Well, it's the end of week number 23 for me in my pregnancy and the end of of a little rat race I like to call "Black Friday". I know that many people like to partake in the craziness that is Black Friday. Heck, I did before I started a career in retail! But as much fun as goes into hunting for the best deals and being the first in line to receive giveaways, about 100 times more planning and preparation actually goes into making that day possible for shoppers to enjoy. If you've ever worked in the retail world, you have an idea of what I am talking about. If you have ever managed in the retail world, you understand what I am talking about. But if you have ever been a store manager in the retail world, you know what I am talking about.
Basically, planning and preparation for stores starts promptly at the middle to end of 3rd quarter (September-October). Schedules consume your days off, backroom organization consumes your time in your store, marketing storage and sorting consumes your brain constantly as you play a sort of mental tetris to try and fit zillions of signs into boxes into mere feet in your stockroom. Sleep goes by the wayside as you lie awake at 2am thinking, "If I get up and go to work right now, I bet I could get about 8 boxes of clearance out of my backroom before we open..." Your body becomes capable of a workload that a 9-5er can never and will never comprehend. After all, you are in charge of a mutli-million dollar store and you are responsible for all of the thousands of units therein. On top of that, you are responsible for hiring, training and staffing a crew for the holiday season.
At 26 years old, my responsibility level far outweighs the average American's. Because I am responsible for producing volume that keeps my company afloat. I am responsible for motivating and encouraging a team of people from different backgrounds and life experiences in different ways that will (hopefully) produce the same perfect customer-oriented result. I am responsible for writing a 400 hour schedule that will best satisfy the needs of my customers who ultimately sign my check. I am responsible for the visual appeal and merchandise flow that is my silent seller for hundreds of shoppers who walk into and by my store with impressed looks on their faces. And I am responsible for being at my store come hell or high water, rain or shine.
I'm not trying to say that I don't get tired or worn out, because I do. 12, 13, 14 and 15 hour days running around on a concrete floor will bring any grown man or woman to their knees. But doing that while pregnant will slap kick your butt. And guess what? My butt is kicked because I did it. My store doubled its' plan and was ready for another great day of business because of the workload my team and I put in. We doubled our sales goal...no one does that. But we did. Because of my amazing crew and their fearless leader...we did it.
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