Alice Grennan, Fashion Graduate at M&S: The Squiggly Career That Landed a Dream Job

My Duvet Flip by Jack Parsons

Jack Parsons

Business, Careers

4.2 • 5 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Episode Guest:

Alice Grennan is a Fashion, Home & Beauty Product Graduate at Marks & Spencer, where she’s building a multifaceted retail career. From lava flows to sustainable fashion, Alice’s squiggly career path is powered by passion, resilience, and confidence.

Episode Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:48 Alice’s First Job at 13 — The £5 Paper Round

2:05 Hustling for Hospitality Roles

3:15 How Early Jobs Built Resilience

4:30 From Geography to Fashion — A Career Reroute

6:10 Falling in Love with Sustainable Style

7:45 Choosing M&S Over Another Grad Job

9:15 What It’s Like Working in Retail Over Christmas

11:00 From Shop Floor to Head Office — Seeing It All

12:40 Why Every Grad Should Start in Store

14:05 The Power of Rotations at M&S

15:45 Marketing, Buying & Plan A — Her Favourite Roles

18:00 Learning from Mentors, Leaders & Experience

19:30 Building Confidence in the Corporate World

21:00 Alice’s Duvet Flip — Why She Shows Up Every Day

Episode Partners

M&S

M&S is a trusted global retailer, committed to quality, value, and innovation. For over a century, it has set industry standards by doing the right thing and embracing change. With 65,000 colleagues serving 32 million customers worldwide, M&S places quality at the heart of everything it does.

https://bit.ly/4mVHfLO

Disclaimer:

The content provided on Duvet Flip is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts, guests, brands or contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the show's producers, sponsors, or affiliates. The information shared is not a substitute for professional advice, including but not limited to career counseling, financial guidance, legal consultation, or mental health support.

Listeners and viewers are responsible for their own decisions and actions based on the content provided, and Duvet Flip assumes no liability for any outcomes resulting from reliance on the information shared. By engaging with the show, you acknowledge and agree to this disclaimer.

If you’re struggling with debt, trusted advice and free support can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice

If you’re struggling with mental health of any kind, you can find free support here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, my name is Alice. I'm a fashion home and beauty product graduate at M&S.
0:05.0	We employ over 65,000 people and this is my duvet flip.
0:09.0	For anyone who are tuning in listening, what is your advice to them?
0:12.0	M&S is the only company that I've worked in where you can reach out to anyone
0:16.0	and they are so happy to sit down and help you.
0:19.0	What do you think as being the biggest shift for you?
0:22.5	I would say my confidence I needed to really be a confident and opinionated person in the business.
0:28.9	And MS is so welcoming of that.
0:30.9	Professionally.
0:31.9	Professionally.
0:32.9	Professionally.
0:33.9	With a bit of your personality, right?
0:35.2	Yes.
0:36.2	What do you dovet, flip?
0:37.2	What gets you out of bed in the moment to flip the duvet?
0:38.3	I would say it's...
0:39.3	Hi, my name is Alice.
0:43.3	I'm a fashion, home and beauty product graduate at M&S.
0:47.3	I'm most excited to talk about my squiggly career that kind of got me here.
0:52.3	My degree is kind of not related to what I'm doing now.
0:55.4	I haven't met Jack before, but he's very energetic.
0:58.9	His questions are really good, so I'm excited.
	...

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