Marketing is one of the essential aspects that every business must focus on. Every leader must comprehend the significance of various such aspects and the importance of proper implementations for a busimess to run effectively. One such and decisive leader is SyamaMeagher, the Founder and Chief Retail Strategist of Scaling Retail. Her unique ideologies and methodologies helped her in achieving many milestones in her path. Her company offers an exceptional blend of sales, marketing and merchandising expertise to customers. These custom solutions include market entry strategy, cash flow management, digital marketing and branding.
“Intelligence without humility is arrogance. Business is about service, best to keep that in mind to build partnerships and customers,” says Syama.
In the Shoes of the Syama
Syama is a proven professional in the field after years of working for brands such as Macy’s and Barneys New York as a buyer, planner and merchandiser. A longtime expert in retail and fashion, she has had many successes prior to Scaling Retail, including the doubling of Gucci’s outlet division sales from $50 million to $100 million. She currently leads Scaling Retail’s global team of talented professionals, cultivating winning results and alleviating uncertainty for fashion and lifestyle brands. The agency garners successes for startup, growth stage and enterprise businesses – from Sugarhigh Lovestoned to the United Nations. Being a seasoned thought leader, she has been featured at speaking engagements and in the press.
As the company’s founder, she has had the privilege to work with brands globally both in facilitating launches and scaling up operations. One of Syama’s differentiators is a rare and diverse background in retail, having started in the big brick and mortar sphere early on (Macy’s) then transitioning into entrepreneurial divisions at companies like Barneys New York and Gucci. She currently manages a team of brand strategists and marketing executives, while overseeing all new business.
Scaling Retail was first launched as a consulting firm, only to later expand by offering marketing and creative solutions. Similar to how larger consulting firms such as Accenture have integrated creative agencies, Syama and her team saw an opportunity to offer the company’s retail customers a 360 degree, integrated experience. Rather than a client need to source, hire and oversee 10 different jobs, they can instead have one solution. “Our agency incubates emerging talent and serves as the marketing arm for innovative fashion companies,” says Syama.
Some Traits Defining Leader’s Success
“I used to think that adopting more heternormative male qualities were needed to be successful in business,” says Syama. Early on in her career, she focused on being assertive, removing emotional intelligence from the work environment and favoring those who she saw her image as ‘strong.’ The moment she embraced diversity and prioritized emotional intelligence in the workplace, she found more harmony and profitability than ever. As it turns out, strong communication and feelings of equity in the workplace are key to nurturing employees as stakeholders.
She has received peer and industry acknowledgement for the work she has done. In 2017, she was acknowledged as a Top Women in Business by WWD, and in 2019, she won a Top Female Entrepreneur Award presented by Stevie.
Syama has said that she is risk-seeking, always looking for new opportunities and channels to explore. Thinking of life as the pursuit of play allows her to move quickly, test new ideas and pivot fast. When she first established Scaling Retail, she knew that content and education would be a driving force in what the company needs to be in the market. “Our content platform now delivers business strategy to over 30k subscribers monthly and spans a variety of topics. Some of my favorite videos are the brand interviews we do at tradeshows. Brands open up about their struggles and best practices which is always nicer than the audience only hearing it from me,” adds Syama.
Theory WORTH Admiring
Syama says that she is a big fan of the “Upper Limit Theory” that Gay Hendricks writes about in The Big Leap. The Upper Limit is the idea that one has blocks that preventing them from getting to the next steps or stages in their personal and professional life. There have been key moments where Syama has had to move through such blocks. The first being advancing quickly through her corporate career, the second being the launch of Scaling Retail, and now the third is seeing what’s next for the business and for her. Challenges are an ongoing occurrence and she is grateful for them; otherwise how would she know that she is making progress?
As she moves into the roles of investor, advisor and mentor, she also seeks to surround herself with those that are actively in pursuit of personal growth and self-awareness. There is no better trait for a business person to have than the ability to reflect and be self-aware. She anticipates the next steps of her path will be further collaboration and stepping into leadership roles across different verticals.
A Brief about Scaling Retail
Scaling Retail is an innovative, international retail consultancy led by a team of experienced retail store owners, showroom representatives, retail strategists and award-winning brand strategists. Approaching merchandising and product from a consumer-centric lens, it creates sustainable business models and ROI-maximizing results on the industry’s leading edge.
Current brands are ushered towards success, leaving the traditional rules about retail behind. Scaling Retail Media delivers topics on marketing, sales, brand launches and more – via original, creative videos, articles and talks. Its platform educates and inspires through a variety of themes, including actionable insights in response to the latest news.
Syama Meagher | Founder | Chief Retail Strategist
