operations and customer experience lead , Alex Naoumidis , played a key role in heading to the US to build relationships on the ground , and finding a suitable warehouse to ensure the brand ’ s launch was as smooth as possible .
“ After spending so much time planning and developing during Covid-19 , it was great to head overseas to get everything going in person ,” Alex said . “ It ’ s quite difficult to provide the ultimate customer service experience as a business scales into multiple continents , but being able to provide a second-to-none service for our customers is a key focus for me .”
He has a customer-first attitude , always looks for the most efficient outcomes and strives to encourage team members to go beyond the status quo to solve problems . He has also been commended for his ability to empower team members to see the bigger picture . Alex has been described as a thoughtful leader , who is always training , learning and developing as a manager to support his team .
“ Now that I ’ ve had a taste of what the world has to offer , I want more . This means expanding July into new markets with online and physical retail and strengthening our offering ,” Alex said . “ In the next five years , I see myself continuing to grow in my career and taking on more responsibility within the company . As we expand globally there are a lot of growth opportunities for me , which I ’ m really excited about .”
S erving as womenswear brand Taking Shape ’ s go-to person for digital and content marketing , Kiran Flynn has become a force of nature within the business . She has turbo-charged the brand ’ s organic performance , stepped into its PR division to fill a gap in the business , and sought to teach others in any given situation .
Her outstanding achievements include protecting organic traffic in the face of an SEO crisis last year , when she was instrumental in identifying the issue , presenting options to solve it , and guiding the team and development agency to action fixes .
She has been lauded for improving the efficiency and profitability of the brand ’ s local listings on Google . Key achievements include contributing to a 141 per cent YoY growth in search impressions , and increasing combined paid revenue by 28 per cent , YoY , over the first few months of 2023 .
She was especially proud to be part of Taking Shape ’ s collaboration with First Nations artist , Elverina Johnson , which launched last year . The brand is launching its second Elverina Johnson collection this autumn .
While skilled in SEO and digital marketing , Kiran also has a keen ability to work with people , and looks forward to managing more people moving forward .
“ I love to teach , and would relish the challenge of inspiring teams to produce work they ’ re proud of ,” Kiran said .
“ In five years ’ time , I can see myself working on large-scale , international campaigns that are both above-the-line and leveraged effectively for digital results .”
May 2023 www . insideretail . com . au | 67