Carole Harrison

Growing up in the wonderful English Lake District provided a respect and appreciation for all things natural and beautiful. Sport and fitness are a way of life with so many lakes and mountains around us! Horse riding and swimming are my passions, competing in either when I get the chance.

My appreciation for beautiful things and talent for art soon lead me to Edinburgh University to study fashion and applied arts. I benefited from very privileged surroundings whilst developing my education. Culture, the arts and festivals are second to none in this wonderful historic city… and of course still surrounded by hills!

Whilst in Edinburgh I swam for the city. The combination of this and my graduation where the Guardian Newspaper cited me as one of the top five graduate design talents in the country launched me into the first step of my career – a job in the design and development team at Speedo International (my dream at the time!)

My career at Speedo lasted for 7 years covering numerous design and creative positions concluding in the global role of Licenced Product Manger. This proved the best introduction and education into the commercial sportswear market that I could have wished for, thanks to the mentoring of some great bosses and working with talented teams. Speedo is owned by the Pentland group which gave access to a large portfolio of brands including Red or Dead, Ted Baker, Berghaus and Ellesse…. what more could a sporty, arty girl wish for?

When the opportunity arose to join Europe’s leading women’s fitness brand USA PRO I jumped at the chance! A fast growing brand would give me the opportunity to put my creative and business skills to the test, the chance to take a leading role in building and establishing a brand as opposed to maintaining a very established one (Speedo). The combination of creative flare and a commercial mind meant that I quickly developed to Head of Design and Development during my 4 years at USA PRO.

It was at USA PRO that I met Zoe (the ZO of ZOCA) – we had a very successful working partnership, it became apparent that we shared an understanding of the International market place and worked with the same values, integrity and goals. This strong working partnership sparked the launch of a brand of which we are both passionate and proud – ZOCA, active by nature.