Her Story
About Amy
I've spent 20 years in my field, starting as a hairstylist in the beauty industry because I wanted to empower people. After being self-employed, I moved to Kansas City and began working for Ulta, where I found my voice not just as a hairstylist, but in empowering people in general. I transitioned into retail management because I wanted to be more impactful and help people on a bigger scale. Throughout my career, I've been able to help people find their inner superpower so they can improve both their personal and professional lives. My own superpower is observing people and showing them the parts of themselves they didn't know existed, then helping them exploit that to get where they want to be. One of my proudest achievements is taking a bottom-performing store - in the bottom 50 out of over 3,000 stores - and within 7 months making it one of the top 100 performing stores in the company. I'm a very proactive person, not reactive, and I'm always looking ahead, reading people, reading the room, and reading the business to stay ahead of challenges.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amy
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say just being self-aware - reading people, reading the room, reading the business. I'm a very proactive person, not a reactive person. So for me, when things start to slide, I already have 3 exit routes. I'm always looking ahead - for example, as a retail manager, I'm already looking at Saturday, and I know that because of the weather, because of this, because of that, I know that I'm going to have to do all of these things to make sure that my payroll comes in light. I'm really just analyzing and utilizing everything and being proactive to everything in my life. I've always been that person to look at what are your opportunities, what are your exit strategies, how are you going to make it through, and I teach that to my teams.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just trust your gut. Don't overthink it. Trust your gut - you know what's best for you. When you overthink it, you put any thoughts into your head, and you end up making the wrong decision. You need to go with your gut, and you'll never be wrong.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say when I'm interviewing or even just looking to move up in a company, looking at your peers - and I hate to say that we're still in this, but women have to fight so much harder than a man does. We're still busting through that 1950s era, and whether anybody wants to admit it or not, it's still happening. It's all the extra work that we have to do, and I'm very proud of where I've been able to go because we're fighting that stereotype still today. I even told my General Manager the other day about her boss, a female who's new to the role - she's taken over from where a man worked, and so she feels like she has to work twice as hard to prove herself for the first year. And it's disgusting that we still have to do that.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
It truly is honesty. If you say you're going to do something, you need to follow through. I know that things happen and you can't always do everything that you say, but you need to acknowledge it. For example, if I tell my team that I'm going to have a touch base with them every single day at a certain time, I know that I owe that to them because they are thinking, okay, I get my time. And if that can't happen, you have to be proactive in the moment. You have to let them know. You have to have another plan for them. I feel like everybody is owed that, so for me, I expect that of other people as well.
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