Her Story
About DONNA
I've been in this field for about 30 years now. I started out at Rice Brothers, then left to go to Positronic where they got me a junior buyer position and I moved up the ladder over there. Then I came back to Rice Brothers where I am now a buyer and receiver. I actually order probably 60% of what is inside the store at Rice Brothers through an Orville company, and I do receiving, inventory counts, and basically I can run any department in here because I've been here so long, except for clothing - I'll leave that to the girls. My most notable achievement would be here at Rice Brothers, I have brought Breyer Horses in. We are now a brick-and-mortar store because I brought sales up so high, and we are also a flagship dealer for Schleich toys because I brought our sales up so high. Before all this, I worked at Billiards of Springfield for 11 years. I pretty much stay at my same job - once I get there, I pretty much stick.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with DONNA
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was 'sink or swim.' My boss here at Rice Brothers told me that when I came back after leaving for Positronic. I had come back because my husband at the time was federally indicted, and I had kids to raise, and I wasn't gonna just roll over. So I came back here and they took me back in, but the people that I'd worked with prior to this, when I was here the first time, I don't know why they had such an attitude, but they did, and I would go home just crying every night. I mean, it was horrible. My boss just told me, you're gonna either sink or swim. And I said, well, you know what? I got a family to raise. I'm not gonna sink. And I didn't. I grabbed the bull by the horns and went on. He was gone for 10 years, we're divorced now, but he wasn't coming back, so I had to do something.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Missouri
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.