Rethinking Retail Careers
At My Retail Career we’re focused on one thing:
Lifting the standard of retail in Aotearoa.
We do this by supporting candidates properly before they reach your store, so when you meet them, they’re informed, confident, and realistic about the role.
That’s better for candidates. And it’s better for your business.
Co-founder & Managing Director
Layne is a commercially credible HR strategist with deep experience operating inside complex, multi-site, customer-facing environments.
She began her HR career within a large New Zealand-founded retailer during a period of rapid growth, where the business a in size and transitioned through acquisition and rebrand to an Australian parent brand. Working across head office and store networks, she supported workforce design, large-scale recruitment, store openings and closures, and the people implications of structural change in high-volume environments.
Her experience spans work forces of over 1,000 employees, including environments exceeding 4,500 staff. She has led high-volume recruitment campaigns under compressed timeframes, developed scalable capability frameworks, and aligned workforce planning with commercial metrics such as labour-to-sales ratios, FTE modelling, turnover and engagement data.
Layne is known for her ability to operate between executive strategy and frontline reality. She translates commercial direction into practical workforce systems, leadership clarity, and sustainable structures that support growth, restructuring, and operational change.
Layne Yardley
Co-founder & General Manager
Kerry Lila
With over 30 years in retail, Kerry’s career journey took her from Christmas casual to General Manager of one of New Zealand’s leading retailers, Hallensteins overseeing operations across Australia and New Zealand. She has extensive experience in national retail management, leadership development, operational strategy, and project delivery — all focused on building high-performing, customer-centric teams.
Kerry has led multi-level leadership teams, coached regional and store managers, and implemented scalable systems that drive operational excellence, profit growth, and exceptional customer experiences. Her work spans every facet of retail operations — from stock and logistics to cost control, compliance, and people development.
Kerry founded My Retail Career to give back to the industry that has given her so much — helping retailers build strong teams and supporting candidates to develop real skills, confidence, and careers they can be proud of.
Kerry Lila
With over 30 years in retail, Kerry’s career journey took her from Christmas casual to General Manager of one of New Zealand’s leading retailers, Hallensteins overseeing operations across Australia and New Zealand. She has extensive experience in national retail management, leadership development, operational strategy, and project delivery — all focused on building high-performing, customer-centric teams.
Kerry has led multi-level leadership teams, coached regional and store managers, and implemented scalable systems that drive operational excellence, profit growth, and exceptional customer experiences. Her work spans every facet of retail operations — from stock and logistics to cost control, compliance, and people development.
Kerry founded My Retail Career to give back to the industry that has given her so much — helping retailers build strong teams and supporting candidates to develop real skills, confidence, and careers they can be proud of.
Scott Best
Director
Scott is a commercially driven brand and marketing leader with more than 15 years of experience building, repositioning and growing customer-facing brands across retail, digital and consumer environments.
His career has centred on translating commercial objectives into clear brand strategies that strengthen customer engagement, grow market presence and deliver measurable business results. He has led brand development, integrated marketing, digital, media and customer experience initiatives, working across both established businesses and brands undergoing significant growth or transformation.
Throughout his career, Scott has built and led high-performing teams, developed customer-led marketing strategies and delivered major campaigns and brand initiatives across digital, traditional media and physical environments. He combines strong commercial judgement with a practical understanding of brand, customer behaviour and execution, allowing him to move comfortably between long-term strategy and day-to-day delivery.
Layne Yardley
Scott Best
Our Leadership Team
Our leadership team brings together deep experience across brand, people, operations and commercial strategy. With backgrounds spanning complex, customer-led and high-growth environments, they combine practical expertise with a clear focus on building strong businesses, high-performing teams and sustainable long-term growth.
Our Core Values
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People First
Capability & Compliance
Retail-Ready, Real-World
Shared Responsibility
Raising the Bar
Retail works best when people are supported, respected, and set up to succeed.
We believe great customer experiences start with engaged employees and strong leadership.
We go beyond box-ticking.
Our focus is on building real skills, confidence, and capability — for both retailers and candidates — so good practice becomes everyday practice
Everything we do is practical, relevant, and grounded in real retail environments.
From retail-ready competency training to HR frameworks, we prepare people for what actually happens on the shop floor.
Great retail is a partnership.
We support employers to be the best leaders and workplaces they can be, and we support candidates to take ownership of their growth, attitude, and professionalism.
We are committed to lifting standards across the industry.
That means better training, better leadership, clearer expectations, and stronger pathways into retail employment.
For Employers
Build your team with confidence. We rethink recruitment by prioritising transparency and deep industry expertise, ensuring you connect with ambitious talent ready to drive your retail success forward.
For Candidates
Elevate your retail career. We match you with quality employers who value long-term growth and ambition. Experience a recruitment process built on trust, designed to lead survival to success.