Sarah Bledsoe

I started in retail at age 16 in a retail selling setting, and I've done it for 28 years now. In all honesty, I was in an abusive domestic violence relationship at that time, a young adult struggling to find my place. I started working at Hastings Entertainment, a retailer that is no longer existent, and I realized I was kind of good at this - I actually have a natural skill of just interacting with guests. I thought customer service was a lost art, but on the other side, it helped give me strength and confidence in what I was doing well, and it helped me have the confidence to make some different life decisions. I also worked at American Eagle before starting at Dillard's in 2005, and I've been on an upward trajectory with Dillard's as an organization ever since. I've been at 4 stores across 3 states over my 21 years with the company. As a store manager, I have 105 people that require my skill set, my advice, my best practices. I am blessed to be the one who gets to set the vision and the culture, who gets to determine what the tone is gonna be set for a three-story building. I'm very people-focused and people-centric - the successes are really just making a difference in anybody I interact with, while also leading through vulnerability and making sure they know it's okay to be human and flawed and make mistakes, and creating a safe place for curiosity. While I was a full-time student and full-time store manager working 60 to 70 hours a week, I just got my doctorate. My dissertation focus was on toxic leaders - a narrative of toxic leadership in the retail sector - because I think people lots of times think retail turnover is because of the industry, not realizing the leadership really can contribute and make a difference.