Colleen Callander Podcast: From Shop Floor to CEO
What does it take to rise from the retail floor at 16 to become CEO of two of Australia’s most recognised fashion brands?
For Colleen Callander, the answer was not a university degree, a carefully mapped career plan or an obsession with titles. Instead, it was passion, hard work, courage and an early understanding that people are the engine behind every successful business.
In this Colleen Callander podcast episode, the former Sportsgirl and Sussan CEO joins Kate Save and Tobi Skovron on Hear Me ROAR for an honest conversation about leadership, confidence, burnout and personal reinvention.
Colleen’s career spans more than 30 years in Australian fashion retail, including 13 years as CEO across Sportsgirl and Sussan. Today, she is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, business adviser and mentor helping people build confidence, find their voice and lead with greater purpose.
Most importantly, her story proves that careers are rarely built through one heroic leap. Rather, they develop through thousands of small decisions, courageous conversations and moments when you choose to back yourself.
Who is Colleen Callander?
Colleen Callander is an award-winning former CEO, bestselling author, keynote speaker and leadership adviser.
She is best known for leading Sportsgirl and Sussan, two iconic Australian retail brands. During 13 years as CEO, Colleen developed a reputation for building strong brands, high-performing teams and people-first workplace cultures.
However, her journey did not begin inside an executive office.
Colleen grew up in Geelong and accepted a casual summer job at Just Jeans when she was 16. She quickly discovered that she loved the energy of retail, particularly the combination of customers, fashion, teamwork and clear performance goals.
When Just Jeans offered her a full-time role, Colleen made the significant decision to leave school and pursue a career in retail. Although it was not the traditional path her parents had imagined, it became the first step in an extraordinary professional journey.
From Just Jeans to the executive office
Colleen spent approximately a decade with Just Jeans and progressed quickly through the organisation.
By the age of 20, she had become an area manager. Four years later, she was managing 54 stores across the state.
Although it was a rapid rise, Colleen’s success remained grounded in frontline experience. As a result, she understood what happened inside stores because she had done the work herself.
She knew the pressure of sales targets, the importance of customer experience and the influence a manager could have on an employee’s confidence. Furthermore, she recognised early that a business could only perform at its best when its people felt supported and empowered.
In 1999, Colleen joined Sportsgirl. From there, she progressed through senior roles, including retail manager and general manager, before moving across the Sussan Group to become CEO of Sussan.
After six years leading Sussan, Colleen returned to Sportsgirl and served as its CEO for seven years. Consequently, she accumulated 13 years of experience leading two of Australia’s most recognised fashion businesses.
Throughout that period, Colleen led thousands of people and helped shape brands with a significant place in Australian retail culture.
It is the leadership equivalent of learning basketball on the local court before stepping into the professional arena. Colleen did not arrive at the top removed from the realities of the game. Instead, she understood every position because she had played them.
Leadership is more than a title
One of the strongest ideas explored in the Colleen Callander podcast is that a title does not automatically make someone a leader.
Authority might make people follow instructions. However, genuine leadership makes people want to follow.
Colleen believes effective leaders create environments where people feel confident, trusted and valued. They communicate with clarity, listen with intent and understand that kindness and commercial performance are not opposing forces.
In fact, the two can strengthen each other.
Teams perform more consistently when people feel safe enough to contribute ideas, ask questions and acknowledge mistakes. Furthermore, psychological safety gives employees the confidence to challenge established thinking.
Consequently, trust creates speed, confidence creates initiative and culture turns individual talent into collective momentum.
Colleen’s approach to leadership focuses on:
- Leading with kindness, authenticity and purpose
- Building trust before demanding performance
- Helping people recognise and apply their strengths
- Creating cultures where employees feel genuinely valued
- Giving women greater confidence to use their voices
- Balancing empathy with clear accountability
- Understanding that self-leadership comes before team leadership
This philosophy helped Colleen build her executive career. Today, it also sits at the centre of her work with leaders, businesses and organisations.
The hidden cost of high performance
Colleen’s journey includes a deeply personal experience with burnout.
In 2007, while managing the demands of a senior career and raising three young children, the pressure caught up with her. That experience became a defining moment in how she thought about ambition, wellbeing and leadership.
Burnout can be difficult to recognise in high performers because it often hides behind commitment. For example, someone may continue attending meetings, delivering work and supporting everyone around them while their physical and emotional reserves disappear.
From the outside, they may still appear highly capable. Internally, however, they could be approaching complete exhaustion.
This is especially relevant for founders, executives, parents and professionals who have built their identity around being dependable. Because they are used to carrying the load, asking for support can feel like a failure.
Nevertheless, sustainable performance requires more than resilience. It also requires boundaries, self-awareness, recovery and the confidence to recognise when something needs to change.
Colleen’s experience is an important reminder that running harder is not always the answer. Even the best athletes need recovery, preparation and support if they want to remain competitive across an entire season.
During the episode, Kate, Tobi and Colleen explore a question familiar to many ambitious people: how do you remain driven without allowing achievement to consume your health, relationships and identity?
The answer is not about removing pressure from life. Rather, it is about building the strength, habits and boundaries required to carry pressure sustainably.
Walking away from Sportsgirl
After approximately 20 years with the Sussan Group and more than 30 years in retail, Colleen decided it was time to begin a new chapter.
Rather than holding onto the security and status of the CEO position, she chose to pursue writing, mentoring and leadership advisory work.
Initially, Colleen planned to travel, focus on personal projects and complete her first book. However, the arrival of COVID-19 changed those plans and revealed a growing need for experienced leadership support.
Women began contacting Colleen for guidance, mentoring and practical help. Many were navigating disruption, uncertainty, career transitions and a loss of confidence.
In response, Colleen created Mentor Me Women.
What began during an extraordinary period of global disruption soon became a powerful mentoring platform. Through the program, Colleen could share the lessons, successes and failures accumulated across her career.
Leaving a successful executive position can be confronting. After all, status and identity often become closely connected. Colleen’s decision demonstrates that walking away from one form of success does not mean abandoning ambition.
Sometimes, it means redefining it.
What is Colleen Callander doing now?
Today, Colleen is the founder and principal of Callander & Co and the founder of Mentor Me Women.
Her current work includes:
- Leadership and business advisory
- Executive mentoring and coaching
- Organisational consulting
- Keynote speaking
- Board and strategic advisory
- Leadership programs for organisations
- Helping women build confidence and pursue meaningful goals
Additionally, Colleen is a Chair at The CEO Institute and serves as an advisory board member for Starlight Foundation Victoria.
Through Mentor Me Women, she works with people from different industries, generations and stages of life. Participants include executives, founders, students, emerging leaders, experienced professionals and mothers preparing to return to work.
The program focuses on confidence, boundaries, purpose, goal setting and practical action. Above all, it reinforces the idea that leadership is not reserved for people occupying the corner office.
Everyone has the ability to lead through their actions, decisions and influence.
From Leader By Design to The Power of Confidence
Colleen has translated her leadership experience into a growing body of work focused on confidence, purpose and personal development.
Her first book, Leader By Design, tells the story of her journey from leaving school at 16 to becoming a CEO. At the same time, it challenges traditional perceptions of leadership and encourages women to lead with confidence, kindness and authenticity.
Colleen later co-authored Elevate with executive life coach Shannah Kennedy. The book explores leadership, longevity and life, providing a practical framework for unlocking greater personal and professional potential.
Her latest book, The Power of Confidence, focuses on overcoming self-doubt, rewriting limiting personal stories and developing confidence through deliberate action.
The message is particularly relevant because confidence is often treated as a fixed personality trait. People assume it is something you either have or you do not.
Colleen, however, reframes confidence as a muscle that anyone can strengthen.
Every time you speak up, hold a boundary, attempt something difficult or recover from disappointment, you complete another repetition. Over time, those actions change how you see yourself and what you believe is possible.
Confidence does not mean believing you will always be right. Instead, it means trusting that you can respond, adapt and move forward when things do not go according to plan.
Why women still need to back themselves
Despite decades of progress, many women still question whether they are ready for senior opportunities, leadership responsibilities or major career changes.
Importantly, this is not a question of capability.
Many talented women already possess the experience, judgement and skills required to lead. Nevertheless, the missing piece can be the confidence to pursue an opportunity before every possible box has been ticked.
Colleen’s work aims to interrupt that pattern.
She encourages women to stop waiting for external permission and start recognising the authority they have already earned. This does not require becoming louder, harder or less empathetic.
Instead, it requires trusting the value of their perspective and being prepared to contribute it.
Organisations also have a responsibility to create environments where women can progress. Therefore, confidence cannot be treated solely as an individual issue. Businesses must examine how opportunities are awarded, whose voices are heard and whether their leadership cultures allow different styles to succeed.
When capable women are empowered to step forward, the individual benefits. More importantly, the organisation gains stronger ideas, broader perspectives and a deeper leadership bench.
Kindness is a leadership strength
Kindness is sometimes dismissed as a soft leadership quality. Colleen sees it differently.
Kind leaders can set high standards while maintaining trust. They are also prepared to make difficult decisions and challenge poor performance. However, they handle those moments with clarity, respect and emotional intelligence.
People can leave a difficult conversation with their dignity intact, a clear understanding of what needs to change and confidence that the leader wants them to succeed.
That is not weak leadership. On the contrary, it is disciplined leadership with humanity.
Moreover, kindness does not mean avoiding accountability. A leader who ignores poor behaviour or underperformance is not protecting the team. Instead, they are allowing uncertainty and resentment to grow.
The strongest leaders combine care with courage. They support people while remaining honest about what the business and team require.
What listeners can take from the Colleen Callander podcast
This Hear Me ROAR episode is for anyone navigating leadership, growth, burnout or personal reinvention.
The conversation explores:
- How a 16-year-old retail assistant became a leading Australian CEO
- What Colleen learned from leading Sportsgirl and Sussan
- Why culture can become a commercial advantage
- The difference between authority and authentic leadership
- How burnout changed Colleen’s definition of success
- Why boundaries matter for sustainable performance
- How women can develop genuine confidence
- Why kindness and accountability belong together
- What it takes to leave a successful career and begin again
- How to lead your own life before trying to lead others
Although Colleen’s story is grounded in fashion retail, its lessons apply far beyond the industry.
Founders, executives, emerging leaders and parents will recognise the tension between ambition and wellbeing. Likewise, anyone considering a major career change will understand the courage required to leave a familiar identity behind.
Building success without losing yourself
Ultimately, Colleen Callander’s story is not simply about reaching the CEO position.
Instead, it is about learning from leadership, recognising when it is time to move forward and having the courage to build a new identity.
Her journey demonstrates that success can evolve. One chapter might focus on building a business or leading a major brand. Meanwhile, the next might be about protecting your health, sharing your knowledge or helping someone else recognise their potential.
Furthermore, personal reinvention does not erase what came before it. Colleen’s current work is powerful precisely because it is informed by decades of real-world leadership, commercial pressure, mistakes, achievements and human experience.
The strongest leaders understand that ambition and humanity belong on the same team.
Listen to the Colleen Callander podcast episode of Hear Me ROAR with Kate Save and Tobi Skovron for an honest conversation about confidence, burnout, leadership and creating success on your own terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Colleen Callander?
Colleen Callander is the former CEO of Sportsgirl and Sussan. Today, she is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, leadership adviser and founder of Callander & Co and Mentor Me Women.
How long was Colleen Callander CEO of Sportsgirl?
Colleen was CEO of Sportsgirl for seven years. Before that, she led Sussan for six years. Therefore, she spent a combined 13 years as CEO of two major Australian fashion brands.
How did Colleen Callander begin her career?
Colleen began working at Just Jeans in Geelong when she was 16. She became an area manager at 20 and was managing 54 stores across the state by the age of 24.
Why did Colleen Callander leave Sportsgirl?
After approximately 20 years with the Sussan Group and more than 30 years in retail, Colleen chose to begin a new chapter. Subsequently, she moved into writing, mentoring, speaking and leadership advisory work.
What is Mentor Me Women?
Mentor Me Women is Colleen Callander’s mentoring platform for women from different industries, backgrounds and career stages. In particular, it helps participants develop confidence, establish boundaries, set meaningful goals and lead with greater purpose.
What books has Colleen Callander written?
Colleen is the author of Leader By Design and The Power of Confidence. Additionally, she co-authored Elevate with executive life coach Shannah Kennedy.
What is Colleen Callander doing now?
Colleen currently leads Callander & Co and Mentor Me Women. She also works as a business and leadership adviser, keynote speaker, author and board adviser.
What is discussed in the Colleen Callander podcast?
The Colleen Callander podcast explores her journey from the retail floor to CEO, her experience with burnout and her approach to confidence and people-first leadership. Additionally, the episode examines career reinvention, women in leadership and the relationship between kindness and accountability.
Where can I listen to Colleen Callander on Hear Me ROAR?
The episode will be available through the Cubes.Co podcast page, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Get ready to ROAR, Enjoy the Pod 🎧