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Running Great Stores

Running Great Stores

By Rachel Williamson

The Running Great Stores podcasts are created for Retail Leaders. Our goal is to talk to powerhouse guests who are experts in their field and provide inspiration for Brick and Mortar store leaders that help them create remarkable customer experiences and operationally excellent stores.
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Currently playing episode

A Passion for the Customer

Running Great StoresNov 25, 2019

00:00
40:55
Winning At Retail this Holiday: District Manager's Guide to Success
Nov 11, 202235:40
Formula for Success (from a Store Manager’s POV) with Brandon Simpauco

Formula for Success (from a Store Manager’s POV) with Brandon Simpauco

I am so excited to launch this episode! Brandon has spent much of his life coaching, developing and training competitive athletes and now leads store teams for one of the most iconic brands in specialty retail.
He is a hands-on leader and passionate Store Manager with a consistent track record of driving top line sales, recruiting talent and building high performance selling teams.
Everyone is going to take something away from this podcast! Brandon is amazing.
Enjoy the listen!
Rachel
Feb 18, 202258:05
S04E28: Winning at Retail in a Post-Pandemic World with Scott Kerby

S04E28: Winning at Retail in a Post-Pandemic World with Scott Kerby

Scott Kerby is today's guest.  He is currently the Head of Retail for Sephora Canada.  Scott has spent his career building leadership teams focused on winning at the retail fundamentals knowing retail is a game of inches and not miles.  He lives by the principle that if you run a fleet like you run a one store business, you will always win.

Enjoy the listen and don't forget to share the Running Great Stores podcast with friends, family and colleagues who love retail as much as we do!

xoxo,

Rachel


Dec 11, 202137:51
S04E26: Inspiring & Leading your Retail Team with Cassie Kane

S04E26: Inspiring & Leading your Retail Team with Cassie Kane

Welcome to our 4th Season of the Running Great Stores Podcast where we talk all retail all the time.  We are kicking off our 4th season with Cassie Kane, owner and principal consultant for Kane Learning, a boutique consulting firm that partners with companies to create and implement talent development and learning solutions.  She has a passion for helping companies create practical, meaningful and fun learning that teams can easily apply on the job, positively impacting their results.  

In today's episode, Cassie will be talking about the power of investing in today's retail leaders.  The way District and Store Managers show up and. how they lead their team has an impact on team members and customers!  She will share some of the key skills required that leaders need now...empathy, effective communication and resilience.  

Enjoy the listen!

Rachel Williamson


Nov 13, 202151:02
S4 E27: STOP STANDING STILL with Kendra Vuticevski

S4 E27: STOP STANDING STILL with Kendra Vuticevski

If you love retail, you will love today's episode!  Kendra shares her story and how she is building multi-million dollar businesses from her cell phone.  As a former corporate executive of over 15 years and someone who recently served on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit, Kendra knows great strategy, teamwork, and solid operations.

With five years of Network Marketing experience under her belt, Kendra spent the last two focused on building a business in the profession.

“It was after a rare medical diagnosis of my mom, that I realized I wanted to be more present at home with my family” she adds.

Taking her goal seriously in 2020, Kendra developed a team of leaders to $2.5 Million in sales in just 12-months. Not only is she proud of that achievement, but seeing her leaders recognized, winning incentive trips, bonuses, and awards, many for the first time in their career – is a hugely rewarding accomplishment.

Kendra loves being a professional encourager and global business builder, from the freedom of her cell phone.

Kendra Vuticevski and her husband love to travel with their two boys. They love watching their boys play sports and they’re an active family in their community.

I know you will LOVE this conversation~Enjoy the listen.

xoxo, Rachel

Nov 07, 202153:54
IT'S NOT THE STORES, IT'S THE STAFF...Why Retail Store Teams will Become the Social Sellers with Tristan Rogers

IT'S NOT THE STORES, IT'S THE STAFF...Why Retail Store Teams will Become the Social Sellers with Tristan Rogers

In this podcast, Tristan Rogers, CEO of Concrete Platform, shares his perspective on the future of stores and store operations...but not through the lens of everyone else.  Listen to his unique perspective (& fantastic British accent) on how Gen Z is shaping the future of retail.  Tristan brings his knowledge and authentic point of view on what retailers and landlords alike must do to make it in the post-covid world.

Enjoy the listen and share it with your friends and colleagues!


Mar 07, 202153:42
Reaching your Leadership Potential with Scott Galloway

Reaching your Leadership Potential with Scott Galloway

In today's episode, Scott Galloway of Galloway Resource Partners talks to us about how to reach our leadership potential.  He shares 5 important steps we all need to take.  While it isn't easy, the steps are simple.  It is really about becoming intentional about our own leadership.  It's a 'can't miss' episode!

Scott and his team connect People to the Talent and Resources they need.  As a trusted advisor, they come alongside businesses and business leaders wtih coaching, consulting and talent acquisition to play offense and grow your business!  www.gallowayresourcepartners.com

Feb 21, 202148:26
Power of Connections with Melissa Latham

Power of Connections with Melissa Latham

Melissa Latham has spent her entire career working in retail, from key holder to head of stores for multi-billion dollar companies.  When she experienced her second position elimination, she decided to pivot to a different career while still doing what she loves most...supporting people who work in retail.  She started her executive search firm, Global Recruiters Lowcountry to do just that.  

In today's podcast, Melissa shares the three things that have contributed to her career success.  If you work in retail or are a people leader, this podcast has something for you. 

Enjoy the listen,

Rachel



Nov 18, 202055:23
Navigating Career, Business and Life with Meghan Houle
Nov 09, 202052:03
Keeping the Retail Pride Going with Ron Thurston

Keeping the Retail Pride Going with Ron Thurston

Ron Thurston loves retail. And he's proud of it. Ron has led the retail teams for some of America's most prominent brands, inspired thousands of store employees, and traveled relentlessly across the country to sit and listen to what they have to say.

From a part-time sales associate to a vice president of stores, Ron has put in the hard work that a retail career requires and wrote a wonderful book called Retail Pride to share what he has learned along the way.

In today's episode, Ron shares his foundational principles for Leadership.  If you work in retail, whether "leader" is part of your title or not, this episode is for you.

You are going to love his passion for retail and all of us who work in this remarkable industry.  Enjoy the listen!

xoxo,

Rachel

Nov 02, 202056:59
Get Hired SOON with Meghan Houle

Get Hired SOON with Meghan Houle

Meghan Houle is in the business of building relationships. A seasoned luxury retailer who turned a passion for people into a full time recruiting role understanding the unique chemistry that makes a candidate a great fit for a brand. Her authentic nature and spirit are what she brings to her methods of coaching through next steps in the delicate decision of choosing a career path with a high success rate of job satisfaction on both the candidate and the client side. Meghan is a proved expert in matching the right candidate to the right company, working directly to influence the hiring managers at all levels.
If you have been recently impacted by the retail bankruptcies that have erupted amidst the COVID pandemic, you need to listen to this podcast. Meghan provides easy to implement tips on how to make a great impression during interviews; drop your ego and embrace new skills that will build your path to a dream job! Listen to her describe how to be fearless as you connect with the right network of people in your industry!
Enjoy the listen!
Rachel
Sep 02, 202049:55
Popup-Pros Retail with Shannon Kruse

Popup-Pros Retail with Shannon Kruse

Shannon Kruse owns Popup-Pros, a consulting group that enables retailers to open popup shops around the globe. Whether you know exactly the popup shop you want or require an expert to help you create the strategy, Shannon has this super power and will guide you. This podcast is filled with positivity and energy on what retail looks like now and into the future. Enjoy the listen!

Jul 13, 202042:04
S02E18: The Positive Effect with April Sabral

S02E18: The Positive Effect with April Sabral

Stop what you are doing and listen to this podcast!  April is ah-mazing!  April Sabral has spent over 25 years in various sales and operations roles.  She has now taken her knowledge and passion for people and retail and created retailu, an online learning retail leadership development company.  April has a new book coming out called The Positive Effect.  I know you are going to love April.  After you listen to this podcast, head over to retailu.ca to find content to strengthen and develop yourself.  Enjoy the listen!  

If you are enjoying the Running Great Stores podcasts, please share them with your friends! 


Jun 29, 202001:02:26
Turn Inventory Overwhelm into Profit

Turn Inventory Overwhelm into Profit

This podcast features Darlene Y Mitchell, an Inventory Management retail executive who helps boutique and brand owners turn inventory overwhelm into profit and cash flow.  In the first few minutes of this podcast, you will feel Darlene’s love for retail and her passion to help retail owners be successful.  While Darlene owns her own consulting firm, she has also joined DeAnna McIntosh in starting Retailing Evolved, a social network, business strategy team, learning platform and business accelerator all rolled into one.  This is a subscription based model that provides varying levels of support for your business.  You decide what you need!  So cool.  If you are “IN IT TO WIN IT”, contact Darlene on Instagram @darlene_y_mitchell.   I know you will love this podcast.  Enjoy the listen! Rachel



Jun 08, 202051:22
Passion for Fashion with DeAnna McIntosh

Passion for Fashion with DeAnna McIntosh

In this podcast, DeAnna McIntosh shares her passion for fashion and working alongside boutique retailers to help them navigate this rapidly changing retail environment.  Both of her companies, The Affinity Group International and Retailing Evolved have put small retailers front and center, giving them the tools that historically, only the big retailers have had access to!  This podcast will inspire you to learn more about DeAnna and how she guides brands to maximize their capabilities.  If you are in it to win it, contact DeAnna on Instagram @retailingevolved! Enjoy the listen!

Jun 01, 202001:02:56
Life of a Store Manager: Cody Stockton (Le Creuset)

Life of a Store Manager: Cody Stockton (Le Creuset)

COVID 19 closed virtually every non-essential retail store in the world for the first time that many of us can recall.  Store teams were furloughed in many instances and when stores reopened, leaders like Cody Stockton were determined to come back with a vengeance and be there for their customers, no matter what that looked like.  Cody is a store manager with Le Creuset in Orlando, Florida.  I love his determination to keep his team and his customers safe while creating unparalleled customer experiences.  His commitment to "make the uncomfortable, comfortable" is inspiring.  During this podcast, Cody shares how he is successfully navigating brick and mortar retail during this "re-entry" phase of COVID.

May 27, 202043:14
Winning with 4 Types of Customers

Winning with 4 Types of Customers

John Hanson is a CX (Customer Experience) guru and has written a book called WOW Your Customers, 7 Ways to World-Class Service. In today’s podcast, John shares the 4 different types of customers and the importance of each.  Now you might be saying to yourself, 4 types of customers?  I know about the internal customer and the external customer.  Who are these other two?  You will need to listen to this podcast to find out.  After 34 years serving customers, this even shifted my thinking!  

Whether you are in retail or work with customers in a different industry, this podcast will benefit you.  If you enjoy the podcast, please head over to iTunes and leave a review.  Share with friends, family and colleagues too!  Visit my website, www.runninggreatstores.com to learn more about my company and listen to all my podcasts right from my site or on your favorite podcast platform.  Thank you!

May 20, 202059:45
Becco and Retail: A Match Made in Heaven

Becco and Retail: A Match Made in Heaven

Stuart Silverman and Shelly Hood are my guests today and talk about an innovative new tool created by becco. Imagine getting customer feedback regarding your team’s performance right at the checkout counter in 15 seconds or less! This solution provides field leaders with insight into the customer experience in real time. What a phenomenal coaching tool for store managers and district managers to use to create world class teams who deliver world class experiences! Enjoy the listen!
Apr 08, 202049:33
Keys to Building Trust and Empathy with your Customers

Keys to Building Trust and Empathy with your Customers

Saira Sethi is a delightful guest who shares her retail expertise in how to create trust and empathy with your retail customers and associates.  You will want to listen to this with a pen and paper in hand as her tips for elevating your team’s skill with customers will be easy to implement resulting in elevating the customer experience in your store.  Enjoy the listen!

Mar 26, 202047:05
A Coronavirus Conversation: The Retail Industry Impact

A Coronavirus Conversation: The Retail Industry Impact

Are you a retail business owner? Now is not the time to hide from coronavirus, it is the time to FIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS. Join three Retail and E-commerce consultants as we discuss strategies to cope with the effects of the Coronavirus on retailers and brands. Now is the time to prepare for the comeback that will happen. It's up to you to utilize this time to prepare for it so that once it happens, you will emerge stronger, more strategic and more profitable than ever before.
Mar 25, 202001:09:22
Life of a Store Manager with Megan Bibeau

Life of a Store Manager with Megan Bibeau

Welcome to the third in the series called Life of a Store Manager. In today’s podcast, I am interviewing Megan Bibeau who is a District Training Store Manager for Piercing Pagoda, a division of Signet Jewelers.   You will love hearing directly from Megan how she moved from a retail sales associate to a Store Manager in 5 years!  Megan is bright and passionate about retail, her team and delivering unforgettable customer experiences.   You will love this podcast!  Enjoy the listen!

Mar 24, 202048:02
Life of a Store Manager with Krystal Davis

Life of a Store Manager with Krystal Davis

Welcome to the second in the series called Life of a Store Manager. In today’s podcast, I am interviewing Krystal Davis, Store Manager for Justice in Virginia.  Krystal shares her passion for retail, creating a strong culture inside her store which delivers remarkable experiences for both her associates and customers.  Enjoy the listen!

Mar 18, 202045:59
Life of a Store Manager with Hugh Linn

Life of a Store Manager with Hugh Linn

Welcome to the first in the series called Life of a Store Manager. In today’s podcast, I am interviewing Hugh Linn, Store Manager for Lane Bryant in Orlando Fl. Hugh shares his passion for the customer (both internal and external) and gives some of his best tips that any store manager can apply. Enjoy the listen!
Mar 09, 202048:42
Passion for Recruiting and Training

Passion for Recruiting and Training

My host is Kim Pagano, President of Publikimage, a retail consulting firm with a focus on brick and mortar stores. In this episode, you will learn tips for recruiting talent to your retail store and once you hire them, how to train and develop them to deliver amazing customer experiences.
Feb 29, 202049:48
 Live and Love Retail

Live and Love Retail

This episode shares three secrets for experiencing success as a store manager. Ron Thurston inspires all of us in retail to take pride in working in the largest industry in America and shares tips from his perspective on how to be a high performing store manager.
Feb 17, 202046:46
A Passion for the Customer

A Passion for the Customer

Franco D’Ambrosio is the Leader of the ascena Retail Group Service Desk Experience and has set the Gold Standard for service delivery. He ensures over 4000 stores receive A+ service every day. In this podcast, Franco shares his passion and secret to creating remarkable experiences. It is a can’t miss episode.

Nov 25, 201940:55
Conversion, The Last Great Retail Metric

Conversion, The Last Great Retail Metric

Traffic and Conversion are two of perhaps the most important metrics that brick and mortar retailers should be evaluating to understand the opportunity to drive sales results. In this podcast, we discuss just how simple driving conversion really is and some powerful tips to help store managers and district managers impact their results through a proper focus on Conversion driving behaviors.
Oct 16, 201949:25
Labor Scheduling: How to increase sales based on Scheduling Effectiveness

Labor Scheduling: How to increase sales based on Scheduling Effectiveness

Creating a store schedule is something managers do every week, almost without thinking about it.  In today’s podcast, we delve into the impact of effective scheduling on sales results.  There is compelling data that shows with the execution of three simple action steps, managers will have the right people at the right time with the right skills resulting in strong financial results.  Likewise, ignoring these steps will almost guarantee a miss in your sales target.  

Oct 03, 201939:48
PERSONAL BRANDING 101

PERSONAL BRANDING 101

Personal Branding is not just for the rich and famous. We all have a personal brand, the question is, is it the brand you want? In this podcast, we dig into the basics of personal branding with easy to use action steps to create the brand you want.
Sep 30, 201917:22
Effective Management of Retail Store Payroll

Effective Management of Retail Store Payroll

This podcast reviews the common myths and mistakes managers make when managing their store payroll along with solutions and recommended actions retail managers can take as they gear up for the holiday season.
Sep 18, 201930:08