Retailer Secrets: 10 Things I Learned in 10 Years of Retail with Kirsten Skoglund

“Retail Lesson number one — the magic is in being nice.”
Sometimes people are really, truly insane. But you’re in retail, so you stay nice no matter what. No matter what.”

There’s what you think it will be like to own a retail store and then there’s the every day reality. I owned a women’s boutique for 14 years and let me tell ya, it’s not for wusses. It’s more fun than you ever imagined and it’s waaaaayyyyyy harder than you ever imagined.

My guest today tells us what it’s really like to own and operate a boutique. Kirsten Skoglund owned a knitting shop with her sister for 10 years in Minnesota. Like most people who go into retail, she never thought she would. She’s a former HR executive who had a passion for knitting – and a business was launched.

Kirsten is funny, smart, and honest in this interview. She’s also the new accountability coach (woot!woot!) in my Imperfect Action membership. She ROCKS.

Some snippets from the interview:

• • • “It can be pretty lonely being a retail store owner because you really don’t have a whole lot of people to talk to. Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot of loneliness with entrepreneurship in general.”
    • “Sometimes people are really, truly insane. But you’re in retail so you stay nice. No matter what. Retail Lesson number one — the magic is in being nice.”
    • “I didn’t have any systems for that (hiring), and I’m kind of embarrassed about that. I was always looking for people who could sell. I would go to the drive through and someone would be really good at selling me a hamburger and I would ask them if they wanted to come work at my store.“
    • Planning became very, very important. I was pulled kicking and screaming to the planning process and really learned to embrace it. If I planned, I could sell more! And it really did help keep all of the craziness out of my brain. Well, not all of it.“

Have a listen…

You can also listen on iTunes and Stitcher Radio

Mentioned in this episode:

• • • Kirsten as an accountability coach in Imperfect Action
    • Kirsten as a retail consultant with Retail Mavens
    • Kirsten’s email: kirsten@retailmavens.com

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