Abby Carter

I’m Head of eCommerce at ZyroFisher. We enable cycling and outdoor sports brands to reach their full potential, offering a complete end-to-end range of services to connect with and sell to the end consumer via the most appropriate channels. We represent over 70 brands as the leading distributor of parts, accessories and clothing to the UK and European market.I head up direct-to-consumer and digital marketing for 14 brands with my team running 27 sites across 6 languages in 8 countries. You will know us for brands like CamelBak, Giro, Bell, and our own brand Altura.

As a leader I’m Inclusive, empathetic, approachable, passionate, people-focused, accountable, and honest. I think it’s important to remain hands on and selective with when you are passive. In all elements of my life I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m determined, reflective, self-aware and respectful. Strong communication is important to me, I always aim to be a problem solver. I would say if you asked my friends I’m considerate, thoughtful and a little bit boujee. When I asked my fantastic team they said fiercely ambitious, authentic, driven, enterprising and dedicated. 

I like to have fun, I believe in taking the positive route and doing it in an outfit that you love with people who enrich your soul.

Strong communication, not even slightly risk averse, reflective, self-motivated, resilient, and always being goal-oriented. it’s important to have a focus and a goal, even if you don’t deliver exactly that, you will land close to it and have the best solution. 

I’m not afraid to make risky decisions as long as I have the data to back me up, and one of the reasons I love digital is the unlimited amount of data to help cut through the noise and make decisions.

In my current role, I was the only female leader until a few months ago. I am however, still the youngest leader in the business. I took my first head of role at 28 and delivered a 7 site replatform from site core to Magento 2 in 9 months and 2 weeks after I arrived in the business. I really believe in empowering women to have everything that they want to have, so I would say most of my success comes from not believing in glass ceilings! 

I’ve also learnt way more from failing than winning in truth, and I really believe it’s your failures and fears that shape your character.

Ending homelessness is hugely important to me. Call it the marketer in me but from the minute I understood Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I’ve been volunteering with the homeless community. For over a decade now, volunteering at a homeless shelter is the only way I will ever spend the festive period. 

Food poverty, period poverty, the BLM Movement, and tackling real genuine equality, ensuring my personal community really faces that unknown racial bias that so many people carry. Harm reduction and access to needle exchanges / wet clinics for people looking for independence from drugs and alcohol, especially the inability to go through withdrawal without a home are all really important to me.

Other than cutting through market noise and growing brand awareness when no one has unlimited budgets, I would say maneuvering the complex data rules and still delivering a winning CX to ensure you really capture a buyer from 1st to 2nd to multi-purchase in their lifecycle with your brand and ensuring your customers’ security. As we get deeper into the current financial crisis this is only going to become more complex.