Paola Pagliano

I learned to invest in myself. Late, but I learned how to invest in myself, and I learned to ask a lot of questions early on. I've also learned to be humble and have that sense of humility. Just because I was the store manager or whatever position I was at the time - the model manager, the multi-unit manager - I never stop getting feedback, whether it's about a Google Slide presentation I did, a plan I implemented, taking us through a seasonal transition, whatever the case may be, a new company rollout. I always ask for the feedback. The people around you is what makes you stronger, that's how you influence people, and that's how you can help them get to the next step of their career.

The best career advice I ever received was to accept the job at Blockbuster Video, even though the writing was on the wall and they were closing stores every two months. When the ShopRite in Wethersfield was closing down, a customer came in and offered me a management position at the Glastonbury Blockbuster Video. I had worked my way up from part-time at the service desk to full-time POS coordinator, and I had been talking about wanting to get into management. There was a woman named Evelyn who worked in the regional office at that Wethersfield location - everybody's grandma, that's what we called her. She looked at me and said, 'Paola, I've been doing this for 50 years. Take the job, you'll never not be a store manager ever again.' And she was 100% correct.

Speak up for themselves. Be your own advocate. Take the time to invest yourself, to continuously develop your skills by reading, attending whatever webinars are available that you can go to, especially the ones about uplifting who you are, how you can contribute to your own well-being, because your own well-being, at the end of the day, is going to help your associates' well-being. Learn how to network with other industry leaders - that's something I didn't have back then, and that's a great tool that exists now. Ocean State offers these free webinars to help not just upskill yourself, but maintain your well-being, so you have that balance. Right now, there's still a stigma that I believe still exists for women in any sort of higher position, whether it's retail or a medical setting - sometimes we have to work just a little bit harder, especially if we have kids. I wish I could go back and tell myself to start investing in myself early, because maybe it could have made a difference earlier than later. The ability to gain and hold the trust of others - that is, at the end of the day, what will make a good leader, and you can't do that if you're not investing in yourself at the same time.

In my field right now, the biggest challenge is the online shopping experience. That is the biggest challenge. For brick-and-mortar stores to survive and sustain itself and thrive, we have to be able to separate ourselves from the others. On a personal level, I'd say accepting that I can't get to 59 stores in one week is also a challenge.

Credibility, for one, for sure. It's like the foundation for any sort of trust. More people are likely going to hear you if they believe that you know what you're doing, and your intentions are sound, and you're consistently following up on any sort of commitment, whether it's to the team or an individual. And having that clarity, too - it's like a moral compass that guides our actions. In order to be an influential person, you've got to figure out a way to simplify any sort of complex idea, and remove all the mumble jumble, and articulate a very clear and concise why. Whoever's standing in front of you, whether it's a whole team, or one person, or the owner of the company, they need to understand exactly what needs to be done and exactly what you're saying at the same time. And then there's the empathy part of it, caring about people. It's that connection. True influence is always gonna come from coming off genuine and being genuine about others, that they are people. That helps create loyalty. It's not just like a checklist, where you're checking off employee A did this, or employee B said this. Those three things - credibility, clarity, and empathy - they're gonna help build a relationship, not just at work, but whether it's friends, or a new partner, or connecting with someone from the past.