Her Story
About Kellie
I've been in retail full-time for about 8 years now, though I've been in and out of the industry for much longer. This wasn't my first career - I actually spent many years as a child development therapist working in child behavior and assessments. My transition into retail was completely unexpected. I had moved from one state to another and left my therapy business behind. One day I was visiting my daughter who worked at a restaurant attached to a retail store, and I just happened to help a lady who was trying on a dress. I talk to anybody, so I just said something like 'oh, that looks really good!' The manager saw me sell her the dress and asked who I was. I told him I was just visiting my daughter! He insisted on hiring me, and I kept saying no - I had done retail when I was young and swore I'd never do it again. But he was a good salesperson and talked me into it. I ended up selling over a million dollars in about eight months working part-time, and I was like, that's incredible! I loved it and was very surprised. Something I didn't think I wanted to do, I was just good at it right away, and I kept reaching for new and bigger goals. In my last role, I really turned my region around quickly - they were struggling, and within 6 months they were making money, the teams were great, and the company recognized how fast it happened. That led to me being promoted quickly from one position to another. Now I have multi-unit responsibilities, so every day is different. I might have a full day in my home store enjoying helping my team sell, or I might be on the phone all day putting out fires somewhere else.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kellie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I really attribute my success to my mentor. He was there when I first started in this industry and taught me a lot of things about talking with your teams and people, and doing it one day at a time, and it all comes together that way. I still call him with questions even now, because even when you're an expert in your field, you're still always a student.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is just taking one day at a time and doing the best that you can in that day, and then it all comes together. I had a really good mentor when I first started in this industry that taught me a lot of things about talking with your teams and people, and doing it one day at a time, and it all comes together that way.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say just trying to build a business - we're always trying to beat our last year and coming up with new inventive ideas and ways to make that happen. One of the biggest challenges is working with a team of people that sometimes you don't even see, like the marketing team which is in another state, and getting them to understand what it's like inside the four walls of a store. The biggest challenge is reinventing the next year on how to build the relationships you need with your customers to make it bigger the next year.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Work-life balance is really important to me, both in my work and personal life. Retail can get a little crazy at times, so I want to make sure that my teams have work-life balance. I find myself working on my day off, so I'm trying to grasp that myself, and I want my teams to do that too. I make it very clear to my teams that work-life balance is important to me, and if they're working for me and with me as a leader, I want them to know that that's important.
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