Her Story
About Charlene
Charlene Muna brings more than 25 years of experience to her role as VP of Planning at Guitar Center, where she leads planning efforts in the retail sector. Her career began in the legal field as an executive secretary before a friend encouraged her to interview for a position with duty-free shoppers, leading her into retail where she has remained. She earned a Business Management degree from the University of Phoenix after pursuing an adult program and started but did not finish a master's degree. Charlene's primary expertise lies in mentorship and career development, focusing on helping others build executive presence and advance professionally. She takes greatest pride in the success of those she has mentored, many of whom have advanced to roles at companies such as Sephora and Louis Vuitton or become group vice presidents. Her approach emphasizes empowering teams, surrounding oneself with smarter individuals, learning from mistakes, and maintaining faith and humanity amid challenges like integrating AI while protecting people. Charlene values respect, the ability to agree to disagree, and acting as a steward to ensure decisions benefit all levels of the organization from the sales floor upward.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Charlene
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My best advice would probably come from my mom. You're gonna face struggle, and you're gonna make mistakes, and it's okay as long as you learn from those mistakes, and you're not afraid to move forward. You have to go bravely forward, knowing that you may not know everything, and that's okay. Find people that are smarter than you to surround yourself with. And be graceful and forgiving to yourself and others as you go through this journey. Your calling is greater than where you're at. As Christians, your faith is stronger than any adversity you may encounter.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is onboarding with AI. How do you work with the AI in a way that you're still protecting humanity but using it because it does make you more efficient? How do we live with AI? How do we make it work with us? And then, how do we make sure that humanity isn't lost in the mix? Nothing replaces people.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Values is people, respect. Expecting we may not agree, but we can agree to disagree. It's not about your ego, it's about the right thing. As stewards of the organization, our job is to make sure that we're profitable, because it's not just the decisions we make, it's the decisions that impact the very lowest of team members all the way down to the sales floor.
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