After a three-year hiatus, we’re excited to have brought back our Club 501® event earlier this month to recognize excellence across our U.S. retail leadership teams. Two district managers and 14 store managers from across the United States were invited to join leaders at our headquarters in San Francisco, where they were recognized for delivering strong business results and cultivating an inclusive and engaged store team while exemplifying our LS&Co. expectations.
During the three-day event, the retail leaders met with cross-functional partners in the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) organization and participated in professional development workshops. To close out the event and celebration, the Club 501® Influencers joined our annual global Community Day.
We sat down with some of our 501® Influencers to get insights on ways inclusive leadership enabled them to meet their business objectives. Read what they had to say below.
Sam Wurster, Store 117 — University Village: “Having an inclusive team has brought so many fresh perspectives to the store’s hurdles. A large part of achieving Club 501® has been elevating our consumer experience selling model through our stylists. The management team also includes people from varying backgrounds and levels of experience, which has led to a lot of new ideas and ways to approach the team’s development. On a stylist’s level, we are able to leverage their various strengths to connect with different consumers in different ways.”
Holly Fratello, Store 206 — Niagara Falls: “Our team works hard to create a safe environment where we can ask about each other’s childhoods or talk about family traditions and the unique things that make us all different. I want and need a team of diverse people to feel challenged — not cookie-cutter ‘yes ma’am’ employees. I want our consumers to see employees that they can identify with. I want my team to reflect our marketing in-store and media expressions. We all know how good it feels to be represented and identified outside of just our own family. I truly believe in creating a culture of inclusion in which our consumers will see us as the brand and place to be.”
Amanda Nordman, Store 282 — Fashion District of Philadelphia: “Diversity and inclusivity are in the blood of our store’s surrounding Seattle metropolitan area and are the reason so many of us choose to live and work here. Being the store where anyone can come in, regardless of who they are or where they’re at in life, and to see representation in our team and communicate easily with each other means a lot. I am proud to have a team where everyone can celebrate and leverage each other’s differences. It’s a central focus of our store and ultimately it does help us be more profitable.”
Thomas Stark, Store 294 — Freeport: “Our customers can see themselves in us. I think it’s important for everyone from every background to feel as if they are represented in our brand. I have such an amazing team that is consistently surprising me, and I continue to learn from them every single day.”
Congratulations to all of our 2023 Club 501® Influencers and thank you for your leadership. Our business success would not be possible without you all.
Club 501® 2023 Honorees:
Sam Wurster
Meredith McCue
Yoselin Herrera
Christie Spry
Abby Mertzic
Fallon Ferrara
Angel Mendoza
Jacob Campbell
Jessica Pokrajac
Amanda Nordman
Brian Earls
Thomas Stark
Holly Fratello
Teresa Pfaff
Logan Sayre
Desiree Aguilar
Cindy Henry
Andrea Pachura
