? T E N Y E A R S ?

I recently celebrated my ten year anniversary with TravisMathew (does this make me feel a tad old? Yes ??) and the team threw me such a sweet celebration at our offices last week. I'm so grateful for the people I get to work with every day ?? - they really know how to make a gal feel special.

I've been reflecting a lot on how my life has changed over the last decade, not only personally but professionally. With that, I wanted to share a mix of my top ten lessons, moments and memories over the last decade.

The beginning of our journey into retail!

A top memory is definitely that first day of business. We spent the two weeks leading up to this moment moving into our new space, unpacking, merchandising, organizing and training to gear up for this day. I took a leap (pun intended) of faith joining a company at the beginning of its retail journey and am so grateful I did! ??

Think outside of the box & stretch your comfort zone.

This feels like a common lesson most people have to learn at some point, (at least if they hope to continue growing and evolving) but that doesn't make it any less meaningful. This was one of the first philosophies I had to get behind when I joined, and I had to do it quickly - there was no other choice, our success depended on embracing this.

Story Time: As an example of this, before I was even hired I had to prepare and share a strategy around client outreach and driving business through community efforts, which was a totally foreign concept to me. Not only that, I had to create and pitch a selling and service model that demonstrated an elevated approach and lent itself to an entirely different client type than I was used to. I came from a retail brand that didn't need an in-store client relations strategy - there was no personal client outreach, we didn't keep client books, and we barely had a loyalty program. We had a selling model, and that was the extent of it. "Client Relations" was a concept I had to not only learn, but convince a new brand that I could execute a strategy around.

With this brand being entirely new to retail, the success (or failure) of it was really up to us in the store - we had to drive our own business, we had to get our name out there in the community, we had to cultivate relationships with our clients to keep them coming back, and ultimately, make money. There wasn't a ton of brand recognition to coast on. We had to think outside the box.

Moving into a new headquarters and opening a Friends & Family store!

The HQ store was our 4th location and another example of having to think outside of the box to drive business. Without being open to the public, we had to be scrappy and think of ways to reach out to the surrounding communities to build partnerships with other corporate offices in the area and establish our own foot traffic.

Don't be afraid to ask for what you need.

Story Time: I explicitly remember this situation; I was then a new junior District Manager over our 5 locations but still working shifts out of my home store, and it had been this way for several months. I was << t e r r i f i e d >> of asking if I could move to a more "corporate" schedule and backfill myself in the store. I made up all these stories in my head that they'd think I was ungrateful, or lazy, or entitled if I asked that. Do you know what my boss said to me when I asked? He said, "Yeah, of course - I thought you were already doing that."

Cool cool cool. ??

I spent months agonizing over something that wasn't even a big deal. Lesson learned - just ask! Even if his answer was "no" - at least I could've saved myself all that unnecessary worry.

This is a small example of a much larger concept I grapple with to this day - feeling guilty about asking for what I need (where are my people pleasers at?!), whether it's to maintain work/life balance, or because I'm stuck and need help and perspective, or - God forbid - because I'm human and don't know all the answers. Nonetheless, I'm living & learning this lesson still.

P.S. I was very much available (and often still working) nights and weekends as a DM, just really need to make that known ??

Frank the Tank!

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Frank IRL, he's our beer belly mannequin, which many people wondered if he was actually pregnant.

Speaking of mannequins, one year on Black Friday (maybe 2014 or 2015), I dressed up in a mannequin outfit and posed around the store waiting for the right opportunity to surprise someone ??

Embrace the idea of extreme ownership.

Story Time: I tell this story often to new leaders in our field. It was one of the biggest lessons and gut punches (in the best way possible) of my time here so far. (It's been simplified for the sake of conciseness)

The CEO and President were my direct leaders for a period of time. We were 5 stores in. During a regular touch base, the CEO asked me what I needed to do to drive sales in our stores and see some major improvements to business. He told me to think about it and get back to him.

That night, I brain dumped all these things that I thought needed to happen to make real improvements in our stores. I drafted this perfect email, outlining each of the things I thought would really make a difference, like a better replenishment strategy, more dollars into advertising, more social media posts about our retail stores, better recruiting resources, etc. I made sure to list the gaps we had. Insert *chef's kiss*.

I was so proud of myself for this perfectly outlined email of ideas and so excited because finally someone (the CEO no less!) would listen to all the things I thought we weren't getting enough support on in Retail. I hit send, and couldn't wait for our next touch base.

When the next touch base rolled around, the CEO said he received my email.

"These are good ideas, I don't disagree with any of these."

Omg, yes! I was feeling pretty good, until he said this:

"Here's the thing, Abbey. I didn't ask you what everyone else needed to do differently to improve results. I asked you what you needed to do improve results."

Insert gut punch.

I'm not going to lie - when I went home that night, my first reaction was anger, frustration, and about all these other reactive and defensive responses that kept me as the "victim" in this situation. I can't quite pinpoint when I was actually able to get over myself long enough to realize the gift I was just given, but I was eventually able to look in the mirror - hard - and realize that I'm the leader, it starts with me. If I was going to take a reactive and defensive approach to every challenge (and therefore stay the victim), I wasn't going to grow or improve. I had to adopt a proactive approach, take ownership of results, and create accountability in myself to improve. That was a big ah-ha moment for me and I think a big catalyst for establishing one of my core values as a leader today which is maintaining a high sense of accountability and taking ownership over my part in something. Am I perfect at this? Absolutely not. But if you asked anyone on my team what I stand for, I think they'd say the same thing.

I'll end this trip down memory lane with a few extra high points:

• The time I played Andy Roddick in ping pong!
• The time I was helping Howie Kendrick and had no idea who he was and ended up getting his cell phone number (so that I could pass it to our brand team for him ??)
• The time I sold David Spade a couple polos and asked for his ID at the register (he laughed when he realized I was kidding)!
• The time I was unfairly matched with an opponent twice my size in sumo-suit wrestling but found redemption in bubble soccer!

These only scratch the surface but if I don't stop soon, this will become the next great American novel!

I became a mom since I've been here (my kid had his first giggles in the office), I've been married and divorced while being here, I've seen the highest of highs and experienced some of my lowest lows. I've lost myself, only to be found again, I've built myself up, only to be gracefully humbled. I've been self-deprecating when I should've felt permission to be proud, I've done more than I thought I was capable of and continue being shown all there is yet to achieve. I am incredibly grateful for the lessons, the memories, the mentorship, the friendships, the partnership, the opportunities, and the faith that this place keeps showing in me when sometimes I don't have it in myself.

Cheers to Ten Years! ??