Retail. The sales of goods to the public for consumers to buy. I’ve worked retail pretty much my entire life, but working with retail has shown me it’s ups and downs. Let me give you a brief story of what I do at my job!
As of right now I am employed at Maurice’s, which is a women’s clothing store and carries sizes from XS-2XL, but also carries sizes for women who are 14-24 which is a 0-3. I picked this store to work with because not every day is the same. I am considered a “Fashion Stylist” or an associate retail, I am that sales person who helps women when they don’t like to shop at all, and they hate trying on clothes. So this puts me in the position to pick out one top, or a bottom and ask if they like it and if they do then I put an entire outfit together for them and have them try it on. This happens occasionally, but I am also there to help out consumers who are going to a fancy event, need dress clothes for work, or even if women are not sure what size they are. This job has made me connect with women in many different ways and it happens every day. Sometimes you get to know their background story when you weren’t expecting it. It’s crazy! But at the same time, it not only makes me happy, but I made someone else brighten up with a smile on their face.
But there are times when a customer is not in a mood at all and is feeling down on themselves. These are the hard days. Helping a customer takes a lot of courage, especially when someone is getting frustrated because they can’t find something that fits them the way they want it too. There are times when a customer will start bringing me down because they’re comparing my size to themselves, and it’s hard at times because sometimes I don’t know what to do in this position. But I hold myself back and look at the customer and say “nobody is perfect, you’re beautiful the way you are.” There are times when a customer seriously gets so mad at me for something I myself can’t do because it’s related to store policy. This could relate to the price of the clothing being too high, when a product of ours gets a hole in it and someone brings it back, when you can’t do certain payments with certain online orders, etc.
At the end of the day, retail has shown me that connecting with people, coming out of my comfort zone, learning new leadership goals and just being yourself is the person I am today. Sure there are pros and cons with retail, but these past experiences with working retail has shown me why I am a business major because all these skills I have enlisted will help me later on in life.