Field Notes for Retail Leaders

NRF is here! What's that, and what's it to you? I got you. NRF is the acronym for the National Retail Federation. This is the world's largest trade organization that advocates for the retail industry. Every retailer—from grocery stores to small, local shops to massive retailers—NRF reps everyone. They also track retail data and support retail education. Every January, they put on a massive conference in New York City. It attracts retailers globally. That's one of my favorite parts of...

You made it! You made it through another holiday season. You did it. Congratulations! Getting through holiday is never easy, but this one was particularly challenging. Call-outs. No-shows. Last-minute changes from HQ. Navigating all this without losing it takes soooooo much skill. You're a badass and you did it. I went quiet with this newsletter for a few weeks on purpose. I wanted to give you space to run your stores during your peak season. Learning and strategy are important, but they...

She was in a car accident, head on. She was in high school, working at our store part-time. She had an excellent work ethic. She was kind and honest. When I heard about the accident, worry set in. They said she walked away from it, but you don't walk away from an accident like that. The crash wasn't her fault. She was driving home at night, and a car turned onto a major street, going the wrong way. She was alone. Alone at night, navigating the wreckage of an accident, knowing she had school...

Hey Leaders, You're swamped. I know. So, this will be super fast! 1.) I have a new leadership course that's now live! Discover Your Superpower with Leadership Styles Are you a Thinker? Maybe you're a Motivator! There are 4 types of leadership styles. Learn about all 4, uncover what kind of leader you are, and unleash your superpower! You can access this course for 20% off this weekend! Snap it up now and go through the lessons at your own pace, whenever you want. Go to Leadership Styles! 2.)...

Good Morning, Next week is the last full week before Thanksgiving. If you're a retail veteran, you know this week is operationally heavy. You're receiving massive amounts of shipment and probably managing a giant re-merchandising of your store. My leadership team and I used to call it Hell Week. It's all hands on deck. It's long hours. It's a marathon. I got some flack on LinkedIn last year for calling it Hell Week. Some leaders were like, "In my sore we have so much fun getting ready! Hell...

Hey Retail Leader, October is one of the biggest months for planning out of the year. We're hiring for holiday. Maybe managing Halloween shopping. There is almost never a moment to catch up. But I want you to be ready for your next team meeting. It's important. Leading a successful team meeting is pretty easy, but we have to plan. So, today I want to give you my meeting blueprint. This is one of my freebies, but I want to make sure you have it. You're going to want it in a few weeks. ⬇️ How...

Photo by Thom Holmes on Unsplash Hey Retail Leader, I met one of my former sales associates for breakfast. She was struggling with her career path and wanted some advice. She's an assistant manager at a smaller boutique. She's working WAY too hard. Her store leader takes Monday off (WTF) so she does most of the operational tasks, plus she runs the sales floor most of the time. Another manager in the building is particularly unhelpful. He's one of those "Not my job" kinda people. He prefers to...

Hey Retail Leader, Do you gatekeep? Be honest. Sometimes it feels good, right? You're like, I know all this stuff, and you all better keep up. Sink or swim. Or maybe you're thinking, I had to figure out ALL THIS STUFF on my own, and I did it. Now, it's your turn. I get that. I get feeling like that. It's also pretty cool when your company sees you as the go-to person because they know that you know everything. But gatekeeping may be burning you out. As leaders, when we hoard information,...

Photo by Daniela Mota on Unsplash Hey Retail Leader, Do you know Ron Thurston? He's an absolute legend. He's led A TON of retail brands, written the books Retail Pride and Human Pride, and is an all-around super kind and generous human. I had the privilege of being on his Retail in America podcast a couple of years ago. I recently heard him on another podcast, and what he said was sooooooo true that I have to tell you about it. The question: Is it our job as team leaders to make people happy?...