Penelope Soul

Assistant Buyer, Temple and Webster

“My ICMS degree was perfect for me. Beyond gaining the obvious practical business knowledge and skills, my ICMS degree taught me how to present myself in a professional manner and juggle work in a business environment. The industry training helped me to prepare for my career as an assistant buyer. I am now involved in the buying process from start to finish and create my own sales events.”

What is your current role and outline your professional experience?

I am currently employed at Temple & Webster (T&W) as an Assistant Buyer. My job is to assist our Furniture and Décor Buyer with all sourcing process matters from meeting with potential suppliers to administration work involved with getting a sales event on our website which has more than 600,000 members. Before T&W I worked as a sales assistant at Bloch and interned as a social media coordinator at Deshabille, a pyjama designer based in Balgowlah. For my industry training placement, I worked for David Jones in multiple departments.

What career achievements are you especially proud of?

Recently I represented my Buyer at the Sydney Trade Fairs and looked for exciting new suppliers and products to appear on our website. Late last year I trained two new assistant buyers and I’ve created my own sale events which can be seen regularly on our website. Moving forward, I have the exciting opportunity to be the buyer for the ‘storage’ category at T&W and I will experience the buying process from start to finish.

How has your ICMS degree contributed to you achieving your professional goals?

My ICMS degree was perfect for me. Beyond gaining the obvious practical business knowledge and skills, my ICMS degree taught me how to present myself in a professional manner and juggle working in a business environment.

What were the major factors contributing to your decision to study at ICMS?

The main factor were being able to graduate with a Business degree and specialise in retail management, which is something that always interested me and was the direction I wanted to take my career in.

What were the highlights during your time at ICMS?

• ICMS Dean’s List Award Scholar list 4 times whilst as ICMS
• Secretary of the SRC for two trimesters
• Winner of a community contribution prize

What advice would you give to someone considering study at ICMS?

Go for it! At ICMS you really get out what you put in, everyone is going to leave with a similar degree which is great but students who also dedicate time to playing sport, joining the SRC or living on campus really benefit from the years of study. Take time to network with other students and even lecturers, as you never know what amazing doors your peers can open for you in your future.