As head of customer and people at the online rug retailer Miss Amara, Lydia Bertini’s job is to champion the customer experience within the business. 

When she joined Miss Amara, an Australian founded brand, with a presence in Hong Kong in 2020, she was purely focused on the direct-to-consumer customer, but in recent years, her role has expanded to include the company’s growing B2B channel. 

“I’m now fortunate enough to partner with all of Miss Amara’s business-to-business customers, and that has made my role so much more rich,” Bertini told Inside Retail. “The conversations that I have with a different type of customer I find really illuminating and have helped me grow professionally.” 

It’s not the first time Bertini has pushed herself out of her comfort zone. Prior to Miss Amara, she had never worked in e-commerce. Her first retail job was on the shop floor at David Jones, and later, she worked in sales and led retail teams for bricks-and-mortar brands including Pandora, Tigerlily and Sheike. 

When Covid hit, she saw an opportunity to bring her skillset in customer experience to the world of pureplay online retail. 

“I felt very confident that I had value to add in e-commerce, but I wasn’t really sure how or what that looked like,” she said. 

“For me to be able to have a conversation with the founders of Miss Amara, whose background was in tech and e-commerce, was quite intimidating and felt like launching myself into the unknown, but it was so worthwhile and has led me to where I am and my career in e-commerce so far.”

Having been part of Inside Retail’s Top 50 People in E-Commerce for the past three years in a row, and ranking in the top 10 for the past two years, speaks to the significant impact Bertini is already making in the industry.

“I think being able to back yourself and your skills and experience and feeling confident enough to take that leap, and it’s not necessarily always going to land, but having that self-belief [is important],” she said.

In fact, she sees it as a key requirement for women looking to move up the corporate ladder in retail.

“In my experience, you have to be your greatest advocate as a woman in leadership,” she said. 

“Sometimes that can mean moving into a space where you don’t feel comfortable, having to learn about an area that you might not be familiar with, and learn quite quickly, to be able to put yourself forward for opportunities. But just by being in the room where it happens and being around other leaders, I think that creates opportunities to show your value.”

Bertini’s observation is a poignant reminder that mentorship, while important, is not a silver bullet to the problem of underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles in retail. That’s why she is passionate about attending industry events, and always asks for a spare ticket so she can bring a female peer or colleague along with her. 

“I think there are more things that you can do to increase representation. If there’s a shining star or key talent in your team, even in your junior team, showing them what’s possible and exposing them to those leadership opportunities is really important. That’s something I’m really passionate about as a female leader,” she said.

This article is part of Inside Retail’s #IRWD365 campaign, in partnership with Airwallex, to shine a spotlight on inspiring women in Australia’s retail industry and drive tangible change towards gender equality.