Barbara Bonds

I started in the retail grocery field over five and a half years ago during the thick of COVID at an Amazon Fresh dark store. When I first got hired, I actually thought I was going to be working for an Amazon 4-star, but when I walked in on my first day, it was a grocery store - something completely new and different from the retail setting I was used to. It was scary and exciting all at the same time. I was hired on as a lead, and we were literally molding the business because we were so young and new, like a baby. We prepared to launch this full scale and did a lot of pilots within our store prior to launching. We piloted some of the technologies that Fresh was going to use for the company, which was exciting. We didn't know at the time that we were piloting it, but after it came out, we were well aware. Amazon's model is that every day is day one, so we did a lot of process changes throughout the business, especially in those early days where we would try something, it didn't work, and then next thing you know, we had a new process. Within the store, I've run all of the different departments, but my specialty and expertise is definitely the inbound receiving aspect - where everything is coming in. I manage all of the stock coming in, the inventory, keeping up with dating because it's food, making sure that everything is within food standards for food safety, and making sure that we are keeping our customers healthy. I'm a high school graduate from 2003, and I'm proud that I've been able to succeed without a college degree. I'm also a military spouse and a military mom - my husband is currently serving as a recruiter in Chicago, and my son just went to his first duty station today.