Finding Mary Poppins
Every now and then you actually get what you wish for in this world. Over the summer, TSALT had been on the search for a leader to our sales staff — we were searching for a manager. Ask any retail owner and they will tell you that finding a manager is like finding a needle in a haystack. Many times this person becomes the face of the store and will be crucial in representing your brand. At other times, they are creating the energy that draws clients to just want to come visit and connect with a friendly face. They must be able to execute our policies without alienating our client and garner the respect of our current sales staff. This was an impressively tall order. We had tried to post the position more than a few times and struggled with how to include all the qualities of this elusive individual into one ad. And even if you could, how would that ad read?
If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Rosy cheeks, no warts
Play games, all sorts
You must be kind, you must be witty
Very sweet and fairly pretty
Take us on outings, give us treats
Sing songs, bring sweets
Indeed, it felt as though we were looking for Mary Poppins. The other question was how do you know if those ads will ultimately get in front of the right candidate? Then, miraculously, while on my vacation this summer, I received a text from none other than Sarah Eley. Many of you may remember her as Kiskadee’s sparkly blue-eyed manager from a couple years back. This was quite ironic since I had thought about reaching out to Sarah for this position during our search but hadn’t come up with the right hook. I remember how excited she was to join Anthropologie as part of their merchandising team and anticipated it would be hard to pull her away from a great place. Being a small business doesn’t always give you the best leverage to attract candidates such as Sarah because of the inability to offer competitive benefit packages. Unbeknownst to me, there was something else that was about to be in our favor.
Sarah in the sequin dress that TSALT designed for her rehearsal dinner.
The reason she had reached out to me was for some guidance in helping her fiancé find a suit for their upcoming wedding! Sarah told me she and Dave were getting married on October 2, which is also my own wedding anniversary — surely this was a sign. While I had Sarah in a text conversation, I took the opportunity to subtly ask her if she “knew anyone who may be interested in applying for our management position.” The jury is still out on who was zooming who but we couldn’t be more thrilled to have the newly betrothed Mrs. Sarah Felton join TSALT.
I hope you will come in and take some time to let Sarah share some of her favorite pieces with you at TSALT. She’s has a fantastic eye and goes the distance for her customers.
I’ll share that upon officially taking the position, Sarah deftly texted me and requested her first special order…the navy velvet blazer from FRAME. That’s just a little insight on how Mrs. Felton rolls!
