Role Call | Jess Ramsden, Lead Business Development Manager

There are few sectors of the economy that offer as wide and interesting a range of career opportunities as fashion. Role Call highlights some of the industry’s most interesting jobs and the talented people who do them. For more information about fashion industry roles like this and others, visit BoF Careers.

LONDON, United Kingdom — Jess Ramsden is the lead business development manager for Stylight, a fashion discovery site. Raised in the Middle East before moving to England, Ramsden previously held a range of business development roles at John Lewis, Etsy and My Deco. She has been at Stylight since 2014, where she launched the company's first satellite office in London and is responsible for signing on new retail partners such as ASOS and Farfetch.

BoF: Please describe your current role.

I opened the first satellite office for Stylight outside of Munich, Germany, where our headquarters are based. We don't have a big team in the UK as we want to keep it quite lean (a lot of our business is dedicated to tech development, so there's no need to have a lot of people based here) but I oversee everyone we employ here and help to drive the direction of the UK business. A big part of building the business in this market is through acquiring partners who list on our sites. I spend a lot of time meeting and talking to stores who could potentially work with us and I'm responsible for all partner stores outside the UK. As we have such a strong fashion retail proposition, it keeps me busy! Another part of my role involves me directly influencing the proposition for our clients or the processes by which we work. I research and build cases that influence decisions made in the wider business plan.

BoF: What attracted you to the role?

The opportunity to open and lead a satellite office was an exciting one for me. It's important that I can work with autonomy and have my ideas heard and this position allows me that level of influence. I really love the client-facing element of the role and the (friendly) competition between the markets to exceed targets. Although the company has grown beyond a start-up to 180 people, we have a great small business vibe in London. We have managed to establish a UK office that works effectively with our HQ in Germany but has its own personality and voice that is treated with respect.

A lot of companies have strict targets and pressure to deliver, but in order to innovate you have to be able to try things out.

BoF: What is the most exciting project or initiative you have worked on?

The most exciting projects are for myself and my own business — there's just no comparison to having that creative control and the pride you take in that. Although, at the moment, I know that I'm working in the right industry and for the right company, which allows me to recreate that feeling within a flat hierarchy and alongside inspiring founders.

BoF: How is your role changing? What are the forces driving this change?

Stylight is changing and adapting to our customers all the time. As part of this, we're planning a move into a new space and we're developing new relationships and partnerships. Starting from scratch is daunting but we have an excellent business in fashion and a lot of success stories that we can use to prove our value to partners.

One of the most challenging elements of my job is pushing change from a development perspective. The team is extremely busy and we have so much to do, so you have to make strong arguments for new directions. It can be the other way around too — my role has changed the company around me. For example, in opening remote offices in London and New York, Stylight had to respond with new processes and information sharing. We have a great cross-functional structure now, but when I first started it was very difficult to understand what various parts of the business were working on and how to influence stakeholders in those teams.

BoF: Tell us about a time you failed and how you learned from it.

I've had the fortune to work in very nimble businesses that embrace failure as part of the development process, both personally and from a product perspective. To be allowed to fail is a luxury. A lot of companies have strict targets and pressure to deliver, but in order to innovate you have to be able to try things out. It's possible those things are going to suck, but if you're afraid to try them then, you'll never find out!

From a personal perspective, I think that a big failure was when a project I was working on wasn't seen through to completion while I was at the company. I was working in a more corporate environment than I was used to and I hadn't learn how to manage the many, many people who were involved in the execution of the idea. I wasn't organised enough and found the number of touch points in the business a bit overwhelming. It was an eye-opener. Now I really value the need for structure, proper communication and project management. I learnt how a big business operates and how to actually execute your ideas which is just as, if not more, important than coming up with them in the first place.

BoF: What advice do you have for people who are interested in doing what you do?

Extend your network and be curious. Go to events and talks where you can meet new people (face to face is always better than email) and find out what's going on around you to be able to think outside the company you work for.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

For more information about fashion industry roles like this and others, visit BoF Careers.