Jade Ley

I really try to keep a calm and level head when I present myself, and I think it's gotten me really far. I don't necessarily express what I'm thinking or feeling right in that moment - I take a moment to think about how I want to present it before I speak or do anything. I think that it's been super helpful for my team, especially recently with the store being a couple leaders short. If I had done it any other way, the team would feel panicked. They would feel like there's this pressure to try and fill the gap where we're short-staffed. I don't want them to feel that way - I want work to be something where they're passionate about, something that they love doing, where it feels easy and they want to come to work.

One of the best pieces of advice that I've received, and it's relevant to the way I carry myself at work but also relevant to my personal life, is when I'm having a conversation with somebody, or I'm following up, I'm touching base, whatever it is, really take a second to absorb what they've said and think about it before I respond. I don't want to respond out of emotions, and I don't want to respond to whatever thought just popped into my head. I really want it to be meaningful, and I want it to come across in a way that is going to be meaningful to the person I'm talking to.

I would definitely say it is important to ask for what you want, to be honest about what kind of development and training you feel like you need. With that, you have to take a step back and think about what your gaps are, because just because you're growing doesn't necessarily mean that you've aced everything. You haven't. Even in my position, I haven't. I know there's still things that I'm learning, I know that there is always opportunities to continue growing, but I also know if I hadn't asked for opportunities, they wouldn't have been given to me.

I think a really big challenge is, for retail in general but specifically for my company, we've had a lot of imports, things come in from overseas, and with that, there's gonna be tariffs in the stores. We have to increase our prices. When we're handling those conversations with the guests, just really being honest and transparent with them and explaining why we have to increase our prices - nine times out of ten, especially with the fact that they can't get the merchandise somewhere else, they're not really upset about it. But if they don't understand why, then that could lead to them not coming back. I also think labor is a big challenge - quality labor specifically. When you hire on, you have to hire for an energy, an attitude, someone who wants to grow and wants to be there, and then everything else you have to train. So until you've trained to those points, it's not quality labor, it's a body in the building. A lot of leaders when they're hiring are expecting people to come in and be ready to hit the ground running, and that's just not the case, especially if you're hiring college students. They don't have a lot of experience. You have to do that one-on-one development with them. You have to carve time out of your schedule to do it.

I think transparency is a big one for me. I really try to be honest with my team, with the situation, with the leaders I report to, so that way there's no shock when they come into the store. I also think to lead by example is a really big one. Especially with how many departments my store has, I don't want any of my team members to feel like I am directing instead of doing. I want them to know if I'm asking you to do it, it's not because I'm not willing to do it - I most definitely am. I just have so many other things I have to do. I don't think it's fair to ask someone to do something if they don't see me doing it.