Meet The Team Monday - Aisling Kavanagh Sales Marketing Director

Next up for our Meet The Team Monday is Sales and Marketing Director, Aisling. 

When did you start working for Diamond Designs?

I started at Diamond Designs in November 2005. I joined for a short term project when Anne wanted to build the Diamond Designs brand to sell directly to consumers. Up until that point, the majority of our sales were through retail outlets all around Ireland and a catalogue company in the UK, so we were primarily a wholesale  business.  Our Irish website had been launched but was new at the time. We wanted to develop that and also launch a website for the UK market. We also wanted to develop our beauty collection and pharmacy collection of uniforms. That was 17 years ago so the short term project didn’t have an end point  - the business model constantly changes. For a time we continued the wholesale business while working on the brand and growing our website sales, but over time it has changed. We are now an e-commerce company with no bricks and mortar outlet. People's buying patterns have evolved over the years and customers are happy to view the products on our website and purchase directly; 70% of our online sales are now being made on mobile phones.

What is your favourite part about working at Diamond Designs?

I love lots of things about working in Diamond Designs. Anne started working here when I was 7 so I grew up with the company. Anne was always very passionate about it so at home we all knew her top customers and products. As children, myself and my sisters took turns going away with her for overnight business trips so we could enjoy the hotels while she met customers and made sales. I worked on the factory floor at various times as a teenager when I needed a little extra cash but did not work in the office until 2005. As a family business we work very well together and we collaborate with people we care about and who have the same outlook (most of the time!). There is huge commitment and stability there. Personally, I love building relationships with our customers, being successful on pitches for new business and developing our product range. 

What is your favourite product?

I loved the Lauren beauty tunic as it was named after my daughter, but sadly it was discontinued. My current favourite would be the Ellie tunic, which was inspired by a Balmain top. It is very classy, elegant and looks a lot more expensive than it is.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself.

I met my husband Karl on a blind date in the Village, a pub on Camden Street in Dublin.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

“Make your decisions based on the information you have on the day and don’t look back”. Anne advises that it if you don’t just make your decision and go with it, the business won’t progress and once you’ve done that you need to move on to the next thing and not spend time over-analysing.

Favourites:

• Film: Grease 2 – I was obsessed with Michelle Pfeiffer in this movie when I was a kid and still know all the words to the songs
• Book: No favourites. I have always loved reading and couldn’t choose just one book. My favourite genre is contemporary fiction. A book I recently enjoyed was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
• Song: Again it is difficult to have one favourite song – I love any pop music – but I’m currently listening to “Harry’s House” on repeat on our family Alexa. I love any music by Elton John, Queen and Abba.

Stay tuned next week as we continue the Meet The Team segment!

-DDHQ x