It was a very frustrating, aggravating day in April of 2012. I was working at Express in Green Bay and things just weren't going well for me. The store hadn't done well in the year I'd been there which meant I also hadn't done well on my review. No raise for Sean. I'd been with the company for 8 years and still wasn't making enough money to support living on my own, let alone to also pay for the brand new car I'd purchased. I was walking to the food court for my lunch break and my phone started ringing with a number I didn't know, so I silenced it. After about a minute or so the phone buzzed that I had a voicemail.
It was a woman named Courtney; she was the General Manager at Pottery Barn in the Fox River Mall. She had heard from a coworker of hers that I knew (my former landlady and now great friend, Brenda) that I might be a good candidate for a position in the store as the Associate Store Manager. No pressure, just wondering if I wanted to swing by sometime soon and have a chat about it.
I figured what the hell, I had nothing to lose, right? It couldn't be any worse than my current situation. So I called her back and set up a time to meet a few days later when she'd have her District Manager in town and I could sit down with the both of them. And I did. The best thing about talking (re: interviewing) when you already have a job is that the pressure is not really on you. Despite how I felt about my performance at Express, I knew my stuff. I knew all of the correct answers to questions, I knew how to interview properly without botching it. I was in the middle of filming "26 Golden Things," which was a huge endeavour and one I used to promote myself as a go-getter, and I had also just finished writing The Onyxus Chronicles: Episode III.
I was pleasantly surprised, pleasantly shocked, a day or two later when Courtney called and said she wanted to move forward with checking references, and if I could please fill out an actual application. Suddenly I felt like I had something to lose and the panic set in. They actually wanted me for the job? Oh shit... now what?
So the background check started and more interviews started. I had the worst interview of my life when I had to talk on the phone to the Regional Vice President as she was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with the TOP DOWN. At one point I asked her to repeat the question five times, and that was plain humiliating. And of course she told the District Manager she wasn't sure I'd be the right fit for the job (I agreed, based on that interview, yikes). So a conference call or two later and a lot of convincing on Courtney's behalf, she gave me a call and asked if I could meet her at Starbucks by the mall.
It had been about three weeks at this point and I felt like maybe I was coming in for a second interview. But no, Courtney had a folder on the table and we chatted for a bit and then she said they wanted to offer me the position. So she opened the folder and turned it to me and showed me what my offer was for a salary and all of that. And I can remember my eyes misting over because it was a very substantial increase over what Express paid me. Same amount of vacation, more sick time, better benefits all around. And I accepted.
I gave Express three weeks notice because I felt guilty, as if I owed them something. In hindsight I wish I had just given a normal two weeks and said "see ya." But that's not in my character and I would never be so bold as to burn a professional bridge. You never know when you'll have to eat your words! I started with Pottery Barn on June 3rd, 2012, and I still remember going in to work on that Monday (in a three-piece suit (first and last time that happened)) and thinking I had made a mistake.
This job was going to be about walking around with teapots and pillows, moving in circles through a slow store with nothing to do at all. It was going to be boring, boring, boooooooooring.
I was very wrong. And, truth be told, it did not take very long at all for Pottery Barn to become my favorite place.
Obviously my locker ::tosses hair::
At the end of the first week and after working 5 days in a row, I went home and fuckin' crashed. I had never been so exhausted in my life from working. Because it wasn't walking around with pillows and moving in circles through a slow store, it was work. Unloading trucks in the morning full of 100 boxes of heavy shipment. Boxes of candles, of chairs, of coffee tables. Going up and down the stairs in the back several times a day. Climbing ladders, filling shelves. And that was just the operations side! There was serious work involved in maintaining the Pottery Barn selling model, greeting every guest and actively uncovering what they came to the store for.
Of course the biggest part would be the actual sales.
I would be ecstatic at Express if I had a sale over $500. That was big money when it came to clothing, particularly because everyone had a coupon. But at Pottery Barn that's a somewhat average sale. It's when you get it over a few thousand that you start to get excited. I had the worst sticker shock when I started there, and even more so because people would buy this stuff without even flinching. It was pretty fast that I bought in to the company and what it stood for and that was a wonderful feeling. Liking where you worked, liking the people you worked with, all of it.
My first closing shift on a Sunday when Courtney was out of town.
The window exploded. Neat.
It did take me a good month to totally understand the computer system. It took a little longer to totally understand the way in which we get our merchandise from one of five different options. But eventually I got the hang of it and things only got better from there. We hired my best @klreynol as the visual manager that fall. I won the "Catch the Spirit" award (kind of like employee of the month) for our store and then went on to win it for the District. I actually got a bonus in my paycheck for the first time in my life (not because of Catch the Spirit though).
Pottery Barn was just a different form of life, one where going to work didn't actually feel like going to work. I was going to hang out with people that I loved being around, that made me feel comfortable and happy and at ease. Working at a job where they put the reigns in your hands and said "What do you need from us to make your job easier? What can we do to help you grow your business?" I'd never had that before. The associates were not all 18 years old and drinking every night. A large portion were moms (not necessarily old or young, just moms) and they always made me feel content. They made my job easy in always being willing to help.
Working an "In-Home Trunk Show Party" with the always wonderful
(and one of my very favorite people in the world) Barb.
What surprised me about the store was the interaction with our guests (we choose not to call 'em customers). At Express you had the regulars of course, and you'd remember the name only after you looked at their credit card. But here you had regulars that actively wanted to talk to you. To share with you. You met each of the three Susan's that came in on a weekly basis, the Mary's and the Heather's. I was writing my book one day at Starbucks and had one of my favorite guests come inside because she saw me through the window, call me out by name (despite no nametag), and tell me she "just wanted to say hi real quick, have a great day!"
It's the little things like that where you feel appreciated. It means more than I can really describe, actually.
At a Wedding Event thrown at Lawrence University with Courtney, Melissa and Barb.
When I interviewed for the job, I told them my goal was to move to Austin, TX in the next several years with an eye on West Elm, a sister company under the Williams Sonoma corporate umbrella. While it was in my plan from the beginning, that didn't necessarily make it easier when the time came to act on those plans.
I'm leaving behind a store I've worked at for just over three years. I've won CTS for the store and District three times, I've been an acting General Manager, and I've learned my paces. I've sold more and more each consecutive year, I've met several amazing people along the way, and I've worked with the best boss a person could ask for.
The time I set this up for Courtney to discover in the morning when she opened the office door,
effectively scaring the shit out of her. Best scare ever.
Courtney and I sittin' on Santa's lap.
She became one of my closest friends and allies, teaching me what a partnership between a General Manager and an Associate Store Manager really looked like. What respect amongst peers meant, how to lead effectively, and how to enjoy your job. A perfect partnership. Looking back on three years, I feel like I'm leaving behind a friend more than anything else. I think back on the heart to hearts, some of the tears, and a lot of the laughs. The random songs we broke out into, the silly inside jokes and one-liners that we used on each other. The side eyes, the knowing glances, and all of the exaggerated sighs.
I'm going to miss the bulk of my staff a lot.
Most of the people I work with have been there since I started, some of them well before. They are my friends. They've laughed with me, some have cried with me. A couple made my life miserable for a little while, the others outweighed their negativity. They pushed me to new levels in my career, and they listened to me. I know I am going to meet a whole new staff when I move to Austin and I know they are going to be as equally great as those at store #736, Fox River. But they'll never be the same. I leave knowing that I am not just leaving coworkers behind, but friends.
I'll be back to visit them and I will keep up with most of them through Facebook. I'll even be able to enjoy the company of a few of them when they come down to visit me. It's not the same, but it's not the end of the world. I'm honored to have made the connections that I have through Pottery Barn and to have forged the relationships that I'll take with me. It was the best job I've ever had and I will forever be indebted with gratitude for everyone and everything that made it so.
And at the end of the day, I'm not too far away. Austin is, after all, just a little south by southwest.
I'll leave you with my favorite song from the Pottery Barn soundtrack. The bulk of our music has stayed the same over the last three years (annoyingly), but this song never got old.
Ciao for now (c:
No comments:
Post a Comment