The Madgician S01E11 | “The Business of Fashion: Leadership, Expansion & Industry Insights” with Alina Balaci, Independent Consultant | Managing Director @ Di Minno

"Know your customer — it's the biggest reason brands succeed or fail. Once you understand your audience, offer a product they want and need, and stay consistent with your message. Finally, focus on quality and timing. Exceptional products delivered at the right time will always win." 

The Madgician Podcast is back!  

Our first guest of 2025 is Alina Balaci, Independent Consultant | Managing Director @ Di Minno. In this episode, we talked about fashion as a business, the challenges of managing high-end brands, lessons small brands can learn from industry giants, and key strategies for global expansion. Alina  - who has worked with global brands like Christopher Kane, Lacelier, Burberry, and Debenhams - shared valuable insights on leadership, navigating omnichannel strategies, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in the ever-evolving fashion landscape.

Tune in for the full episode on Spotify:

 

About Alina Balaci

Alina is a strategic and results-driven executive leader with extensive experience in the luxury fashion, retail, and beauty sectors. With a proven track record in driving business growth and operational excellence, Alina is an expert in commercial strategy, financial management, and go-to-market execution. Known for leading cross-functional teams and navigating complex market dynamics, she brings a 360-degree understanding of business operations—from concept creation to product launch and distribution. 

What you’ll learn by listening

• The realities of high-end fashion: what’s loved, what’s challenging, and everything in between
• Brand management: fashion management: differences between shoes, luxury, and jewelry
• Vital lessons small brands can learn from big brands
• Key strategies for successful global brand expansion
• The challenge of omnichannel strategies in today's economy
• Key lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs in fashion
• Leadership in fashion: building and uniting strong teams
• Trends impacting the fashion industry

Podcast transcription

My name is Georgiana. I've been an entrepreneur in digital marketing since 2014. And recently I started creating custom high heels. This podcast is with women entrepreneurs who work their magic day after day at home and at work. I'll be interviewing them in order to find out useful tips and tricks that can help you start or scale your business. Stay tuned.

Georgiana: Good morning, everyone. This is Georgiana with a new episode of The Madgician. Happy New Year, first of all! It's been quite a while since our last episode. We've had a bit of a rough end to the year and we took a rather long break, but we're starting strong. And our first guest for this year is Alina Balaci. Thank you so much for accepting to talk to us. 

Alina Balaci: Hi Georgina. Thank you so much for inviting me. Actually, I look forward to chatting with you about the industry that we both love. 

Georgiana: It's super cool to be able to talk to you and to record you because Alina and I met, I think a few months ago in London, in November, I think. We are both Romanian, originally from Romania, but Alina is based in London and we clicked immediately on a personal level and on a professional level. And then I was, this is why I was super happy when you accepted, to share with us some of the secrets of the industry, because you've been working in fashion for all of your professional life. You're a manager, you're a consultant, you've worked at Christopher Kane, Lacelier, Burberry, Debenhams.

And now you're managing a very high end shoe brand, which is called Di Minno . Absolutely stunning shoes, absolutely amazing. So we'll be talking about your background a little bit. We'll be talking about the challenges in the world of fashion nowadays. But first I'd like to find out and our listeners for sure would like to find out what exactly you did for this brand and then what it was like to work for such big names and what you liked about it and what was a very hard part about it.

Alina Balaci: Thank you very much for the intro and thank you again for having me. So it's true. I've been working in this industry for about 15 years since I've moved to London. Actually, tomorrow will be 15 years since I actually moved to London. So it's been a while. I think my main focus I'll try to summarize is my main focus across all these brands has been on driving commercial activities and growth.

However, depending on the brand, I've been involved across various business units, acting as a sound thing, sound board for the founders co manager, solely manager. Some, some, some of them, but overall, my focus was always on commercial strategies. And as I said, the most beautiful part of it, I mean, it's there are actually lots of nice parts about working in fashion.

At the personal level, it's actually living my childhood dream of working and being part of this industry, and then I'm very grateful for being able to do it at one of the highest levels here in London. Also working alongside the designers has been inspiring. Understanding a lot about their world, understanding who buys fashion and why people buy fashion and why they love it.

I think it's a bit different or working in this industry has shaped my view of why people spend money on, on, on fashion. They just love it. If I were to pick some moments, I think, from my career. that I really enjoyed. I think something that stayed with me was attending Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, for the first time.

I think I was 27 at the time, and I wasn't just attending it as a visitor, but actually was part of that world as well. There were some pinch me moments then, and I think Also, I think my first party was a Givenchy party, if I'm not mistaken. So being in Paris for the fashion week, going to an after party at Givenchy. That was a highlight. I also really enjoyed Christopher Kane. We did fashion shows. So having the opportunity to invite people from across the world. I met Anna Wintour there. We had editors from across the world. So I think that was also a very nice highlight of my career. 

Fashion is a business. And I think people need to, this industry is actually a business industry and I keep reminding people because they see it as, you know, they see the glam and they think there is nothing there.And I think the toughest part for me in this industry is actually navigating the complexity and the unpredictability of a creative world. When you work with creative people, it's very hard to balance the commercial and the creative aspects without compromising either of them while trying to drive growth.

And this is like, you know, this is, this happens everywhere. The small brands or then we look at the big brands. I think yesterday I've just seen that Stella McCartney is living at LVMH if I'm not mistaken. So it shows that, you know, even a giant like LVMH cannot handle a brand. I think in general in this industry, balancing the creativity and the commerciality of the business is quite tough. 

Georgiana: I think I would say that even the fashion industry is now struggling just like all the other industries. A lot of economic instability. We can see it everywhere. And of course, fashion is, like I said, a part of it. You just cannot escape it. 

Alina Balaci: I feel like seven, eight years ago, people would buy anything. And I think that was also wrong. It was the time where you could sell anything to anyone. Now the pandemic has not only changed the way people buy, but I think they also have accelerated that at a level that we haven't thought about it.

And in a world post pandemic with all the social, economical crisis, et cetera, People, I think, are more conscious about what they buy. Like, I say it myself, I am in this industry, I love this industry, but I stop buying things just because I like them. I would always think a bit in advance and, you know, take a bit of time. It's not, I know it's not such a big decision when, whether you should buy a top or not, but I feel like nowadays, I think a bit longer about buying something than before. And I would assume this happens to everyone else.

Georgiana: Yeah, I was, I was about to say you are perfectly right. I think there used to be a lot of impulse shopping and now there isn't anymore. And I see the same type of behavior for myself personally. Three, four years ago, five years ago in Berlin, I would order all of these packages and then decide whether to keep them or not.

And now it is completely different. I always think I need this. If I buy it, how am I going to wear it? Yeah, it's a complicated economic background and I think our mentality has shifted and we think differently, which is a good thing in the end, but it's hard for brands such as mine, you know, for small brands that are just beginning.

And this actually brings me to the second question. I'm wondering in fashion, is it the same, is it similar to manage a shoe brand as it is to manage a luxury brand or a jewelry one?

Alina Balaci: Yes and no. I think they are all part of the same industry, but they are different, and I think for example between luxury and footwear, there is a similarity in terms of sizing. You need a lot of sizing, whether with jewelry. Yeah, you know I think for rings or maybe bracelets you'll have One, two, three sizes. Sometimes even you don't have that because you can offer a service of adjustment in, in store or people can buy the product and go somewhere. So I also feel like the purpose of these things is completely different.

In terms of jewelry, you don't really think about comfort, right? You want something, I don't know, it really depends who you are and what your personality is like, but generally with jewelry, you would want a product that looks nice, maybe, you know, a pair of earrings that go with multiple things. With the shoes, comfort matters as well.

Of course. And I feel like, as we are getting wiser, I shouldn't say older, right? Yeah. As time passes comfort becomes more important and If I look back at 10 years ago when I was in my 20s I never thought like anyone would buy shoes just because they were comfortable and I think things are completely different now, so yes, it's like managing it's a shoe brand or jewelry brand or lingerie brands It, it requires different approaches.

It's in terms of customers, in terms of the use, in terms of what people are looking at. So it's, you know, it's always at the different market, a different customer you cater to. So it's I would say it's, it's completely different. 

Georgiana: Okay. Now you have all of this expertise, right? You've worked for all of these brands, you still are, but you're still a consultant. And I know we spoke when we met. We spoke about how you consult for smaller brands. For brands such as mine, for example. Not necessarily just shoes, but you know, fashion brands in general. What are the three things that these small brands can learn from bigger brands who have bigger budgets that they can apply in the long run? Because after all of this experience you've had in all of these years for sure you can make a difference between them.

Alina Balaci: I've been consulting for almost seven years mostly with smaller brands, but I've also had the opportunity to work with the designer-led brands or big brands like Burberry or Christopher Kane. There are lots of lessons to learn, but I'm just gonna Give you three examples or like the I'll share with you. I think the three points which I think are the most important: the first one would be to know your customer. The biggest reason brands fail is not understanding the target audience with so many products on the market. It's essential to know who you are catering to.

That's how you're going to have sales. That's how you're going to drive growth. That's how you're going to have revenue. The second thing is to have the right product. Once you understand your customer, offer a product they want, offer a product they need, and be consistent with that. Keep your message consistent, and clear.

And I think the third one would be quality and timing. As we spoke earlier, consumer behavior has changed. So create timeless products with exceptional quality. Don't overproduce, don't cut corners. And then deliver on time, at the right time. This is very important. If you have, like, you know, some party shoes, you wanna have them out for Christmas, you want people to wear them for Christmas, if you're gonna bring them out mid December, you are not going to make that sale.

You have to have them in store in October. So I think, obviously, as I said, there are many lessons, but understand who you cater for. Otherwise If you just want to have a brand and you don't understand your customer You don't know who that person that buys your product is It's going to be very very difficult and we see that at the top we see it with bigger brands so I think the the Positive thing with the smaller brands is that you can implement these changes You know, easier when, when you are very small, you don't need so many layers of approval whether when you have in, in a big corporation, then it's it's a bit more complicated.

Georgiana: Sometimes impossible. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I think I absolutely second what you said. I would say that knowing your customer is indeed something that makes or breaks a business. Yeah, I know you speak from all the experience you've accumulated and you've seen many brands succeeding or failing. And I can speak from my own experience that we started last year and we started from a personal passion.

We started with shoes that I liked personally without really consulting many women. And then after we started production, we got feedback from them telling us that the shoes were too high, that maybe we should go for more conservative colors, which is something that we did in the end and we are doing it currently, but it took a while.

And I'm always thinking, God, I was so foolish. I was absolutely crazy to not be paying attention to these things. And now someone, someone wrote to me, someone who bought shoes from the previous collection. They wrote to me on Instagram yesterday, and they said, Oh my God, I'm so happy you're now making shoes with lower heels.

Alina Balaci: I think, again, it's about understanding your customers. So, from what you're saying, I would assume probably your customer starts from 35 plus, right? Or, yeah? So that's, I think that's a sweet spot now for newer brands, the premium brand on the market I think 35 to 50 to 55 to 50 ideally would be a sweet spot.

And I think really luxurious brands should target the 45 plus. I mean, there is a, you know, there is a group of consumers, there are wealthy consumers in their 50s or their 60s. And I feel like they have been overlooked. I don't understand why. Because those are, I think, the ideal customers, they know what they want. They have the money mostly. And once they like a product, they actually, you know, they, they can stay loyal to a brand. 

Georgiana: Exactly.. You are very right in saying that because I've seen it with some of our clients in this age bracket, they start low. So to say, like they buy the basic type of shoe. That's not very expensive just to test. Yeah, how it feels and then they like it and they I have clients that bought customers that bought six pairs of shoes And they bought the simple ones and then the accessorized ones and they said, you know, they're so comfortable now i've worn the seven centimeter heel now.

I want to wear the ten one, too. So, please send me your biggest one, but that was like the fifth purchase, you know, yeah So so yeah, indeed you are totally right and then why they are neglected. I think they don't spend enough time online to be targeted with Facebook and Instagram and this is how we sell nowadays mostly, right?

Alina Balaci: I think It's you I still feel like I mean in for the brand I work for, for Di Minno, in particular our clients are high net worth and ultra high net worth client people from mainly from abroad. And they are not necessarily the people that will spend time on, on social media. So it's, again, it, it really depends. And social media, I think, obviously, it's an important part of today's life, of everyone's life, and we, we can't ignore that. But I also think we should, as a brand, look at especially that there are categories of people that have the, the, the power and the desire, the purchase power and the desire to buy. I think we, as a brand, it's important to look at those customers as well. 

Georgiana: Yeah. Yeah. And maybe assess different marketing strategies. Maybe you can find, I don't know, online aggregators that could cater to them, or you could do pop up stores. 

Alina Balaci: That’s what I wanted to say, pop up stores. These women normally meet in clubs, I think in London, in London, there it is. Normal thing to actually do a pop up at the tennis club, at the country club, at whatever, wherever people go. And it happens the same in the Middle East. We worked with some agencies, so they would actually do events at the, for the royal families in the Middle East, or they would do events in some certain locations where they were extraordinary. So, you know, you have to I'll, I'll add another thing there. Be creative, you know, on top of those three things. Be creative with your customers. On how to approach your customers. That's also important. 

Georgiana: Yeah, exactly. And I know we spoke about it and I know you've had a lot of work in expanding the brands globally.

And I'm wondering how difficult it is for a brand to expand globally? Are there any key strategies we could look for? So that we find the rewarding part at the end, the journey. 

Alina Balaci: I'll give you maybe like two, three points here. One would be to create awareness, right? You, so people, get people to know you.

That's what awareness is. Then for small brands, whether you find key retail partners across the world, so doing wholesale, that can grow your reputation, awareness. Partner up maybe with PR, but PR again, like not in the traditional way, the traditional PR where you will go and have a, you know, an article in Vogue, it doesn't work anymore, people don't, don't read that anymore.

Do [00:18:00] partnership maybe with some influencers, but be very careful in terms of partnership, you know, get the right people for your, the right audience, just because someone has 10 million followers, it doesn't mean it's going to translate into something. Sales, you might be able to actually make sales with someone that has 20, 000 followers, but they are curated.

They follow, they believe what that influence says. So that would, the first one would be to create awareness. The second one I think is also experimenting. Once you've started creating awareness, it's very important to test the various markets and channels. Maybe find a showroom to represent you across the board, across the world.

And then you will get some feedback from the buyers that come in there. Approach the retailers, maybe do some you know, pop ups with them. Get feedback on the product, whether it's directly from your customers, from retail partners, from PR, from press, etc. And I think it's also very important to surround yourself with Mentors and, and, and people that understand the [00:19:00] industry and that can help you, can guide you you know, have a sound, have someone or a couple of people from the industry that you can use as a soundboard to start with, because you might not have the funding, but just get those people, you know, the, the, the one that have, have been through your journey and, and, and learn a bit from there.

And then once you identify the channel that Converse then focus, focus on, on growing those, that channel or those channels rather than spreading routine. I also see nowadays that, you know, when brands start, they want to do everything. They want to be digital. They want to do retail. They want to do wholesale.

They want to do it. You know, a lot of things and you also don't have normally small brands, so they don't have the manpower, they don't have the budgets, and they don't have the expertise. And no, and even if they, even if they did have all these things I think it's still important to, to, to grow slowly.

I think if we look back in the history there, that just a few brands that actually, you know, exploded and they stay there at the top. Also, once you come out and then you give everything from the beginning, it's going to be very challenging and very hard to keep on top of that, so I would, as I said, create awareness, experiment and then focus and, and grow.

Georgiana: But in your current role at Di Minno , did you face such challenges while trying to grow the brand? 

Alina Balaci: Yes, I think the current fashion situation is very poor across the world, not just in the UK. I mean we see I was reading the other day's report and LVMH declared their profits for the last year and pretty much everyone was down.

I think Hermes, if I'm not mistaken, they managed to grow the business by 19%. I think that's extraordinary. But pretty much everyone It's, it's, it's going down. So in the UK and the, the main, the, the biggest challenge is to overcome this current situation. The economy and the financial climate in the UK are not great since we, you know, have a new party leading us that has created a lot of uncertainty.

As it should, I don't want to go into politics, but when you change power, you will have a lot of uncertainty. And then a big problem in the UK is that the government has stopped the tax free shopping. And I think this happened from 2020 started in 2020, but then obviously after the pandemic with everything reopened, we realized the impact that this has had on the business.

Specifically at Di Minno , we have mainly clients from abroad. They are high network clients or ultra high network clients. And I'm talking about 95 percent of our clientele.And the fact that we in the UK do not offer tax free shopping has created a lot of issues and then has pushed the wealthy customer to go away and shop somewhere else.

If you go to Paris, which is a train distance, a train ride distance, it's two hours away. You get, I think the VATs are 16 or 20%, but bottom line, once you bought something, you will get around 13 percent cheaper than in the UK. And if you look sometimes at the euro and the pound and the fact that so many brands are made in, in, in Europe rather than in the UK, it is way cheaper to shop abroad.

So, obviously, all these policies have scared, if I can say, the, the, the, the clients and this has, has been a very challenging very challenging time for us. And not just for us, you know, in the UK, but specifically that's, that's the biggest problem we have. 

Georgiana: Yeah, that's the current economic climate. I've heard the phrase "omnichannel strategies" a lot since I started the shoe brand. It’s all about balancing digital presence with physical presence, which I think is extremely difficult. I know many good brands in Romania that have failed and now only have a digital presence because they couldn't find the right balance between the two.

Alina Balaci: I think in the world we are now, having a digital presence is more important than having, not more important, I think it's wiser to start with a digital presence and then maybe do pop ups across the world and commit to a retail store.

At Di Minno we have two stores. These decisions have been made at least to open one of them well before I joined. I, and we are only starting on the digital channel. I think we should have done it the other way around. We should have started on the digital channel. Just because of all the reasons I mentioned earlier.

You know, you don't have the same flux of customers. You don't have the same amount of people coming to the store. The taxes are high. The rents are very high. Business rates in the UK that we pay are literally nearly as, as, as expensive as the rent. Then you will have the operational costs, the manpower, you need to pay the staff, so to have a store now, you have to sell millions to actually, you know, be, I don't give, I'm not even gonna say be profitable, to break even, at least in London.

And then obviously that's what the different scale would translate in, in, in different countries, so. I know everyone talks about omni channel strategy. I think it's a nice word, you know, to add there. But I think working, doing a business online, but very good business online can also, can also help you a lot.

There are so many brands that haven't opened a retail store until they expanded globally and then people know them. And it's, it's just, I think it's just finding that sweet spot. But if I had a brand now myself, or if I was going to start a brand tomorrow, I would definitely focus on digital presence and, and maybe do some pop ups or some selections and probably once you grow a bit you can look at wholesale as well.

Georgiana: This is very useful advice. Is there any other advice that you would have for an aspiring entrepreneur in the fashion industry? 

Alina Balaci: Decide whether you want to be the designer or the entrepreneur If you choose to be the designer, you'll need someone to handle the operations and someone to handle the business. If you want to be the entrepreneur and the designer, which is the case in many, you know, in many cases, that's what happens. You'll need a lot of resilience, you need focus, you need strong work ethics and a lot of patience. 

Georgiana: That's the word that comes up the most. Patience. 

Alina Balaci:Yeah, and as I mentioned earlier, get strategic advice when you need it. Bring in an expert to help. For example, you have a shoe brand, and you're creating new products. If you want to expand internationally or focus on international growth, hire a product merchandiser with 15-20 years of experience. Sit down with them for a day and pick their brains: What sells best? What trends have they seen? How should you display your products online?

A good merchandiser will understand that and can pair their expertise with someone experienced in online customer journeys. These are the kinds of things I always advise seeking help for.

In many cases, I've seen clients who think they know everything about their brand — "I know what people want" — but you can't replace expertise. I'm not saying you need to hire a large team when starting a small brand; that's a mistake. Use your budget wisely. Keep some money for experts who won't come cheap — you're paying for their 15-20 years of experience. [00:27:00] Get their advice when you're stuck.

Georgiana: Yes, this is extremely, extremely good advice. Very hard to put into practice because like you said, you have a limited budget. You have a lot of things to do. You have limited expertise in many of the areas in which you need the expertise. But what I personally managed to do and to decide that this would be my strategy in the long run is to start small. Yeah. It's not small until we can manage to say that, okay, now is a good time to grow. Because like we said, the current economic climate is definitely not the best. 

Alina Balaci: No, definitely. Definitely not the best. And in Romania now, I see the news, things are also not, I shouldn't be laughing, but I think I'm laughing not to be crying.

Georgiana: Exactly. Yeah. And it's, it's everywhere the same, but I have a couple of questions on a different topic because I know you've managed a lot of people. And although it's not our case at The Mad Shoes yet, we are a very small team at the moment and we work with mostly collaborators. I'm wondering in this industry, in this fashion industry where everything is so chaotic sometimes, how did you manage to keep the team united and what were the qualities you looked for in the people who worked for you?

Alina Balaci: This is a good question. I think something that has really helped me. And I'm now speaking just about myself because something that I've learned along the way is that every leader is different. Or manager, it depends what you want to be. You want to be, you want to manage people, lead them.

I think there is a big difference there. But something that has helped me along the way is that it's having a high degree of empathy, which is something that's natural to me, and emotional intelligence. I always remind myself that each individual is unique. And the message that I send to people or I sent to my team needs to be understood by everyone.

So the way I communicate to them is very [00:29:00] important. Also, my leadership style is very collaborative, which means that whenever we face challenges, I work alongside the team rather than just guiding the team. And I also make a point of recognizing and sharing success with the team. And I feel like all these aspects put together Generate respect for the leader.

And once you've won the respect of your team, then you're gonna earn their trust. And so whenever an issue arises, then they know I care. And that will find the solution together. So I think to summarize it, listening to the people, understanding that unique and individual and, you know, shaping my, my strategy, my leadership style based on them.

different personalities that has really helped me. And in terms of what I really look into you know, what I really look at when hiring someone is a growth [00:30:00] mindset and trustworthiness. The rest can be learned. Even if you take someone from Prada and you move them to your, on the same road, they will still have to learn.

You know, things are being done differently in each company. So for me obviously unless it's very technical It's a very technical role Generally, like I I want to work with people that want to grow and that's that's very important and that that trustworthy So these are the the qualities that I, I look for when, when hiring.

Georgiana: I was going to say that I'm hearing more and more about hiring for the potential of a person hiring for what the person can aspire to achieve than for hiring strictly for expertise and hiring and firing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I know this to be true because I also managed a team of, I think, Maybe the biggest wasn't one was 11 when I had my many years ago.

So I know how important that [00:31:00] is, but I feel like nowadays with these newer generations and newer trends that are coming This is getting even more important. And speaking of trends Do you see any of the current actual trends impacting the fashion industry? Maybe I don't know AI or other technical developments 

Alina Balaci: I do.

I also can tell you that I feel like us in this fashion industry, we are a bit behind adopting new technologies. I think there is a people are reluctant they think that, you know, technology is going to kill the creativity. But personally, I believe that leveraging technology, particularly AI, to understand customer trends, behavior, and understand the needs of, of the consumers can help companies make better decisions.

It enables a company to deliver the right product. To cast cut costs by improving efficiencies by to [00:32:00] reduce overproduction. We speak a lot about, you know, overproduction. We speak a lot about climate change, especially in fashion. This is a very hot topic, you know, where we want to make sure we leave this place this world a better place.

 I feel like AI can help us reduce overproduction and And waste as well. And ultimately, you will be driving sales growth. So I think it's, it's a technology, it's a tool that is underused in, in our industry. And it should, it should be you know, more involved. And another critical factor is creating a unique experience nowadays in, in stores.

You know, people, they just, you can buy that top, you can buy it online. You don't have to walk to the store unless something draws you to that store. So creating experience in London, for example, I'm sure you're familiar and probably your listeners too with Selfridges that has this the Selfridges, it's a corner of the, of the, ground floor that always has a new project. It's a new [00:33:00] experience whether I don't know valentino, I think Created the new experience for their customers then we had I don't know charlotte tilbury. The makeup brand was doing something with disney. So something there is always something is happening there and I feel like in in fashion we could use this for example right now.

I'm actually Speaking and exploring opportunities with an AI startup that uses CCTV cameras in retail stores which are fully GDPR compliant to generate data on customer profiles and behaviors in store. So this technology provides precise data on which products are performing well gives you merchandising feedback in real time.

You know, you'll know that. Once you've put your red shoes on the right shelf in the store and then the white shoes on the left, you know, you will get you will get more sales and this [00:34:00] is this is a technology and this is a startup that's working actually with the Lululemon, with Decathlon.

They started working with like the big companies across the world and they are seeing real growth or double digit growth actually in a short time period. So, these are the, this, this is just one example that, that could help us and could help a retail store owner sell more and get you know, real feedback.

I mean, we are still at the stage. I don't know if things have changed, but I remember a conversation I had, I think, about three years ago with a buyer from a big department store here in London, one of the top threes, and she was saying that they still rely on the sales advisor. So they will go for feedback and speak to the person that shop, that, that sells in store say, you know for, I don't know, Balenciaga, which products were the most successful, what people tried.

And I think we, we should be past that age because when you involve the human [00:35:00] element into this, you know, we all perceive things differently. And I think that the data is not accurate. Therefore, we should, we should be more way more open in fashion to, to use technology. But you know, I, I feel like some of the big brands are sort of, you know, slowly starting to use technology.

They always Pave the way and lead the way. So while this adoption is very slow, I think we will get there, but definitely I would recommend everyone to, to use technology. 

Georgiana: Yeah, you are totally right. I have had in during this podcast discussions with women entrepreneurs. Who have business models that include AI and then collaborating with big brands.

And they were saying the same thing. There is huge potential in using this technology for brand development and for using AI analytics and and data for understanding the customer, but not all the big brands are open to it, or some of them are open to it. They have one person that understands things in the [00:36:00] technology department, but then getting to do this, to the decision making process, that's a very long journey.

And I think they're trying something, but yeah. And we, the bigger, the smaller brands, we have the willingness. We just don't have the budget to use everything. I know. 

Alina Balaci: It's always, you know, it's always the other way. It's always like things that they never fully took place. But I believe that I think that's the beauty of it.

Georgiana: Yeah. The beauty of it sometimes. Yeah. And to, to conclude this lovely discussion, Alina, I think. I'm going to ask you the question that I ask all of my women guests, because we balance and we juggle a lot in our lives, and I know you do too. And I know we had our discussion prior to beginning this podcast.

I'm wondering, what do you do to wind down? How do you relax? What makes you say that? Okay, this recharged me completely. 

Alina Balaci: Exercising. I exercise. I, I made a [00:37:00] priority some years ago to actually focus on exercising. And now I managed to get to like, I think I go to the gym five times a week, more or less.

So. I've actually calculated my last year attendance at the gym, so I went about nearly 200 times. I think it's a good achievement out of 350 days, so pretty much more than but this year I want to do I, I want to do a bit more than that, so exercising is, is the main thing. I've also rediscovered reading nowadays.

I, I, for the last Yeah, I've been, I've been reading a lot and now I really enjoy doing that when I go to bed. I'm Really passionate about health and this is something that I've been reading a lot recently about health I don't know that might change but and politics. So these are two things. I When I go to bed, I don't read about my industry because that's not gonna You know, put me to sleep, but politics and health is [00:38:00] something that I really I really like reading.

And I also cut down on social media. That's, that really has helped me. I think we, we don't realize how, you know, embedded into our life or how embedded we are into social media. And this is this is a factor that has created a lot of anxiety and stress across the globe. And at my age, I should I think I, I should understand this better, especially that you know, we grew up without social media, so we know the difference between social media, how it is with and without social media.

So. I think, as I said, cutting down on social media, exercising is my, my, but exercising is my, my main thing. That's what keeps me, you know, sane. Focused. 

Georgiana: Cool. That, that's very helpful. Thank you. This was very, very nice talking to you as always, like a person again. Yeah. Good luck with everything. You [00:39:00] have so many exciting projects.

I don't know how you do all the things you do. You must exercise a lot to be able to balance them all. 

Alina Balaci: I think I've also changed my approach on, you know, I use my calendar more. I did. I hated using the calendar. I have a very good memory. I think this is nothing, you know. I can't attribute this to myself.

It's just, I think, the genetic things, like my, my grandmother used to have very good memory, so I think I'm, I took that from her. So I used to be able to do everything, but now, as I have so many projects, although I remember them, I have to organize them, which helps. Of course. And I also became more selective.

With what, you know, the projects I choose. So it's either something that's close to my heart. I believe in or something that has an impact. And I'm also more selective with the people I spend time with. And then, you know so yeah, I think. You know, organizing a bit and being more selective has its perks.

As we grow wiser, like 

Georgiana: you 

Alina Balaci: said. Yeah, as we grow wiser, but it doesn't mean it's not, it's easy. I think, as we were speaking before as well, like being overworked or burnout sometimes, it's not, it's something that I'm familiar with and I am taking, I think, I haven't learned my lesson yet, but I am, you know, learning it as, as, as we speak.

So I'm, I'm trying to prioritize myself a bit more and I'm happy to see that at least in London. I think worldwide people are a bit more open and they embrace or they understand that sometimes you know, our brain needs to relax as well. Just because you don't see it being unwell, it doesn't mean it's, it's, yeah, yeah, that's 

Georgiana: true.

That's something we could both and all of us prioritize for this year, probably. Thank you so much Alina for this talk and I look forward to seeing you soon. Same. 

Alina Balaci: Thank you very much for having me. It was a pleasure. [00:41:00] 

Georgiana: Bye. 

Alina Balaci: Bye.