Dear Retail,

I feel I need to begin by saying I could have learned very little of what I now know about business and retail anywhere else but The Source. My experience here under the managers with whom I’ve worked – there have been nine stores in total, under eight managers in my nearly five years, and I’ve been exposed to now five District Managers, including the two whom I met before coming on board. Some of these managers have been their division’s greatest asset. It would be unlikely that I would be moving the direction I now am without the mentoring I received from two specific managers, for example. Other managers with whom I’ve worked have not been effective. They are, uniformly, no longer with the company. I was one of those managers. I am no longer with the company.

Let me sum up how I see my term here, in case this letter makes its way to anyone not familiar with my careers. I’ve worked in nine stores in four and a half years. Three times, I’ve been nominated for the Star Service award, and I’ve earned two personal sales awards. Had I remained with the company until the end of this month, I would have won my third. I’ve earned, in four and a half years, four hundred thousand rewards points. This means six formal awards and numerous positive citations in four and a half years. If there’s anyone remaining in the company with that high a density and consistency of recognition, no one has been able to find them for me. I spent ten months as a sales associate before spending two years as an assistant manager, then five months as a store manager before being moved back down to sales associate – where I remained for just over one year before leaving the company in favour of a role far better suited to my skills and talent, for much better pay, nowhere near a retail sales floor. I’m not just leaving the company, I’m leaving the industry – The Source is the last company I will ever work retail in. [Read more…]