Hi. I'm Sarah Ferdinande
I do communications, training, marketing and visual merchandising. I am passionate about fashion, tech and social justice issues.
I am hard-working, ambitious, inquisitive, quick to learn, open-minded, imaginative, proactive, efficient and loyal. But you don’t need to take my word for that. Click the button to skip to some recommendations from former employers and colleagues. Or scroll on down to learn more about my skills, education and work experience. This page is meant as an extended CV, as I am currently looking for a new challenge.
SKILLS: WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?
Here’s some of the skills I’ve gathered through my career and the pursuit of personal projects. Just click on each skill to expand for more detail. It’s hard to describe within the confines of a website exactly at what level one is when it comes to certain skills, so don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to know more.
- Cross-functional team collaboration
- Cross-departmental individual collaboration
- Cross-border and remote collaboration
- Collaboration with colleagues, business partners and customers/clients
- Agile
- Scrum
- Design Thinking
- Lean Startup
- Organisation and running of large-scale events
- Organisation of (re)opening of retail stores
- Organisation of large-scale print projects (e.g. a 300+ pages instruction manual in 7 languages)
- Cost control
- Groups as well as individuals
- Coaching (both in person and via phone or video link)
- Developing and holding training sessions, courses and events
- Creating written training material in various forms, such as an online knowledge platform, manuals, and newsletters
- Hands-on workshops
- Webinars
- Training videos (both authoring content/script and being in front of the camera)
- Copywriting (product descriptions, copy for marketing campaigns, website content, … )
- Training material and manuals
- Song lyrics for Barslet and Bird’s ‘Wonderbird’ album
- Pre-project research
- Coordination with translation bureaus
- Collaboration with graphic designers and photographers on projects
- Creating effective presentation material
- Speaking to both large and small groups of people
- Use of body language and vocal techniques for effective communication
- Dutch/Flemish at native speaker level
- English at native speaker level
- Danish at C1 level
- French at C1 level
- German at a very basic level
- MS office
- iWork
- Sharepoint
- WordPress
- Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher
- Adobe Il, Ps and Id
- Google Analytics
- MS NAV
- SAP BI
- Graphic design in Affinity Designer, Procreate and Adobe Illustrator
- Simple photo manipulation in Affinity Photo and Adobe Photoshop
- Desktop publishing in Affinity Publisher and Adobe Indesign
- Creating layouts for flyers, business cards, (powerpoint) presentations etc.
- Working with remote subcontractors for photoshopping of images
- Web/UI design
- Mobile/responsive design
- Wireframing
- UX research
- User journey
- Use of Google Analytics to study user behaviour
- HTML5 and CSS3
- Bootstrap 4
- JavaScript front-end (incl. jQuery)
- JavaScript back-end (node.js, express.js, EJS)
- Git and GitHub
- APIs
- Currently learning about databases
- WordPress (the world’s favourite CMS), including:
- Plugins
- Security
- Backup and restoration
- Elementor (a WordPress page builder plugin) and Gutenberg
- Online marketing (see more under ‘Marketing’ below)
- Creating marketing calendars and long-term strategy
- Ad-hoc marketing campaigns
- Collaboration with creatives in the development of marketing material (on- and off line)
- Digital marketing
- Social Media marketing
- E-mail marketing
- Content marketing
- Google Analytics
- Google Ads
- Visual merchandising
- Window dressing
- Store layout optimisation
- Store furnishing optimisation
- Development of shopfitting and POS material
- Styling for fashion shows and photo shoots (the latter with or without models)
- Trend analysis and interpretation
- Direct sales
- Customer service
- Visual merchandising and window dressing
- Store management
- Recruitment and staff management
- Stock management
- Analysis of sales figures in order to plan and execute campaigns and other initiatives
- Sales strategy
- Sourcing and buying of sales implements
- Store openings and rebuildings from A to Z
- Managing both in-house and remote teams
- Recruitment
- Wage negotiations
- Staff introduction plans
- Appraisals
- Firing people
- DISC profiling
- Giving effective feedback
- Active listening
- SAP BI
- Google Analytics
- Microsoft NAV
- Analysing sales figures and creating action plans in terms of marketing campaigns, in-store layout and visual merchandising, in-store sales activities, price adjustments, end-of season sales, stock control, etc.
WORK EXPERIENCE
I've been looking for a new challenge since November 2019. In the meantime, I've also been taking plenty of online courses in order to widen and deepen my knowledge and skills - and also because I love learning and developing myself continuously.
12.2017 - 10.2019: Extended maternity leave
I decided to extend my maternity leave beyond the customary year-long leave most people take in Denmark. Some may think that's a strange decision, but I knew I'd regret it forever if I didn't do it. Sadly, it meant giving up my job at PompdeLux. However, it turned out to be the best for our family.
08.2016 - 11.2017: Stock Controller, Academy Trainer and Stylist at PompdeLux (DK)
Company website: PompdeLux
Responsibilities:
- Keeping a close eye on sales figures and stock levels and initiating on- and off line strategies to push slow and high-on-stock product; including setting prices for sales and discount campaigns
- Creating campaign calendars and ad-hoc campaigns with the sales manager
- Creating a matrix to optimise the composition of each part of the collection in terms of price and type and number of styles
- Developing and producing training material and an online training platform aimed at the independent sales consultants. This included video and written material as well as in-person workshops about e.g. sales techniques, body language, customer service and product knowledge.
- Participating in the organisation and execution of biannual kickoffs and training events
- Delivering input on the development of the new website/web shop in terms of customer experience and product display
- Sourcing, buying and controlling stock of sales implements
- Creating and interpreting online questionnaires to monitor sales consultants' satisfaction and needs
- Styling showrooms and photo shoots
Results:
- Was a part of the team who turned around a few years of less favourable bottom line results to create profit through, amongst others, better stock control, faster action on slow sellers and better training of the independent sales consultants
- Created an online training platform for the sales consultants. As a result, they become more knowledgeable faster, and the sales team could elevate their collaboration beyond answering the same basic questions over and over
- Investigated the independent sales consultants' needs and wishes using online questionnaires. This resulted in more targeted and clear training material and a better collaboration between the in-house sales team and the independent sales consultants
02.2009 - 03.2016: Various managing roles within Visual Merchandising at Bestseller (BE & DK)
Company website: Bestseller
I started out as Visual Merchandising Responsible for Bestseller's retail stores in Belgium, managing visual merchandisers who worked with brands such as Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only, Pieces, Vila and Object. I moved on to specialising in Vero Moda, and getting more and more responsibility, working with and travelling through many different countries, such as France, Canada, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. I was lucky enough to be a part of the introduction of Vero Moda as a wholesale brand in the USA, styling the first fair stands Vero Moda ever had in the country: Coterie in New York City and Magic in Las Vegas. I was also a part of launching Vero Moda as a retail brand in Canada.
Here's some of the responsibilities I've had:
- National and international strategy and guidelines for product display in stores and concessions/shop-in-shops
- Input in national and international marketing campaign calendars
- Adapting strategy, guidelines and marketing campaigns to support local business partners' and customers' needs, based amongst others on sales figures/targets and an ongoing dialogue with business partners
- Developing and implementing training and coaching programmes aimed at visual merchandisers and store staff
- Managing and recruiting visual merchandising teams
- Coordinating and participating at the opening of new stores, optimising store layouts and improving store furnishing concepts
- Coordinating and participating at trade shows/fashion fairs in e.g. Paris, New York, Las Vegas and Amsterdam
- Controlling travel and other expenses of visual merchandising departments
- Booking travel itineraries
Results:
- Wrote and oversaw the production of a visual merchandising manual in 7 languages. This was used internationally by Vero Moda store staff and visual merchandisers as a training and reference tool. As a result, store standards and knowledge of commercial visual merchandising skills were improved.
- Set up a coaching programme for visual merchandisers stationed all over Europe. This enabled them to feel closer to the brand and to define and reach their individual professional goals.
- Created a feedback system for the evaluation of marketing campaigns, resulting in both a better understanding of market-specific needs and an improvement of future campaigns and materials
2004 - 2009: Visual Merchandiser at H&M (BE)
Company website: H&M
Responsibilities:
- Product display and window dressing according to brand identity and sales targets
- Ensuring a great shopping experience for all customers
- Training new staff in product display and window dressing
Results:
- Sell-out launch of several designer collaboration campaigns
- End-of-season sales beyond expectations, resulting in a lack of extra stock to fill up the store
- Helped my store consistently achieve great mystery shopper ratings
2002 - 2004: Shop Manager and Assistant Shop Manager at L.K. Bennett (London, UK)
Company website: L.K. Bennett
Responsibilities:
- Management, recruitment and training of shop staff
- Setting and following up on daily and weekly sales targets
- Stock management
- Execution of campaigns
- Visual merchandising
- Customer service and sales
Results:
- Customer loyalty increased during my time at the store through great customer service and the effective management of the customer database
2001 - 2002: Sales Assistant at TSE Cashmere, Selfridges (London, UK)
Company website: TSE
Responsibilities:
- Customer service and sales
- Visual merchandising
- Handling deliveries and transfers
1999 - 2001: Part-time Sales Assistant at Karen Millen, Selfridges & Covent Garden (London, UK)
1999: Market Researcher/Telephone Interviewer at Gallup (London, UK)
Company website: Gallup
Responsibilities:
- Cold-calling in Dutch for market research
- Warm calls in Dutch for customer satisfaction surveys
1999: Proofreader via temping agencies (London, UK)
Responsibilities:
- Proofreading of documents and contracts in Dutch
RECOMMENDATIONS
EDUCATION AND COURSES
Here’s an overview of my university degrees as well as some of the topics I’ve taken courses in. I’m very passionate about continuously developing myself and learning new things, and if I don’t know (how to do) something, I’ll do my utmost to find out more. I’ve been asking ‘Why?’ pretty much since I first learnt to speak (driving my parents to distraction quite regularly), and I have no intention of stopping! Just click the button at the end of this section for a more detailed overview of my educational adventures.
University
BA Communications & Sociology
BA English and Dutch Linguistics and Literature
Courses
Project Management / Scrum and Agile
Agile
Scrum
Design Thinking
Lean Startup
Web
Web design
Wire framing
UX & UI (including user research)
WordPress
Elementor (a WordPress page builder)
How to run a web development agency
Introduction to Tech and coding
Graphic Design, Photo Retouching and Layout
Affinity Photo (very similar to Adobe Photoshop)
Affinity Designer (very similar to Adobe Illustrator )
Affinity Publisher (very similar to Adobe Indesign )
Procreate (drawing app for iPad)
Graphic design theory
Digital Marketing and Social Media
Social media marketing
E-mail marketing
Content marketing
Digital marketing strategy/planning
SEO
Google Analytics and Google Ads
User friendliness
Conversion optimisation
Communications
Presentation techniques
Making effective powerpoint material
Body language
Giving feedback
Active listening
People and Management
DISC Profiling for Management and Recruitment
Language and Literature
Danish at C1 level
Twentieth-century English literature
WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR?
- A challenging job which allows me to use my creative thinking skills
- The ability to use my existing skills (in any combination) – and I am more than willing to acquire new ones if required
- An open, trusting and respectful atmosphere, where there’s also time for a bit of humour and fun
- The possibility to further develop myself: colleagues I can learn from, and the occasional course or opportunity to widen and/or deepen my skills
- Work hours that can be flexible when needed
- The possibility to work from home occasionally or often, depending on the job
- The place of work should be within reasonable driving distance of Aarhus (DK), though I am willing to work remotely, too
