Samantha Simon

I attribute my success to my faith and holding a standard that nobody can shift me from along my journey. You're going to be tested a lot of times, and people are going to ask you to do things, and sometimes those are tests to see what type of person you are. But because I hold a standard and nobody can knock me from that stance, I think that's why I have advanced quickly and why I've had the opportunities I've had. I don't let anybody shift me along my journey, and that commitment to my values and standards has been the key to advancing as fast as I have in my career.

I can't say I've received one specific piece of career advice that stands out, but what has stuck with me personally, and I would say maybe came from my parents, is to always be resilient and curious. I always feel like when you are willing to learn, and you're always curious, and you're willing to do things that other people don't do and challenge yourself - if you don't know something, don't just say 'I don't know it.' Be willing to learn it and acquire that skill. That's what set me apart and advanced me quicker than other people. Not because I was always the smartest person in the room, but I was always the most curious. I was almost always the person that asked a lot of questions, so I was able to learn a lot because I asked those questions that other people didn't ask.

In my industry, I would tell women that it's not even about your gender. It's about if you're willing to do the work and learn - the doors will open for you. People recognize people who are willing to not only just learn, but be entrepreneurial too, to take their vision and add more upon it, bring something to the table. Use everything from your background. Nothing is not enough. Every skill you have, use them and apply them to what you're doing, and you will excel in retail, period. Every skill you have, from even mothering, from how you handle situations, your mindsets - for example, because I was already organized and a person who had a standard, people recognized that. Even now, I've only worked at this company for almost 6 to 8 months, and they're already saying they want me to be the next store manager. Why? I haven't even been here that long, but it's because I had a standard and because I was business-minded and entrepreneurial already. I took all those skills and applied them as an ops manager.

The opportunities are great because you get to grow. If you get to that next level of store manager, you have the opportunity of being a district manager, so you have a lot of opportunities to grow in retail if that's something that you definitely desire to do. But I would say the challenges for me personally are getting past some of the things that, company-wise, when I don't agree with some of their ethics or practices. That's the challenge - to be able to still do business and conduct and get the results even though the companies sometimes have a way they want it to be done that I necessarily don't agree with. So it's more of an internal challenge, I would say, for myself.

Honesty and integrity are most important to me. I'm very big on understanding integrity and having a standard - having that standard that no matter if other people do their job well, I do my job well. So I hold a standard for myself. Regardless if the companies say, 'hey, you need to do it this way,' I still have a standard. I'm going to do it in the spirit of excellence, because that's the person I am. So I always hold that standard of integrity and honesty, and also the spirit of excellence, doing everything the best. I live by that. Even when I was a kid, I was an overachiever. I remember when I got a B, my mom was like, 'B is good!' and I was like, 'no.'