Gabriel Waller knows how to harness the power of fashion. When the 27-year-old personal shopper describes the psychological benefits of suiting up for work on a Monday morning, her voice becomes louder and more animated, giving the impression that on the other end of the line, her face is beaming, too. “As soon as I put on jewellery, a blazer and a beautifully tailored pant, it completely changes how I feel. It’s really powerful, as women, to be able to derive such confidence from what we wear.”
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A career in fashion was always on the cards for Waller, despite growing up in Rockhampton, Queensland, a town also known as Australia’s ‘Beef Capital’. “I have always been very independent and very ambitious,” Waller shares, reflecting on her formative teenage years. While she may not have been able to pinpoint it at the time, Waller says she has “always had that entrepreneurial drive.”
There are a few more traditional paths that she could have gone down – designer, buyer, fashion editor, to name a few – but instead, Waller decided to take the road less travelled, forging her own niche as a personal shopper to both local consumers and Hollywood A-listers alike. For a fee, Waller tracks down hard-to-find designer items and has them redirected to her clients’ doorstep. “I specialise in sourcing pieces that are sold out or in very high demand from all over the world. I lived in the U.S. in 2016 and it opened my eyes to the styles that brands release in other regions, compared to Australia, and I knew that there was a huge market for it here.”
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To say business is booming would be an understatement. Amongst stacks of everyday fashionistas desperately seeking the latest sold-out item, Waller also counts celebrities, such as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Hailey Bieber, as her clients. However, those early days were tough – in the beginning, she had just a handful of solid clients – but her vision and her resilience saw her through. “I faced a lot of rejection,” Waller admits, “but the five clients I had really believed in what I did and really had a need for my services. That gave me the momentum to say, ‘I’m onto something here and I can grow this.’ In no way did I imagine that it would grow into what it has. I never imagined having global clients, let alone a global team.”
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What sets Waller apart? A “purely word of mouth” marketing strategy, along with a reputation for being one of the nicest women in the business, and answering client request at a blistering pace.
Both accomplished yet free-spirited enough to pivot when it makes business sense, Waller feels optimistic for the future – both hers and yours. It’s a good time to be a woman, she asserts: “You can make your dreams possible and you can do it on your own. It might be a scary thought but everything you need to make your dreams come true is already within you.”
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