Her Story
About Kirsten
I've been with Amazon for nearly three years now, coming up on three years this July. I started my career after graduating from Virginia State University, where I originally studied biology before switching to business management. When I first graduated, I was actually interviewing with Deloitte and completely bombed that interview - my interviewer even said let's take a break and think about this. But when I went into the Amazon interview, I was more relaxed because it wasn't something I was actively chasing, and the interviewer told me it was one of the best interviews he had done. I truly believe God has me here for a reason. In my role, I oversee over 120 associates at a time, and my day involves planning for shifts ahead, ensuring area readiness, and hours of engagement with my team. I make sure my team has everything they need and feels supported. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of leadership support in my industry currently, so I focus on developing the best within lower-level leadership so they can be successful without me there. I've launched multiple Amazon buildings across Virginia - I started at one building that closed after six months when the lease ended, then launched a building in Northern Virginia, and then launched the building here in Suffolk, Virginia where I am now. The ambiguity of leadership has been challenging, and I've gone about three or four months without having a leader above me, which means I'm doing their role plus the role below that. What I love most about my career is being able to make an impact with my team members and support them through their personal barriers. I always tell new hires that I'm never below them, never above them, but right beside them, and I truly believe that.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kirsten
01What do you attribute your success to?
I definitely would say my team, you know? I'm nothing without my team, and I always tell people, we engage new hires all the time. Every single time I engage new hires, I say, I'm never below you, never above you, but right beside you. And I truly believe that, because when things get tough, I'll jump in, and I can count on my team to execute when I'm having a rough day as well, because they know that we're in this together.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
For me, I think it is slow down and listen. I'm very, very fast-paced, and Amazon is a very fast-paced business, but it's very important to be able to hear your team, see what they need, and hear what they need, and be able to adapt to that as a leader.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Women in my industry, I would say, just be yourself. Of course, there's a lot of competition, there's a lot of male leadership. However, everything that anyone brings to the team is always going to be unique to them. And women, or you know, being a woman or being a male, I would always say, just be yourself, because you're there for a reason, and you have your own gift that you bring to the team, and it's very important that you allow that to be shown through your work.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Retaining good talent is definitely a challenge for sure. And then on top of that, the ability to learn and develop as a leader. The ambiguity of leadership means you really never know what you're going to get, whether that person has internal or external experience. It's been about three or four months where I haven't had a leader above me, so it makes my job a little bit more challenging because not only am I doing their role, but I'm also doing the role below the role that I'm doing, just because of the lack of leadership. And then I'm not necessarily gaining anything leadership-wise. I told my boss, it's very easy to do the job, however, it's not easy to develop as a leader. Making that difficult decision to look for something new is a bit challenging because I love my team, but at the same time, I don't want to leave the industry and then get into a bigger company with different competitions, and I'm still that recent graduate that hasn't been developed. In hindsight, I learned a lot of skills, I know I've grown and developed as a leader, but I want to be a lot further than I am currently, and that just comes with time and experience, but it's a lot easier when you have someone to mentor you.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Definitely my faith is most important, my relationship with God. And then currently, it's just setting boundaries, you know, that work-life balance can get really out of whack, unfortunately, especially in the industry I work in, because they always say, oh, are you drinking that Amazon Kool-Aid? For me, it's really work-life balance at this point, because I'm getting a little bit older, I just turned 26, and unfortunately, you know, I have personal goals, and I just let those go by the wayside because I was so focused on my career, so focused on the next. But when you just have faith and you kind of just rely on God's plan, it's easier to just have those boundaries and say, you know, I've put my best work here today, and tomorrow I'll be back, but for now, I need to leave.
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