misation at GPC Apac, the parent company of automotive retailers Repco and Napa Auto Parts. Previously, she worked at retailers including David Jones, Mecca and Country Road Group.  While she has sometimes encountered resistance from teams who doubted her skills, her advice to the next generation of women hoping to build a career in digital is to “do it anyway, and prove people wrong in those scenarios.”  Here, we discuss her career journey and how her experiences as a female leader in digital retail have shaped her leadership style. Inside Retail: Tell me about your career journey in retail. What drew you to the digital and data space in particular? Marieke Van Bruggen: I’ve had a very non-linear path – probably something that a lot of women in my space relate to. I started in retail 20 years ago on the shop floor, working weekends when I was at uni. I studied design at uni because, honestly, the role that I’m in now, you couldn’t even study for it at that point. But design and creativity within retail really stuck with me, and they’ve been a common thread through a lot of my work.  In terms of data, it’s funny, I’ve had a couple of people say to me, in another life, I might have been a spy or a secret agent. I had a former manager who was amazing. She used to refer to me as ‘special ops’ because she said I have this ability to dig into the details of things and find creative solutions for things.  That could be where I found that affinity with data because it allows you to see patterns across things and connect them to craft a story. I’m definitely that very detail-oriented kind of person. But because I studied design, I’m pretty much entirely self-taught when it comes to data. I’ve been coding for about 30 years and I still feel like I’m learning a lot in the space. IR: As a female leader in a tech-driven industry, what unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered, and how have they shaped your leadership style? MVB: I’ve had some amazing opportunities to work with some really knowledgeable and inspiring people in retail tech specifically. 
And while I don’t have a traditional tech background, a lot of my experiences have shaped my leadership style to be about building trust, first and foremost.  And that’s come off the back of experiences that I’ve had. For example, in some roles, I’ve been held at arm’s length when it comes to access to code and particular tools. And that’s particularly true when I’ve not been directly embedded within IT, which can be quite male-dominated. But I find that in most situations, once I’ve built up that level of trust with those teams, and they see that I have a reasonable level of experience and that I’m very helpful and willing to put up my hand and say, ‘How can I help in that situation?’, they let me get on with my job and go, ‘She’s all good.’ Sometimes if I step into a role, I make that known straight up to whatever senior stakeholders that I’m working with. I say, ‘If you want someone who is going to be able to make changes ‘day one’, you might need to expedite some of these processes because, in my experience, I’ve found that it just can take that bit of time to build those relationships across the business and that level of trust. IR: Do you have any advice for the next-generation of female leaders hoping to build a career in the digital space? MVB: I would honestly say, find a niche and find a problem that you are overjoyed about solving every day and get really good at solving. Because I’ve found, once people see that passion and that interest in you, that’s kind of what you become known for within an organisation.
And I would also say, don’t be surprised if you’re underestimated, but be proud and do it anyway, and prove people wrong in those scenarios.