Training Wheels.
These past two weeks I have been shadowing my coach, Christine, who has been a brand rep in the field for the past year. I was able to go to all of my stores that I must go to weekly. Town East is out in Mesquite, Texas, which is an interesting mall. The Macy’s has been a disaster both times we went, but that was mainly do to the fact that the company was doing inventory. None of the watches were placed back correctly, and all of the tags were left out. I think I spent an hour just doing one watch bay, so I was very happy to have the help of my coach, who is about 5 times faster than me. The Dillards on the first day was also a disaster, but the sales associates are friendlier, and the handbags associate is new and very nice. I will have to become her new best friend, so she can help me out when I am not there. The Stonebriar Macy’s is huge, as it is one of the biggest malls up in Plano, but the product itself stays pretty neat. Thankfully, Candace, another merchandiser who has been doing this for years, has the Dillards at Stonebriar, so we can work together.
Merchandising the watches and other product itself is not rocket science. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t challenging. Trying to make the product we have look like the schematic can be downright difficult. There is a lot of creativity and problem solving involved, and I enjoy that aspect of the job. Something I’m looking forward to is building relationships with the employees and managers at the store. I know with my business background, friendly personality, and RA experience, I will be able to build strong relationships with the important people in each store. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we will be spending much time in the corporate office, but that can be a plus and a minus. I was looking forward to the projects in the office, but I have plenty of time to sit at a desk. I need to enjoy the ability to travel around and be on my feet while it lasts.
I thought I would be more intimated for my first day on my own tomorrow, but I am pretty confident. My coaches have taught me well, and I have strong support group to call or email if I have questions. The training wheels are off. It’s time to work all on my own.
