Meet our new Shopfitting Office Manager - Gena Herring

It is certainly a period of growth for Kiwi Design at the moment, with 4 new employees hired in the last year. The newest of these is Shopfitting Office Manager, Gena Herring.

Sarah Levett, Kiwi Design's Marketing and Operations Manager catches up with Gena to see how she is getting on after her first month in the role.

Name: Gena Herring                                       

Role: Shopfitting Office Manager

Personality: Positive, friendly, pro-active

Favourite Cake: Salted Caramel

So, Gena, welcome to Kiwi Design! How has your first month been? I guess you have worked out who makes the best and worst cuppa’ by now!?

Yes – I’m afraid it might be me who holds both titles, depending on who’s drinking it …  

My first month has flown by and I’ve had a lovely warm welcome from everyone. It has been a vertical learning curve for me, having joined the company in the middle of a very busy time for shopfitting. We have several projects running in parallel, partly because retailers want to get stores refurbished and open for Black Friday (23rd November), which kicks off the Christmas shopping period. But I prefer things this way – I would always rather be busy than bored.

Sounds crazy-busy, thank goodness you like it that way! After such a great interview, we were thrilled when you accepted the job offer! What attracted you to Kiwi Design in particular?

I was very impressed with the company’s reputation, having only heard good things about Kiwi. I also knew the Head of Kiwi’s Flooring Division, Mark Triggs, from my previous job, which was also in interiors and fit-outs. Mark is very happy in his role and speaks so highly of the company, I was keen to see if I could contribute to its success, too. 

I have it on good authority that you are already contributing to the company’s success, so thank you so much for joining us!

But enough “shop talk”! Let’s get to the real Gena - what can we find you doing outside of office hours? Hopefully not thinking about JD Sport fit-outs!

Only when there’s a particular challenge coming up! For the rest of the time, outside work, I do manage to relax. I find yoga has totally transformed my life and try to get around half an hour’s practice in every day, which has all sorts of health benefits. Walks with my husband, eating out and reading help to keep the blood pressure down, too.

I’m convinced that staying active is the key to staying healthy! You have probably realised that there is a real family vibe here at Kiwi; the team love nothing more than getting their families out to enjoy this wonderful part of the world at weekends. What’s your favourite local spot for enjoying this glorious summer?

I was really pleased to see how many people have relatives working here – that must be one of the secrets of our success!  

In this lovely weather, my family particularly enjoy visiting National Trust properties and Kingston Lacy is only a few minutes’ drive from our home, which is a lovely place to walk. We also love being in and around the Sandbanks area and walking in the New Forest. We’re so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Couldn’t agree more! Lastly, one of our main fields of work is improving workspaces, as well as retail space. If we could improve the office workspace in one way, what would it be?

I have really appreciated the changes I’ve seen in just the past month – the largest and most significant being the brand new kitchen facilities which were being installed when I arrived.  But if I could have one wish, it would be to lower the screens in between our desks a little, so that I can talk more easily with the rest of my team.  At the moment, we have to pop up and down like meerkats to see each other’s faces. In general, though, the offices are well-designed, modern and, in this weather, thankfully, air-conditioned.

Meerkats are cute but easy communication is hugely important, we’ll see what we can do!

Thanks so much for everything you are bringing to the team here at Kiwi, it’s great working with you! I will let you get back to getting those stores ready for Black Friday, thanks for taking the time to chat.

Gena Herring, Shopfitting Office Manager, chatting with Sarah Levett, Marketing & Operations Manager