Welcome to the Runway to excellence! The exciting new podcast hosted by Stephanie Jackson of SJR London.
Runway to Excellence - The Official SJR London Podcast
Claim This Podcastby Stephanie Jackson
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24 episodes
Updated Weekly
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Podcast Overview
Welcome to the Runway to excellence! The exciting new podcast hosted by Stephanie Jackson of SJR London.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
7/30/2020
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Recent Episodes
April 21, 2026
What Actually Gets You Hired! How to Succeed in Luxury Retail | Leadership, Hiring & Career Growth with Roisin Hurley
<p>In this episode of Runway to Excellence, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-jackson-0743785b/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Stephanie Jackson</a> sits down with Brand & Retail Consultant<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/roisin-hurley-414a91a3/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> Roisin Hurley</a> to explore the realities of working, hiring, and leading in the luxury retail industry. From early career decisions to leadership roles, this conversation unpacks what separates those who succeed in luxury from those who struggle to progress.</p><p>Roisin shares valuable insight into what luxury brands are really looking for when hiring, how to stand out in a competitive market, and the importance of attitude, service excellence, and cultural alignment. The discussion also explores leadership in retail environments, building high-performing teams, and maintaining standards in fast-paced, customer-focused settings.</p><p>This podcast is brought to you by <strong>SJR London</strong>, trusted talent partner for Luxury Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle recruitment - for more on how they deliver talent that defines luxury, visit <a href="https://www.sjrlondon.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.sjrlondon.com/</a></p><p><strong>This episode covers…</strong></p><ul><li><p>What it takes to succeed in luxury retail careers</p></li><li><p>How luxury brands hire and assess talent</p></li><li><p>The importance of attitude, presentation, and service standards</p></li><li><p>Career progression in fashion, beauty, and retail</p></li><li><p>Leadership in high-performance retail environments</p></li><li><p>Building and managing successful teams</p></li><li><p>The difference between good candidates and exceptional ones</p></li><li><p>How to stand out in competitive luxury roles</p></li><li><p>Cultural fit and brand alignment in hiring</p></li><li><p>Long-term career development in the luxury sector</p></li></ul><p><strong>Key Moments:</strong></p><p>0:00: From MAC Counter to Global Director at Burberry</p><p>02:40: Brazil to Ireland: Early Life and Falling in Love with Customers</p><p>08:10: Athlete Family, Corporate Athlete Mindset & High Performance</p><p>15:10: Teenage Entrepreneur: Phone Cases, Nail Art & Commercial Creativity</p><p>22:10: Getting into MAC: Fashion Shows, Beauty Retail and Art + Commerce</p><p>31:00: University, Commuting Between Cities and Building a Relentless Work Ethic</p><p>39:30: Fashion Weeks with MAC: Inside the Events Team and Backstage Chaos</p><p>48:15: Leaving MAC for Burberry: Content, Training and a Pivotal Interview Task</p><p>55:30: 9.5 Years at Burberry: Promotions, Global Travel and Positive Influence</p><p>1:03:10: What Makes Exceptional Retail: Culture, Consistency and Store Leadership</p><p>1:10:10: Feedback, Phones on the Floor and What’s Broken in Retail Today</p><p>1:16:40: Top 1% Performers, Mindset and Roisin’s Legacy in Retail</p><p>1:21:30: Closing Reflections & Takeaways for Retail, CX and Leadership</p>
April 5, 2026
How Charlotte Staerck Built The Handbag Clinic And Changed Luxury Resale Forever
<p><strong>Charlotte Staerck</strong>, founder of The Handbag Clinic, shares how she built one of the UK’s leading luxury resale and restoration businesses from the ground up. Starting on the shop floor at 16, she developed a sharp commercial instinct that shaped her approach to retail, pricing, and customer trust. </p><p>In this episode, Charlotte explains how she turned handbag repairs into a scalable resale model, why authenticity and data drive valuation, and how luxury handbags became recognised as investment assets. She also details the realities behind growth, including being targeted by organised theft, navigating counterfeit risks, and adapting to shifts in manufacturing quality post Covid. This conversation gives a clear view of how the luxury resale market actually works and what it takes to build a business that customers trust with high value products.</p><p><br></p><p>This podcast is brought to you by <strong>SJR London</strong>, trusted talent partner for Luxury Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle recruitment - for more on how they deliver talent that defines luxury, visit https://www.sjrlondon.com/</p><p><br></p><p>This episode covers…</p><p>• How The Handbag Clinic started from repairs and evolved into resale</p><p>• Why working on the retail shop floor builds commercial instinct</p><p>• The reality of scaling a luxury business in London</p><p>• How to price and value designer handbags using real data</p><p>• Why handbags are now seen as investment assets</p><p>• The impact of counterfeits and how authentication works</p><p>• What customers actually care about when buying luxury</p><p>• The role of sustainability in fashion resale</p><p>• Building trust and repeat customers in high value markets</p><p>• The operational reality behind running a luxury brand</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Key Moments:</p><p>00:00 Opening The Handbag Clinic and early challenges</p><p>01:42 Starting in retail at Jane Norman and learning consumer behaviour</p><p>08:40 Transition from procurement into handbag repairs and resale</p><p>13:21 Moving into London and scaling the business</p><p>15:38 Nine robberies in one summer and the impact on the business</p><p>20:42 How luxury handbags became investment assets</p><p>21:14 How handbags are valued using data and demand</p><p>24:46 Partnership with Selfridges and retail expansion</p><p>30:05 The challenge of counterfeit handbags and authentication</p><p>35:29 What makes a handbag desirable and hold value</p><p>48:30 Emotional attachment and why customers restore bags</p><p>51:09 Why luxury brands must embrace resale and aftercare</p><p>54:32 What excellence means in a luxury business</p><p>57:56 Overrated trends and real value in luxury</p>
March 22, 2026
From Cracked Screens to £1million Phones: Building a Luxury Phone Empire Through Resilience
<p><strong>Wiji Singh Gorwara</strong> arrived in the UK in 2002 with no English, no friends, and no certainty. His family had fled Afghanistan, sought asylum in Holland, and uprooted again to start from nothing in Britain. Today, Wiji runs Phone Surgery across 14 stores and holds the UK and European licence for Vertu, one of the world's most exclusive luxury smartphone brands, with both brands now trading inside Harrods. </p><p>In this episode of Runway to Excellence, host Stephanie sits down with Wiji to trace the full arc of his journey: from working in his father's off-licence and selling phones at Wembley Market, to being sacked multiple times, losing his mother to cancer, navigating lockdown, and ultimately landing two brands in the most famous department store on earth. </p><p>This podcast is brought to you by SJR London, trusted talent partner for Luxury Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle recruitment - for more on how they deliver talent that defines luxury, visit https://www.sjrlondon.com/ </p><p>This episode covers:</p><p>• Fleeing Afghanistan, seeking asylum in Holland, and relocating to the UK in 2002 with limited English and no established network</p><p>• The reality of growing up as an immigrant in British schools, including bullying, cultural barriers, and finding resilience through adversity</p><p>• Working in his father's off-licence and Wembley Market before landing a Christmas temp role at Phones4U that launched his retail career</p><p>• Career progression through Phones4U, T-Mobile, Three, Barclays, Ernst and Young, and Audi, including being sacked multiple times and what he learnt from each setback</p><p>• The decision to leave employment for good after experiencing racial discrimination and never looking back</p><p>• How Phone Surgery was built from a single small unit in Brentford to a 14-store repair and retail brand</p><p>• How Wiji generated more revenue during Covid lockdown than in normal trading by pivoting to a click and collect phone repair model</p><p>• The story of discovering Vertu, the ultra-luxury smartphone brand, through a Facebook advert and turning that into a formal UK distribution partnership</p><p>• How a relationship built at Selfridges eventually opened the door to Harrods, and why the buying director responded within 45 minutes</p><p>• What it means to carry both Phone Surgery and Vertu into Harrods simultaneously, and the strategic thinking behind it</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This is an honest, unfiltered conversation about what it actually takes to build something real when the odds are stacked against you.</p><p><br /></p><p>Key moments:</p><p>00:00 Welcome and Introduction</p><p>00:27 Fleeing Afghanistan, Asylum in Holland, Moving to the UK</p><p>02:00 Starting School Mid-Year Nine With No English</p><p>03:04 Bullying, Resilience and Parental Sacrifice</p><p>05:24 The Sacrifices That Built the Foundation</p><p>06:37 First Jobs: Off-Licence, Wembley Market, and Phones4U</p><p>09:55 Getting Sacked: What Really Happened</p><p>12:08 Barclays, Ernst and Young, and the Tea Incident</p><p>14:42 Audi, Great Leaders, and the Final Corporate Job</p><p>17:47 The Decision to Go Into Business</p><p>19:44 Learning to Repair Phones From Scratch</p><p>21:00 Building Phone Surgery Into a 14-Store Brand</p><p>22:42 Covid, the Reading Flagship, and Losing His Mother</p><p>26:22 Making More Money in Lockdown Than in Normal Trading</p><p>28:15 Marriage, Sacrifice and Emotional Suppression</p><p>33:24 Recognising the Business Had Real Legs</p><p>34:35 Discovering Vertu on Facebook and Pursuing Harrods</p><p>38:31 What Vertu Is: History, Ownership, and Revival</p><p>40:00 Getting Both Brands Into Harrods</p><p>46:15 Why Vertu Trusted Wiji</p><p>50:45 What Makes a Vertu Phone Worth It</p><p>54:34 Hopes for Vertu at Harrods and What Clients Can Expect</p><p>55:26 Seeing Phone Surgery and Vertu in Harrods for the First Time</p><p>57:06 What People Misunderstand About Wiji</p><p>58:35 Defining Excellence: Customer Experience and Team Prosperity</p><p>59:22 Final Advice for Anyone Who Feels the Odds Are Against Them</p><p>1:01:08 Why Normal People Make the Best Podcast Guests</p><p><br /></p>
24 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Runway to Excellence - The Official SJR London Podcast?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates weekly.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 8 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
No, this podcast does not typically feature guests.
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