Hayley Quinn likes to surround herself with fabulous people, and her list of superstar co-workers extends far beyond the Swarovski payroll.
“Any successful business is driven by the people in it and I am very lucky to be surrounded by dynamic, committed and passionate people, and I don’t just mean Swarovski employees,” she says. “We have some of the most amazing partners and helping them and their teams drive their Swarovski businesses has been a key focus.”
In order to help this extended team work smarter, Quinn has led initiatives to create improved training tools, better marketing and merchandising support, and slick communications. Swarovski’s internal mantra is ‘every season better’, and with this in mind, Quinn says all of these initiatives are ongoing, but she does give recognition to one particular high moment for the brand in the past year – getting its watch positioning right at Baselworld.
“Swarovski launched its new fashion-focused watch collection at Basel and although we were confident that we had great products at competitive and affordable prices, the strength of the positive feedback we received from our partners and the press exceeded our expectations,” she says.
Helping Swarovski grow by tending all the factors that influence success somewhat mirrors Quinn’s off-duty passion for gardening.
“I love to be in the garden, and grow a good deal of our own fruit and veg,” she says. “I like the sense of achievement you get when you harvest a really good crop and the physical side of digging, planting and weeding is quite cathartic.” She is also an avid reader – a handy habit to enjoy with a hectic professional travel schedule – and so decided to combine the two hobbies for her Hot 100 shot.
"Plus, I’m too vain to be photographed in the garden in overalls covered in mud,” she laughs.
