#2 - Siri Soosalu - Empowering Women in Fashion, Leading with Empathy, and Building Thriving Teams

In this episode, I’m joined by Siri Soosalu, an accomplished Creative Director with over 20 years of international experience across contemporary and premium brands, retail and supply.

Siri is responsible for the creative direction and product strategy at HUGO Red and Blue premium womenswear lines at HUGO BOSS. Siri is also a dedicated advocate and sponsor for Women’s empowerment at HUGO BOSS, actively mentoring and championing female talent to increase the representation of women in leadership positions within the fashion industry.

Siri’s love for fashion and the arts has been a driving force throughout her career, initially sparked by her artistic parents. Over time she realised her passion lay in nurturing and encouraging the next generation of talent.

In this episode, we discuss:

● Siri’s inspiring journey in the fashion industry, including her shift from hands-on creative work to mentoring and championing emerging talent.

● How she’s successfully navigated a male-dominated industry and the unique challenges of balancing leadership with motherhood.

● How leading with empathy, encouraging open dialogue, and valuing every voice, can build an inclusive and thriving team.

Siri also opens up about the importance of empowering her team, the hurdles she’s faced as a female leader and her insights into creating a positive high-energy team culture.

Whether you’re working in the fashion industry, an aspiring female leader, or passionate about nurturing the next generation of leaders, you’ll want to tune in to this one!

About the host

Sarah Perugia is an expert women-in-leadership coach and whole-person leadership transformation specialist, dedicated to empowering female leaders to thrive. With 20 years of experience, she partners with organisations across the globe to develop and retain top female talent, strengthen the female leadership pipeline, and promote gender equality in senior roles. Drawing on her background in acting, neuro-linguistic programming, and Positive Psychology, Sarah empowers leaders to advance their careers, build confidence, enhance performance, and ultimately flourish and thrive. Her offering includes one-on-one executive leadership coaching, group workshops, and bespoke programmes.

If you’d like to learn more about Sarah and her work with women in leadership, you can find out more here:

https://www.sarahperugia.com/women-in-leadership

In this show we cover

Navigating a male-dominated industry, Women in leadership, Transitioning from creative to strategic roles, Gender bias in leadership, Leading with empathy, Building trust and positive team culture, empowering aspiring female leaders, Advice for career growth

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more!

Contact & Connect

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-perugia-leadership-coaching/

Connect with Siri on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siri-soosalu-4aa98627/