Growing people starts with the having a well-loved + respected company culture. When people see themselves within the organization. The culture of a company means everything to me. Aside from everyone feeling included, culture provides limitless possibilities for creativity, growth, and advancement for people + company alike.Leaning into deeper conversations, seeking first to understand, has taught me so much. The answers you needed were never in a question you had ever asked. Every voice deserves to be heard + having a culture that embraces that only makes us stronger as whole. We've discovered solutions outside our realm of thinking; creating greater intentionality in all that we do.Leadership is never about having all the answers. It's about listening to those that do. We create the space for others to evolve + transform into their highest self. From there, we hope they do the same for the next generation after them. There is room for everyone at the table.

If you asked me a couple of years ago what “the key to a successful training program” was, it would be very different than today. I would have said something along the lines of “structure, formatting, content”, and while it’s true these are important, they are not the key. The “key” is to genuinely care about the people you are training + the experience they are having.Team members need to feel like they are a part of the process. Sharing the “why” behind any training is a great place to start. It gives purpose. It also makes your team feel like you value them. From there it’s all about the experience. Every training needs to be informative, but that doesn’t mean it has to read like a text book. Every training needs to structured, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Experience is everything when training.How do you know if a training was successful? There are so many tools I use to evaluate trainings, but the #1 tool is: Feedback. I ask for anonymous feedback frequently. In the service industry, if you are not in the field, something may work in theory but not in practice. It’s helpful to know when that happens. I also thoroughly enjoy reading what kinds of content the team would like to see more of. What style of learning they lean towards (even if it means I need to get onto TikTok to get their attention).At the end of the day, I believe it’s important to meet our team where they are at. I love learning about them + how I can make their jobs easier. I love the challenges of learning new software, programs, + yes, even creating video content (I do it all, from script to edit!). If they are engaged, I know it will show up in their stores. I absolutely love what I do + all the creative freedom I have. I am so lucky to be in a position that focuses on elevating others.

"Teamwork makes the dream work" was the initial mantra I walked into when first hired as GM for my current store. I saw this as a stepping stone for future greatness, and as such thought "Awesome teams accomplish big dreams." At the end of the day, I may ultimately be responsible for the store, but it's not just my store; it's the team's store. Coaching, Supporting, and Elevating my team are the most important responsibilities that I have. When those three are taken care of, I can rest easy knowing that my team can be confident in their daily work choices. When my team is strong, I am able to go out into the community and foster new relationships thus growing our business one smoothie at a time. Sales are an everyday must for any business, but it's how we approach them that makes us successful. I have learned that the best way to establish continued sales and success is through education, practice, and leadership. Sales may be our goal, but we don't have to be "sales people". I'd like to think that we are in the people business providing products and services to our guests. Educating our guests is our primary job. When you are looking out for the best interest of your guest, it's never a sales pitch. If they are not interested this time, they may just say "yes" next time. It's about building trust and loyalty through being an authentic human by showing that we care.This is my job description. I wear thousands of other hats like many General Managers. I am responsible for all the things you could imagine in this position and then some. I have an exemplary track record and have taken a store that was in good condition, given it a ton of TLC, and watched it flourish into one of the most respected stores in our area. It's not what I can do that makes me successful, but rather why: Because I Care.

I work one on one with those dedicated to changing their everyday routine. Growth is key to the individual on the mat, and each session is directly tailored to their wants/needs. I am extremely personal and believe in alignment and focus on adjustments with added lengthening and stretching. Listening to not only what is being said verbally, but also through physical cues is definitely a strength of mine. Every body has a story to tell, and my job is to keep the author both challenged and inspired.

I love helping passionate food/ beverage artisans find their niche in today's ever -growing market. Living in such a largely spread out city, it can be intimidating for a small vendor to figure out where to begin their journey. My job is to help those individuals grow into the market they desire, and at the pace they are most comfortable with. I have a generous list of contacts that I have made through both personal and business interactions. These contacts range from small local markets to large hotel chains and beyond. Essentially, I am a match-maker and as such, understand that relationships are not made overnight, but rather take time, energy, and devotion.

As the store manager, my goal was always to find and create interesting ways to keep our community based customers intrigued and coming back for more. Sourcing diversified products through smaller distributing companies as well as local food vendors elevated our healthy "convenience store" to a "destination place". Sales are achieved in many ways, but my philosophy on this has always remained the same: Education and Community are key. We established a team that were a part of the selecting of process and as such were knowledgeable of the products we brought in. Sampling new products to our target market was also essential in determining the sales and success of future products. Both of these would later result in feeling a part of the store and the direction it was heading, thus leading to a greater sense of community. I also created a program for smaller, local food vendors called "Fresh on Fridays". This program allowed these smaller vendors to be highlighted on Fridays as a feature product and exclusively available only on Fridays. This not only celebrated these vendors by giving them a platform to be seen and heard, but also created community buzz. Fridays, one of our slowest sales days, quickly became one of our best days as our customers had something to look forward to. Of course, I did all the other normal things you do in this position as well (perhaps less exciting to detail) such as, hiring, scheduling, sales forecasting, weekly recaps, product promotions, invoicing, payments, and just about anything and everything you can think of to make a small business successful (including social media and outreach).