Ina Coveney
Today we have the lovely treat of talking to my friend Elizabeth Stiles. Hi! Welcome to the show.

Elizabeth Stiles
Hi! Thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to talk to you.

Ina Coveney
I am so happy that you're here. Before we get started—because, you know, I like to really go way back—why don’t you tell everybody who you help and what you do for them right now?

Elizabeth Stiles
I work with independent brands on their manufacturing, marketing, and mindset.

Ina Coveney
And before we get started, actually, I have been scouring your social media, and I just want to give everybody the absolute fun vibe that you have on Instagram by telling you that I learned four things about you that I thought were hilarious. I’m going to share them with everybody so they understand the kind of person we’re talking to today.

Elizabeth Stiles
Oh, goodness!

Ina Coveney
Number one, that despite being British, you do not drink tea or coffee.

Elizabeth Stiles
That is true. Yes.

Ina Coveney
Okay, I need to know—what’s up with the tea? Isn’t it a national rule or something?

Elizabeth Stiles
I know, right? You’re not legal if you don’t drink tea! But my mum never gave it to me when I was younger.

Ina Coveney
Really?

Elizabeth Stiles
Yeah, and then I got to university, and everyone was drinking tea. I just thought, “Oh, I don’t drink it.” Even now, to this day, people say, “That’s really weird. Why don’t you drink it?” I don’t even really have an answer. It’s just like… I’m 36. I’ve got this far. Do I start now? I don’t know.

Ina Coveney
Okay. The second thing is that you can write your name with your feet.

Elizabeth Stiles
Oh my gosh! How far back did you go?!

Ina Coveney
Far enough to find that gem!

Elizabeth Stiles
Yes, I can.

Ina Coveney
That is amazing. Okay, number three: You once lit your hair on fire while trying to take a picture of yourself. Please explain.

Elizabeth Stiles
Oh gosh. So, I was in a bar for my brother-in-law’s birthday. It was one of those old-fashioned cameras, so rather than being an iPhone, I had my eye in the square lens like this.

Ina Coveney
Okay…

Elizabeth Stiles
And I have really big, curly hair. I leaned back to get the whole bar in the shot, and behind me, there was a row of tea lights on the windowsill. So, I was going, “Smile!” And then I noticed smoke coming from behind my head.

Ina Coveney
Oh no!

Elizabeth Stiles
Yeah, thankfully someone noticed before it got too bad, but it was mortifying.

Ina Coveney
Finally, number four: You are a bargain shopper, despite being in fashion merchandising. That caught my eye. Where does that come from?

Elizabeth Stiles
I just think there’s something so exhilarating about finding a bargain. There’s a shop in the UK called the Pound Shop and another called Tiger. They’re like cheap designer shops, I guess.

Ina Coveney
Oh!

Elizabeth Stiles
Everything is under five or six pounds, and my grandma and I used to have this thing where we’d buy little trinkets. I love finding small things, especially in charity shops. It gives me more pleasure than buying a designer gown, for example.

Ina Coveney
I love that! Okay, now that we’ve got all those fun facts, I just really wanted everybody to know the kind of person we’re talking to: someone who is so fun and full of life. So before we dive into your story, I want to tell you—I do my research for these podcast interviews. If anyone wants to go back and listen to your full story, they can go to your podcast. Can you please tell everybody what your podcast is, what it’s called, and who it’s for?

Elizabeth Stiles
Of course! It’s called The Fashion Brand Clinic Podcast. I started it because the fashion industry is so secretive.

Ina Coveney
Totally.

Elizabeth Stiles
There’s a lot of nepotism in the fashion industry—it’s very much about who you know and what you know. I wanted to pull back the curtain and show people the kinds of careers you can have in fashion and what others’ experiences have been like.

Ina Coveney
I love that!

Elizabeth Stiles
Thank you! There are over 130 episodes now, a mix of solo episodes and interviews with people in PR, CEOs of big brands, and others who haven’t even started their businesses yet.

Ina Coveney
I’m going to call out episodes 13 and 105 for anyone who wants to listen to your full story. We won’t have time to dive into every career move today, but we will zoom in on a few. I really want to give everyone a picture of who you are and how you got to where you are now. So let’s start way back—can you tell us where you were born and what being a child as Elizabeth Stiles was like?
(Transcript continues in this Q&A conversational format.)

Elizabeth Stiles
I was born in a place called Welwyn City. It’s about an hour north of London.

Ina Coveney
Oh, lovely!

Elizabeth Stiles
Yeah, and my mum actually told me there was another girl born on the same day as me, also called Elizabeth. I don’t know where she is now, but I hope she’s having a good time!

Ina Coveney
That’s amazing.

Elizabeth Stiles
I was the only girl in my family. When I was born, I had an older brother, and then eight years later, I had identical twin brothers. So I have three brothers, and I’m the only girl.

Ina Coveney
What was that like?

Elizabeth Stiles
It was a really happy childhood. I was always very creative. I loved being with my friends, but I was also more than happy being on my own. My mum once told me that she forgot my lunchbox one day, brought it to school, and saw me in the playground alone. She asked the teacher, “Does Elizabeth have any friends? Is she okay?” And the teacher said, “Oh, yes! She has loads of friends, but sometimes she just likes to take herself off to be by herself.”

Ina Coveney
That’s so sweet.

Elizabeth Stiles
Yeah, my mum was like, “Okay, as long as she’s all right, that’s fine.” But I was a happy little child. When I was eight, though, my parents separated, and we stayed living with my mum.

Ina Coveney
How did that shape who you are now?

Elizabeth Stiles
My mum was financially dependent on my dad, and from a young age, she drilled into me, “You are never going to end up in this position. You are going to be financially independent.”

Ina Coveney
Wow.

Elizabeth Stiles
It wasn’t just one moment—it was a consistent message throughout my childhood. It became a foundational part of who I am.

Ina Coveney
So, by high school, were you already thinking about career paths?

Elizabeth Stiles
Kind of. I knew I didn’t want to do something academic like English or math because I didn’t think I’d be good at it. I needed to do something I enjoyed to see it through.

Ina Coveney
That’s smart.

Elizabeth Stiles
Through lots of research, I found fashion buying. It was in the fashion industry but focused on the business side rather than design. I loved that it balanced analytics and creativity. You’d work with designers and merchandisers to find the sweet spot between trends and commercial viability.

Ina Coveney
That sounds perfect!

Elizabeth Stiles
It was! I loved the idea of traveling, building relationships with suppliers, sourcing fabrics, and looking at trends. It was a great all-around career option.

Ina Coveney
And you describe all the steps in your career on your podcast, so I encourage everyone to go listen. But let’s fast forward to the toxic job you had. Can you tell us that story?

Elizabeth Stiles
Oh, yes. After I graduated, I worked at a company I loved for five years, but it was an hour and a half away from my family and boyfriend. So, I took a job at Arcadia in London, thinking it was the pinnacle of the fashion industry.

Ina Coveney
And?

Elizabeth Stiles
From the moment I sat down at my desk, I knew I’d made a mistake. The office was so toxic. People were mean and dismissive. On my first day, I was told, “This is the toilet where you go to cry.”

Ina Coveney
Oh no!

Elizabeth Stiles
Yeah. By the end of the day, I met my boyfriend at the supermarket, and he was so excited I’d moved back to London. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him how awful it was.

Ina Coveney
That’s heartbreaking.

Elizabeth Stiles
It really shattered my confidence. I was petrified of making mistakes, which only led to more mistakes. Eventually, I started applying for any job—literally anything to get out of there.

Ina Coveney
How did you finally escape?

Elizabeth Stiles
After a year, they told me they didn’t have the budget to keep me on. I was so relieved. When they asked how I felt, I told them the truth—that it had been the worst year of my life and the office environment was toxic.

Ina Coveney
Good for you for speaking up.

Elizabeth Stiles
Thank you. After that, I worked at a few other jobs and eventually found my groove again, but that experience stuck with me.

Ina Coveney
And eventually, you decided to start your own business. What sparked that decision?

Elizabeth Stiles
One day, after a yoga class, it hit me—I could do what I was doing at my job but for myself. I started offering free advice in Facebook groups to small businesses, and the response was overwhelming. That’s when I realized the value of what I knew.

Ina Coveney
Amazing!

Elizabeth Stiles
From there, I saved up three months’ worth of expenses and took the leap. It wasn’t easy, but I started gaining traction through networking, discovery calls, and freelance work.

Ina Coveney
And now, your business is thriving. What are your most successful offers?

Elizabeth Stiles
My courses! During lockdown, my business shifted from 90% one-on-one work to 80% courses. I have a marketing course called The Visibility Project and a sales course called The Sales Project. Both help fashion brands show up, sell confidently, and become financially independent.

Ina Coveney
That’s fantastic. Elizabeth, thank you so much for sharing your journey. Where can people find you and connect with you?

Elizabeth Stiles
Thank you! I’m on Instagram at @ElizabethStilesUK—that’s Stiles with an “i.” I also have a newsletter called The Sell Better Newsletter with monthly tips and trends for the fashion industry. It’s free, and the link is in my bio on Instagram.

Ina Coveney
We’ll put all those links in the show notes. Elizabeth, you’ve been amazing. Thank you so much for being here!

Elizabeth Stiles
Thank you so much for having me. This was such a pleasure!