Nine Years of Leadership Sharing and Learning

Celebrating nine years of sharing retail leadership insights.

I can't believe it has been nine years.

When I first started writing this, I really wasn't sure what was going to happen. My thoughts ran in a loop: I don't know if anyone is ever going to read this. What if no one reads it? What if they hate it? What if, what if, what if. Pressing post that very first time was terrifying. I know I have said that before, but it is still a very clear memory for me.

Now it is just something that happens every week. For nine years, two articles have been posted every week, plus a quote card, plus some other extra items along the way. A couple of leadership articles every single week and a quote on leadership. And I still love doing it. It is something I still look forward to writing every single week. I still look forward to finding new ideas to share. I love reading other articles and thinking that I could put my spin on this and share with others. I love taking ideas and saying, “here is how it applies to retail leadership”.

Where the nine years went

When I started this, it was about the possibility of what I could do with it. Not just the blog, but whether I could make a business out of it. I ended up going back into the everyday world instead. I served as the Vice President of Store Operations for Party City for seven years, until Party City finally closed down. And then I found myself again in 2025 at that same crossroads.

I am excited to say that a year and a half in now, I am running a successful consulting business, Accents Enterprises. And I am still writing here, with a perspective from the work I am doing with retail companies today that I am not sure I had nine years ago.

I also still have a strong desire to build this out into more than just articles. That will come in time. As much as I thought it would be easy, it hasn't been. It takes a lot of time to do it. But it remains top of mind. There is more I want to do here, whether that is courses, a podcast, or possibly video. Those are all things I talk about, think about, and plan for. When the time is right, it will get done, and I am going to keep pushing myself to do it sooner rather than later.

Why it still matters

There is a bigger need for leadership now than there was even nine years ago. The pace of change in the business world has done nothing but accelerate in the past decade. Calendars are absolutely packed full. There is an almost constant expectation to do more with less, along with the need to keep growing the business in a challenging retail environment. Leadership is absolutely paramount to every company's success, and there is still so much that individuals can learn.

I think there is still a strong desire among so many aspiring leaders to learn more. They are hungry for leadership ideas, especially in a world that is crowded by a bunch of AI now. I still truly have a passion for helping retail leaders become effective retail leaders.

And I still believe that everybody deserves to have a great leader to work for, or to have worked for one. That is my goal. That is what still drives me today. Helping people be the leader others want to follow, or choose to follow. Somebody people can look up to. And helping people find the leaders they want to learn from and have as a mentor. I love all of that.

Nine more

The idea of what drives me hasn't changed in these nine years. If anything, I am more committed today as I was back then. It has been a great ride, and I am looking forward to many, many more years of sharing information and ideas and my own experience with you, to help you become a more effective retail leader. I hope you will continue the journey with me. If you’re just getting started, welcome. We will work together to strengthen leadership in the retail space and make it better place for everyone in the years to come.

-Chris

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