WEBVTT 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.670 Ricardo Belmar: Welcome to our new Retail Razor show, Blade to Greatness, 00:00:11.180 --> 00:00:14.840 our new standalone Retail Razor show, where we hear from a retail industry 00:00:14.840 --> 00:00:19.180 leader who shares their sharp insights and cuts of wisdom on how to excel in 00:00:19.180 --> 00:00:21.040 this dynamic and competitive field. 00:00:21.340 --> 00:00:25.520 In this series, we learn about the essential must have skills and qualities 00:00:25.520 --> 00:00:30.005 that every retail executive needs to lead their teams and their business to success. 00:00:30.318 --> 00:00:33.948 Casey Golden: Whether we're talking about HQ or stores, we'll uncover valuable 00:00:33.948 --> 00:00:39.150 tips and advice that every retail leader can apply to their own retail career 00:00:39.150 --> 00:00:41.600 path, raising your Blade to Greatness. 00:00:42.155 --> 00:00:43.635 Ricardo Belmar: I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar. 00:00:44.085 --> 00:00:45.775 Casey Golden: And I'm your co host Casey Golden. 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:52.180 Today we're speaking with April Sabral, founder of retailu.ca, an 00:00:52.185 --> 00:00:56.560 online leadership development portal for field leaders, and the author of 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:01.000 two books, "The Positive Effect" and her latest "Incurable Positivity." 00:01:01.390 --> 00:01:06.714 After three decades running stores for brands like Starbucks, Banana Republic, 00:01:06.744 --> 00:01:11.927 Apple, Holt Renfrew, and DavidsTea, April's transitioned into coaching and 00:01:11.927 --> 00:01:16.634 training after seeing the impact of leadership firsthand on a retail business. 00:01:16.874 --> 00:01:21.667 Her current clients include brands such as Jimmy Choo, L'Oreal, Victoria's 00:01:21.667 --> 00:01:23.527 Secret, David's Bridal, and More. 00:01:24.124 --> 00:01:26.824 Ricardo Belmar: Today she's here to talk with us about one of the most important 00:01:26.824 --> 00:01:28.324 skills every retail leader needs: 00:01:28.874 --> 00:01:32.584 how to cultivate a positive culture throughout your organization. 00:01:32.967 --> 00:01:33.447 Casey Golden: Welcome, April. 00:01:34.362 --> 00:01:35.682 April Sabral: Hi, good morning. 00:01:36.030 --> 00:01:39.000 So yeah, today I'm gonna share a little bit more about that. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:40.170 It's really important. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:44.850 I don't know anybody who says that they wanna show up and go into work and just 00:01:44.850 --> 00:01:46.920 not have a great experience, right? 00:01:47.042 --> 00:01:49.412 And there's a lot of people, unfortunately, that are not 00:01:49.412 --> 00:01:50.402 having a great experience. 00:01:50.402 --> 00:01:54.662 I learned a long time ago, I had a boss that when I was a store manager, he was 00:01:54.662 --> 00:01:58.162 a regional director at Banana, and I said to him, how do I get your job one day? 00:01:58.492 --> 00:02:02.072 Like, I literally asked him that and he said, when people go home at night, They 00:02:02.072 --> 00:02:05.282 spend a lot of time at the dinner table talking about what they've done all day. 00:02:05.282 --> 00:02:08.372 And usually they're talking about their work, what they've done, 00:02:08.372 --> 00:02:11.042 who they've interacted with, and specifically their boss. 00:02:11.552 --> 00:02:15.032 And so he's like, you have a real impact on the way that people go 00:02:15.032 --> 00:02:17.522 home and talk about you, the company. 00:02:17.882 --> 00:02:19.562 And those ripples go out to their family. 00:02:19.562 --> 00:02:21.032 And he said, and I want you to think about that. 00:02:21.032 --> 00:02:23.792 When you leave every day, what would they be saying about you 00:02:23.792 --> 00:02:24.902 at the dinner table at night? 00:02:24.902 --> 00:02:27.872 And that really stuck with me 'cause he said they're either. 00:02:28.837 --> 00:02:32.527 Everybody in their family and friends group is either telling them to leave and 00:02:32.527 --> 00:02:34.447 get another job 'cause it's not worth it. 00:02:34.867 --> 00:02:35.287 Right? 00:02:35.617 --> 00:02:37.357 Or they're saying, oh, good for you. 00:02:37.357 --> 00:02:40.267 And like that person's coming to work and like actually putting 00:02:40.267 --> 00:02:43.807 more effort in the next day because they love what they're doing. 00:02:44.167 --> 00:02:48.842 So there is proven facts statistically that when you have a positive culture and 00:02:48.842 --> 00:02:54.512 people feel good coming to work, that you get 10% more intrinsic effort out of them 00:02:54.782 --> 00:02:57.842 that a pay increase just cannot do, right? 00:02:57.847 --> 00:03:01.622 And so when somebody's not feeling great, they just check out, call it quiet 00:03:01.622 --> 00:03:04.382 quitting, whatever you wanna call it, but you're just not getting the effort. 00:03:04.382 --> 00:03:08.012 So positive culture's so important, and if you're not 00:03:08.012 --> 00:03:11.042 working on culture, you have one. 00:03:11.372 --> 00:03:13.772 It just might not be the one you want. 00:03:14.142 --> 00:03:17.702 HR leader told me that a long time ago, and I was like that's just golden 00:03:17.702 --> 00:03:21.362 because how many times do we talk about 'we wanna improve culture?' 00:03:21.392 --> 00:03:24.452 I've been at executive tables where we're talking about culture and people, 00:03:24.452 --> 00:03:27.962 but we don't have a plan in place to actually do anything about it. 00:03:27.962 --> 00:03:28.772 We're just talking about it. 00:03:28.772 --> 00:03:31.532 And culture is everybody in the organization the 00:03:31.532 --> 00:03:32.492 way you show up every day. 00:03:32.957 --> 00:03:35.267 How you make other people feel working for you. 00:03:35.777 --> 00:03:39.497 You ignite positive emotions, neutral or negative every day in the way 00:03:39.497 --> 00:03:43.307 that you interact, the way that you communicate, where your focus goes. 00:03:43.667 --> 00:03:48.492 And so, yeah I'm a big one on like positive culture and what that can 00:03:48.492 --> 00:03:50.052 do for you and how you do that. 00:03:50.057 --> 00:03:51.612 And I believe it starts with leadership. 00:03:51.612 --> 00:03:56.052 It starts with leadership, knowing how to lead, develop, and 00:03:56.172 --> 00:03:57.882 inspire those emotions in people. 00:03:58.932 --> 00:04:02.342 Casey Golden: Yes, it's a conscious decision, at the top that you have 00:04:02.342 --> 00:04:05.732 to plan it, you have to think about it, you have to have a vision for 00:04:05.732 --> 00:04:08.492 it, how to execute it, scale it. 00:04:08.822 --> 00:04:13.229 Do you think that more you've seen more companies with a culture that they 00:04:13.229 --> 00:04:14.659 the culture that they think they have. 00:04:15.324 --> 00:04:16.344 April Sabral: Oh, a hundred percent. 00:04:16.674 --> 00:04:16.914 Yeah. 00:04:16.914 --> 00:04:17.244 Yeah. 00:04:17.274 --> 00:04:19.164 People think that they have something, but they don't. 00:04:19.164 --> 00:04:20.964 You just read exit interviews, right? 00:04:21.924 --> 00:04:25.524 When I was leading stores, I read thousands of exit interviews, and 00:04:25.524 --> 00:04:28.134 when somebody would resign, their boss would usually call me and say, 00:04:28.134 --> 00:04:30.924 oh, they left, they got another job, they got an opportunity. 00:04:30.924 --> 00:04:33.294 If we throw more money at them, I can get them to stay. 00:04:33.624 --> 00:04:36.864 And I would get on the phone with store managers, district managers 00:04:36.864 --> 00:04:40.344 at the time, and it was never about the pay, it was always about 00:04:40.344 --> 00:04:41.544 the person that they worked for. 00:04:41.964 --> 00:04:44.244 So, top two reasons why, you know. 00:04:44.494 --> 00:04:48.334 People leave companies, specifically right now in retail as well, but 00:04:48.514 --> 00:04:49.594 I've only ever worked in retail. 00:04:49.599 --> 00:04:53.734 But it's general is number one, the person they work for, and number two, they're 00:04:53.734 --> 00:04:55.444 not getting any career development. 00:04:55.474 --> 00:04:56.674 Those are the top two reasons. 00:04:56.964 --> 00:04:58.194 Pay is always the third. 00:04:58.704 --> 00:05:02.274 So, but they're not gonna tell you that in an organization because they don't 00:05:02.274 --> 00:05:04.294 want to have that come back at them. 00:05:04.294 --> 00:05:04.534 Right. 00:05:04.534 --> 00:05:07.354 So if you do internal surveys, a lot of times it doesn't show up. 00:05:07.744 --> 00:05:11.044 If you look at the exit interviews though, it always shows up. 00:05:11.494 --> 00:05:16.444 But that requires then you as a leader to actually take that feedback. 00:05:16.834 --> 00:05:19.504 Take ownership and responsibility for that, and then start 00:05:19.509 --> 00:05:20.404 doing something about it. 00:05:20.404 --> 00:05:22.744 People just wanna love where they work, who they're working 00:05:22.744 --> 00:05:24.244 for, and they wanna be developed. 00:05:24.454 --> 00:05:28.414 And development is the number one thing that gets dropped all the time. 00:05:28.414 --> 00:05:32.764 When sales are bad, we don't have time, resources are cut. 00:05:33.214 --> 00:05:33.754 All that stuff. 00:05:33.754 --> 00:05:36.064 And that's why I created retail You, that's just so affordable for 00:05:36.064 --> 00:05:38.964 everybody to jump on because it's literally helping you develop your team. 00:05:39.384 --> 00:05:39.714 That's it. 00:05:40.247 --> 00:05:42.137 Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, it is one of those things where we always hear. 00:05:42.767 --> 00:05:47.217 Retailers will say, we it's the year, this year, we need to invest in our people. 00:05:47.217 --> 00:05:50.187 But you're right, that you, that's always the first thing that gets cut 00:05:50.187 --> 00:05:53.727 when there's a need to cut things because it's seen as a cost, not an investment. 00:05:54.387 --> 00:05:58.127 April Sabral: Yeah, but I mean, I've been working with a lot of brands this year, 00:05:58.127 --> 00:06:02.087 specifically on positive leadership, right from the Positive Effect, the first 00:06:02.087 --> 00:06:04.957 book, and it's being so well received. 00:06:05.532 --> 00:06:09.712 Just hearing, like, shifting the mindset, like having those coaching skills to 00:06:09.712 --> 00:06:13.007 develop their teams it's a skill at the end of the day, and we need to 00:06:13.007 --> 00:06:17.507 provide that for for our leaders to be able to create that culture, right. 00:06:17.637 --> 00:06:18.107 Every day. 00:06:18.554 --> 00:06:19.239 Ricardo Belmar: Yeah, absolutely. 00:06:19.239 --> 00:06:19.869 A hundred percent. 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:22.629 Well, April, thank you so much for sharing these insights. 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:26.409 We're so, so right about the need for that positive culture. 00:06:26.414 --> 00:06:30.684 And I think my big takeaway from that is that even when you aren't trying 00:06:30.744 --> 00:06:33.804 to build that culture, just the fact that you're not trying is kind of 00:06:33.804 --> 00:06:35.274 the culture you're setting, right. 00:06:35.274 --> 00:06:38.924 And it shows and is reflected in all of your teams, whether you realize it or not. 00:06:38.924 --> 00:06:42.014 So you do have to take control of what you want your culture 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:43.424 to be in, in an organization. 00:06:43.964 --> 00:06:46.124 So thank you so much for sharing those insights with us today. 00:06:47.029 --> 00:06:47.329 April Sabral: Thank you. 00:06:48.574 --> 00:06:50.994 Casey Golden: if you've enjoyed our show, please consider giving 00:06:50.994 --> 00:06:54.944 us a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts and Goodpods. 00:06:55.454 --> 00:06:59.814 Remember to smash that subscribe button in your favorite podcast player and tune 00:06:59.814 --> 00:07:01.944 in on YouTube, so you don't miss a minute. 00:07:02.564 --> 00:07:04.334 I'm your cohost, Casey Golden. 00:07:04.934 --> 00:07:07.364 Ricardo Belmar: Please share your feedback with us on Twitter at Casey 00:07:07.364 --> 00:07:11.454 C Golden, Ricardo underscore Belmar, and at RetailRazor, or find us on 00:07:11.464 --> 00:07:12.914 LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram. 00:07:13.349 --> 00:07:17.309 For the best highlights from each episode, shipped straight to your inbox, subscribe 00:07:17.309 --> 00:07:20.729 to our Substack newsletter for full episode transcripts and bonus content. 00:07:21.049 --> 00:07:22.369 I'm your host, Ricardo Belmar. 00:07:23.074 --> 00:07:23.984 Casey Golden: Thanks for joining us. 00:07:24.649 --> 00:07:26.419 Ricardo Belmar: Until next time, keep cutting through 00:07:26.419 --> 00:07:27.679 the clutter and stay sharp. 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:30.109 This is the Retail Razor Blade to Greatness.