Happy Women’s History Month! This month, we want to highlight the female leaders who are making huge contributions to our retail community. These women are paving the way for future female leaders through their hard work and dedication. Read below for their advice for the next generation.
Barkha Saxena, Chief Data Officer at Poshmark
“Cultivate relationships and identify mentors—take time to identify the right leaders, mentors, and teams that work best for you. These relationships are key not only for professional development, but can also be helpful when navigating challenges both personally and professionally. When making career decisions especially, focus on finding the right mentor who will be your champion and help you identify strategic opportunities.”
Angela Hsu, SVP, Marketing & eCommerce at Lamps Plus
“Aim to network for the long term and try to be a valuable resource to your network without expecting anything in return. You’ll find that life comes full circle.”
Emily Culp, CMO at Genexa
“In order to innovate and drive exponential growth, you need to embrace smart risk. This means not only stepping outside of the known and putting as many metrics, assumptions and budgets in place but also realizing there is a creative non-quantifiable brand component too and both are important.”
Shawna Hausman, CMO at Health E-Commerce
“Don’t be afraid to raise your hand and take on that project that is a bit of a stretch for you. As women, we often wait until we feel that we are true ‘experts’ in a subject matter before putting ourselves forward for a project or position. The best way to advance your career is to take risks, and sometimes put yourself in an uncomfortable position.”
Leslie Emmons Burthey, VP of Marketing at GoodRX
“Having a sponsor within your organization who is in a decision making position is vital to your career progression by opening doors and creating opportunities that you might not otherwise have access to. Get familiar with the concept of sponsorship. If you don’t have one, think critically about whether it’s specific to you or your current company. If the company, think about your prospects there and whether it might make sense to leave.”
Vivian Chang, VP Growth at Clorox
“For me personally, I’ve always channeled who I’m representing (minority, Asian-american women) as my source of motivation. It helps to be clear on a ‘why’ that’s bigger than myself for when it inevitably feels lonely or doubts creep in. Those moments are normal, and I’ve found it so important to surround myself with friends, industry peers, mentors who will believe and encourage you every step of the way.”
Thank you to all the women in our community who are paving the way for future female retailers. We celebrate your contributions this month and every month.
For more career advice and insights from other female leaders in retail, check out our Conversations with CommerceNext podcast. In our episode with Sally Pofcher, CEO at Hanna Andersson, hear about her experiences with reaffirming brand values and strengthening company culture in changing and challenging times. Meera Bhatia, COO at Fabletics, shared her career journey and specifics about her work at Fabletics while providing many valuable insights about ecommerce. In our episode with Julie Bornstein, Founder & CEO of The Yes, she walks through her own career growth as well as her vision within the ecommerce fashion retail industry.
You can also hear from female retail leaders including Monica Freedman, Chief Digital Officer at Alo Yoga, Etka Chopra, Chief Digital Officer at E.L.F. Beauty, ReShon Anderson, Chief Digital Officer at Kendra Scott, Kristin Patrick, Chief Marketing Officer at Claire’s, JuE Wong, CEO at Olaplex and more at CommerceNext 2022 in NYC from June 21 to 22, 2022. We look forward to hearing these innovative leaders’ experience with reimagining ecommerce experiences to fit new customer needs, providing digital leadership, disrupting the industry and more.
