How an exec in Silicon Valley makes time for her retail startup

Clare Barrins doubles as an executive at a Silicon Valley tech giant and the founder of Australian swimwear label, Sheila.

As her brand celebrates the end of its first year in business, Barrins  spoke with Inside Retail about how her corporate career path in banking, finance and tech has lent itself nicely to running a retail startup.

She also shared insight into her leadership style, productivity hacks and the career advice she keeps circling back to.

Inside Retail: Tell me about your career journey. Did you know you were always going to be a brand founder, and what are some of the different roles you’ve held along the way?

Clare Barrins: If you had asked me if I was going to be a brand founder, I would have said, no. I started studying for a law degree and had romantic notions of saving the world as a human rights lawyer. So that’s sort of where I began. And then after university, I went into banking and finance, and spent 20 years working in banking. 

I was born and bred in Melbourne, and started my career in Melbourne, but then moved across to London, and obviously I’m now in the US, and I’m working in tech in Silicon Valley. As far as my career goes, I think I’ve been lucky in that I’ve gained experience across a number of disciplines. Throughout my career in banking, I was able to do things the whole end-to-end life cycle of a business, from product management, developing and building new products, marketing and sales, project management, discipline, operations and business operations and implementation, and customer service. I really think that that end-to-end perspective set me up really nicely for running my own business because you do have to do it all. 

And so whilst I have always wanted to do something entrepreneurial, it was only later that I took that leap. I do think that having that many varied experiences, even if it was in the corporate world, set me up nicely for running a business.

IR: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your career and how have you dealt with them? 

CB: I don’t want to say that this is challenging, but I think you realise how much gender does play a role in your ability to progress in the corporate world once you have children, if you’re going to have children. As a woman that has children – I have three children, three daughters – you realise the impact that that has on other people’s perception of how much work you can do or can get done. I have been lucky that for the majority of people I have worked for that has not been an issue, but certainly, I have had job offers rescinded when I’ve made it clear that I was pregnant during the offer or interview process, and that has certainly been a challenge. 

But in terms of overcoming that, well, I’ve picked a very strong partner. My husband is very much a feminist and very much committed to equality. So when we lived in Australia, and part-time work was a lot more common than here in America, we both worked part-time so that we could equally juggle our careers and our children. 

I think that who you pick as a life partner has a very big influence on what you’re able to achieve as an individual so I think that would be the biggest challenge. Because other than that, I’ve been quite lucky with being able to move around, work with great teams and live overseas.

IR: What are some of the key leadership lessons you’ve picked up over the course of your career? 

CB: I think in terms of leadership, it’s really about empowering people. I love to see my teams in the corporate world blossom when you empower people to do their best work. So be there as a guiding force and a support, but not micromanaging. 

Of course, sometimes there’s an individual who might be underperforming, and you do have to get more involved than you would like in their work. But what I love seeing is giving someone the opportunity to problem solve and come up with solutions in their own way, because they often surprise you, and they don’t do things in the way that you would necessarily do them, and they can get an amazing result. 

I am extremely grateful for the people that I’ve got in my current team who know when to ask me for support but also have their own motivation and can dig deep and solve problems themselves. So I think empowering is one thing. I think hiring a diverse workforce to solve problems is another thing. So making sure that you don’t hire people who necessarily are a reflection of yourself. 

I don’t necessarily like the term that people often say, that they’re hiring for a team fit, because I think that then makes everyone sort of the same. But getting people who have different backgrounds, different ages, and different educational levels makes for much better problem solving and either the products or the services that you build in the end tend to be stronger from that.

IR: Do you have any business heroes that you look up to and where do you go for business advice?

CB:I have and I’m continuing to build this bench of people. Right now I’m only a year into a live business, but I have a team of friends that are also business founders – they run all sorts of different businesses, it’s not always a retail or clothing brand – and I meet with them regularly, whether it’s just on Zoom, because a lot of them are in Australia, or for a coffee, for those that are here. We just talk about challenges that we’re having at the moment, and sometimes those are challenges that we’re having in common, and we’re able to brainstorm; other times, it’s something that’s unique to me or unique to them, and we give each other advice on how we would tackle it. Honestly, the amount of ideas and support that I get from these women is amazing. 

And it’s actually these women who are my role models. There are, of course, many celebrities who found brands, and there are a lot of people that get a lot of high-profile acknowledgement for the work that they’ve done, but I think a lot of them come from really well-resourced lives, a lot of money, and have been able to leverage their fame or their celebrity to bring their brand to life. So actually, my inspirations are the everyday people who have taken a leap of faith. That includes these friends of mine, who have sacrificed the comfort of a corporate role that can bring in money regularly and have taken a chance on something that they believe in – they’re truly my heroes.

IR: Is there a standout piece of career advice that you have received?

CB: I didn’t grow up in a corporate-type family. I grew up with a teacher and a nurse as my parents and so career advice wasn’t something that was drilled into me early on. What I think has landed best with me is just a really simple statement that an old manager said to me, and they said, “You do you”. 

What that meant to me was that when I found myself in positions where I felt like I was not being authentic to myself, that I wasn’t entirely comfortable in a room, or entirely comfortable with the subject matter of my role, that was a sign that I wasn’t being authentic and true to myself, and maybe the role wasn’t the right fit for me. So I am guided by that, and I now really am driven by my intuition and by something feeling like it is me, and I’m lucky that my current role, it feels very much like me. 

I feel like I don’t need to pretend I’m somebody else. I know my stuff. I can be authentically myself at work, and I’m accepted for that. And so that is something that I wish that everyone could feel in their role, because I know many people have imposter syndrome. I know that many people think that they have to fake it, so be true to yourself and find a role where you feel you can just be yourself, because it is a blessing.

IR: Are there any productivity hacks or disciplines you use daily to manage your time?

CB: It is definitely a lot, and I’m not going to pretend that it’s easy. I am ruthlessly efficient, so I’m sure it drives people crazy. But I do lead quite a scheduled life, so I block my calendar as needed, I book things in advance, and I say no to a lot of things.

I think in my 20s, I used to say yes to everything, and I was out every single night of the week. Now I have a much more focused set of friends and much more of a social life that is by design, but I really protect my time, especially during the week. The productivity hack would be scheduling and using my calendar very well, and sharing my calendar with my partner and making sure that we’re both on the same page. 

But I also – and potentially this is a privilege – outsource as much as I possibly can. When you’ve got a full-time job, you’re running your own business, and you have three children, it’s actually not possible to do everything and do it well. So we have a part-time nanny who helps with school pickups and extracurricular activities and meal preparation for the kids, and that enables me to focus on my job, focus on my business, and then carve out time on the weekends where I’m really present with my children.

IR: What is your approach to work-life balance and how has it evolved throughout your career?

CB: I think it’s really important to have a healthy work-life balance. And I have seen people in the past who are perpetually overworked in whatever job, company or role they have and so I think that’s a behavioural thing. I think it indicates that you need to set boundaries yourself and not let that get out of control. 

So for me, it’s about having the confidence to say no, or the confidence to try and move things around to accommodate yourself. Not being scared to say, “I’ve got a school parent-teacher conference at that time, so I can’t make that meeting work. Sorry.” You know you don’t have to apologise for having children, that’s a reality. 

There have, of course, been times where I am working ridiculous hours, but that is not something that I ever let get out of control for a long period of time. So that is my approach: just to say no to things. Have the confidence to say no and back yourself, and don’t feel a sense of obligation.

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