Apple's Angela Ahrendts Posts Personal Blog

Apple's Angela Ahrendts has told of her "life-altering" decision to quit the fashion world in her first public comments since starting as the tech giant's retail chief.

Ms Ahrendts was poached from Burberry amid great fanfare last October and is tasked with revitalising sales online and in Apple stores around the world as the company grapples with slowing growth.

In a personal blog post on her LinkedIn page , the 53-year-old American writes about the "exciting, challenging and sometimes disorienting" start to a new job, less than two months after starting at Apple's Cupertino, California, HQ.

Along with advice for anyone moving to a new business, she jokes: "Silicon Valley can feel like a country unto itself!"

Ms Ahrendts, who was credited for Burberry's transformation into a leading luxury brand, writes: "Last month, as you might have heard, I started a new job.

"At some point in your career, maybe you too have made the life-altering decision to start anew.

"If so, you know firsthand how exciting, challenging and sometimes disorienting the first 30, 60, 90 days can be. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately myself."

She advises other new employees to "stay in your lane" - meaning concentrate on using the skills you were hired for, rather than trying to master the unfamiliar elements of the job.

She also quotes poet Maya Angelou, who died last month, and offers a tip gained from her own father: "Ask questions, don’t make assumptions."

Regulatory filings when Ms Ahrendts started at Apple showed she was awarded a "golden hello" of shares worth £40m in the company.

She is also reported to have taken home £16m as part of a leaving settlement following completion of her notice period at Burberry, where she was replaced by chief creative officer Christopher Bailey.