In Blog 82 I talked about My Mentor Robs influence. In this blog I wanted to talk about Why Knowledge is power.

So one of the big things I learned from Rob was doing a proper stock walk. A stock walk is when you physically go into the stockroom and go down each aisle to make sure you have your key items and sizes in stock. In a retail store its also good to make notes of things that are out of order. I even do this today in a more virtual way.

So not too long after I got downstairs to Brass Plum shoes, Steve left the company. I was really sad to see him go as he gave me a new start in the Arden Fair store and he was just a great guy. I learned a lot from him to about how to treat your people. Steve would have us over sometimes for get- togethers at his home. He was a really warm and friendly guy and we have a nice relationship to this day.

Kaaren

So Rob promotes Kaaren into the Women’s shoes position. She had a lot of knowledge being at Nordstrom for a while and was a great merchant. We hit it off right off the bat. She was funny and was great with people. She had a great style to her that people respected.

Nordstrom University

I get a call from Rob one day and he says “Mikey boy”, we are going to put all the buyers in the region through a “Nordstrom University” program. We will talk about how to run the business the right way and how to manage people effectively.

One of the topics was actually how to listen to people. It was a great program and I learned a lot from it. I use a lot of the things from these courses even today.This is why knowledge is power. It helps you make informed decisions.

I said earlier that one of the most important things Rob taught me was the stock walk. It was, but it was part of the bigger picture of how important knowledge of your business is. There are so many facets to running an effective business and everyone should be hungry to learn more, always…If you don’t know the answer or are stumped on how to improve your business, figure out how to get there. This why Knowledge is Power

He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger. Confucius