Her Story
About Larissa
Larissa Sandoval is a Retail Store Manager at PUMA Group based in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, where she leads store operations with a strong focus on sales performance, team development, and operational excellence. In her role, she is responsible for driving revenue growth, implementing strategic retail initiatives, and ensuring that store teams consistently exceed performance targets. She is known for her hands-on leadership style and her ability to create a high-energy, customer-focused retail environment.
With over a decade of experience in retail management, Larissa has built a career grounded in leadership, mentorship, and people development. Her professional journey has included progressive roles in major retail organizations, where she developed expertise in sales operations, profit and loss management, talent recruitment, and employee training. She is especially passionate about cultivating future leaders within her teams and has successfully mentored multiple employees into leadership positions.
Beyond her operational responsibilities, Larissa leads with a people-first philosophy shaped by resilience and personal growth. She emphasizes empathy, accountability, and motivation as core elements of her leadership approach, believing that strong teams are built through trust and support. Outside of work, she maintains an active interest in fitness, wellness, and community engagement, which further influences her dynamic and health-conscious approach to retail leadership.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Larissa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being open-minded and redefining what success actually means. To me, success isn't about materials or financials - it's about being at peace. And being at peace means having love, meaning your family and love for yourself, because if you don't care for yourself and you don't have self-awareness, you can't do that for anybody else because you don't even know what love is. I really strongly believe success is more than anything else, it's not materials, it's not financials, it's none of that. I could seriously live under a hut, and as long as I have safety and my loved ones there with me, I'm good. I'm good if I have water and I can go to the restroom. I mean, we all have the same experience - we all need to eat, and we all gotta sleep, right? So if you have all those things available to you, you're winning. You are winning.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received was to be fearless, because the same thing that you're feeling, the other person is feeling too - it's part of the human experience. Just be yourself and don't care what other people think of you or perceive of you, because they're going through the same thing in some shape, way, or form. We all have a story of some sort. That advice really stuck with me because it reminded me that everyone is experiencing similar emotions and challenges, and understanding that helps you stay grounded and authentic in your journey.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is not to identify as anything or give yourself titles, because titles can create labels and expectations. And when those expectations are not met, you're disappointed, and then your emotional status just takes over and blinds you from your actual success that you've already built and your skills that you already have. Allowing your emotions to overpower that, you get blinded, and you get lost in the sauce, and you lose yourself, and then it's just downhill from there. So stay focused on what you've accomplished and the skills you bring to the table, rather than getting caught up in labels or external validation.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge I'm facing right now is recruiting and developing the new adult talent coming into the workforce. This year, I have felt this challenge for the first time in a real way. I've always recruited and hired people - I've even had people become district managers under my belt - but the new talent that's just coming fresh out of school, coming into adult life, that's been a challenge. The issue is recognizing and identifying if they have that work ethic that I feel has been lost here lately. I'm looking for top-tier talent that understands this is a job, you're not showing up on a volunteer basis. The challenge is recruiting the proper talent to be able to execute the task at hand that was on the job description and still follow through after they got the job. But I also see this as an opportunity - there's a growing need for mentoring, developing leaders, and helping employees grow into management roles.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The golden rule is everything to me - treating people with kindness. I'm huge on not just being nice, but being kind. There's a difference. I may hurt your feelings, but I have nothing but good intentions to better you in whichever way possible, based on what I know and my own experiences. So just practicing the golden rule - be kind to your neighbor. It's about treating others with respect and honesty, even when it's uncomfortable, because real kindness means caring enough to help people grow through genuine feedback and support.
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