The Shoptalk Luxe Elevate Programme

How Women Secure the Roles, Rooms and Relationships That Actually Move Careers

Talent is not enough. The women who reach the most senior levels in luxury and premium retail are not only excellent at their jobs, they are strategic about how they grow their influence, access and opportunity over time. This session takes an honest look at the unwritten rules of career progression: how sponsorship really works, what it means to position yourself for the next role before it exists, and how to build relationships with decision-makers without it feeling transactional. Our senior speakers will share candid insights from their own paths through some of the industry's most competitive and hierarchical environments.

What you will take away:

- The difference between mentorship and sponsorship and why only one moves you forward
- How to identify and build relationships with the people who hold real decision-making power
- What senior leaders are actually looking for when they back someone for a stretch role or promotion
- How to ask for what you want: visibility, opportunity, a seat at the table with confidence and clarity
- How to navigate environments where proximity to power is gendered, cultural or both



Our Elevate Programme is a closed-door, invite-only content series, designed to support and accelerate the advancement of women in both their organisations and their wider careers. It is a three-part, actionable, takeaway-focused programme featuring senior women who have shaped the premium and luxury retail and hospitality landscape across the Middle East and APAC. The series brings together honest perspectives and learnings from fashion, retail and luxury hospitality: sectors where women remain underrepresented at senior levels.