News, Stories & Nonsense from the Sports Creative Industry

Ep 53 – Shaun Kastelijn: Apparel Artist to Product Operations Manager

With a true passion for the product, there was nothing stopping Shaun from making bold moves to progress his career.

A young South Adelaidean fascinated with the designs of team uniforms, Shaun’s young obsession manifested into a career that has taken him across the globe. Starting in design at a local sportswear manufacturer in Adelaide and taking opportunities where they presented, Shaun became increasingly frustrated that the “design department” was not valued in the industry and left himself looking outside that department to further his career.

When an opportunity to move to China to work in factory kept presenting itself, Shaun finally took flight…

In today’s episode we talk about the earlier years of the sports creative industry and the lack of positive networking and community. The culture shock of moving to China, his role as a Product Operations Manager and what design departments look like in bigger organisations. Shaun shares some of his thoughts on good and bad apparel and the most important things to be doing in the sports creative industry.

As always, we asked for recommendations on which creatives we should be following and Shaun didn’t disappoint.

Shaun’s Recommendations:

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