Marissa Moen

I attribute my success to hard work and being hungry. I'm a forever student, always willing to learn from anyone. Having a great support system has been crucial - having those mentors and being able to partner with them when I find myself in difficult situations that I'm not quite sure how to navigate. Those partnerships have made all the difference in my career.

The best and most truthful advice I ever received came from a store manager when I was a merchandise manager. She told me, 'You're a great manager, but you're never going to make it more than a store manager unless you learn the politics of this industry.' In the moment, being younger in my retail career, I thought, oh, they're going to notice the hard work and I'm going to get to that next level. But there is a political piece in this industry that you do have to navigate and pivot. That's something I've learned in my later years in retail - learning how to manage in the gray, learning how to work a room and build certain relationships. Hard work doesn't always get you to next level. It wasn't the nicest advice, but it was probably the most honest. In the moment I thought she didn't know what she's talking about, but coming into it, it is very true. There's a lot of politics in this industry, and it's about who you know and your rapport that you build with these people in order for your name to be spoken into those rooms for you to get to next level.

Definitely have a mentor. Know what you want, know what your core values are, your non-negotiables are, and don't lose sight of who you are within this industry. It's easy to do when you're looking for that next rung.

I think the biggest challenge is keeping staff engaged and avoiding retail burnout. After 2 or 3 years, how can we still give them a sense of meaning within their work? I've had my managers get a little burnt out and say they don't have that sense of purpose in their work, so it's about getting them to see that and reigniting that fire and passion for them. That might look like a stretch assignment, going outside of their DOR, or switching their DOR to something else. Payroll is always a big thing in retail - you've got payroll constraints and then a task-heavy day or task-heavy focused company, so teaching management skills to not get stressed is important. Planning is big too, sitting down with them and figuring out what that planning piece looks like, how we can partner with others, and how we can trust our team. Really, it's about situational leadership and understanding how your team needs to be managed differently.

Integrity is huge for me, along with transparency. I think that's the only way to lead a team and gain the trust. Honesty is probably one of my biggest values. Integrity is such a great statement because it's an umbrella for so many things - it's about doing it when no one's looking.