Retail Sales Director | The Kitchen Cupboard Health Food Store 

What does a typical day look like for you? 

A typical day in the Kitchen Cupboard involves serving our lovely customers their healthy goods, placing orders, stocking the shelves, date checking and rearranging the window display with any new and exciting products. Checking emails to see if any online orders have been placed and speaking to our sales representatives to find out about any new promotions available on certain products.  

How did you get your job? / What training, degree, education do you need? 

My mum Managed the franchise Julian Graves for 5 years until she received a phone call one day to say that the company had unfortunately gone into financial administration. With a continuing high demand for the healthy products that the store sold my mum decided to keep the shop and find a new supplier in the UK that could offer us similar healthy products. This is when the Kitchen Cupboard was born. I went to Brighton University to study Business Management and on my return to the Island I took over the business from my mum so that she could retire. 

What are the most important skills needed for your role/job? 

Excellent customer service skills are essential for the role as well as product knowledge, being able to give customers advice and health benefits of products is crucial.  

Are there any future skills you will need to learn for your role? 

Keeping up to date with the ever-changing food trends/demands is very important so that we can ensure we are stocking products that our customers are wanting. Keeping on track with new products that enter the market and learning about their health benefits is also very important so that we have the right information to give to our customers. 

At the moment I am really just focusing on honing the specific art of the adjustment.

What is the best part of your job? / What motivates you in this role?

Forming lovely relationships with our customers is the best part of my job because it brings me a lot of satisfaction to see customers return to the store for the same products that they love. Keeping the shop stocked up motivates me as I like to ensure we have the products available for our customers. 

What advice would you give someone interested in a career in your profession? 

Know your competition, see what they offer and try to provide something slightly different. Have a good repour with customers and make it clear to them that nothing is too much effort. If they ask for a product that you don’t stock, check with your supplier to see if it is something that you can get hold of for them, this will create a good relationship and bring repeat purchases.  

Who inspires you and why?

My mum is my biggest inspiration, she has always worked extremely hard for success. Despite any setbacks she may have faced she continues to work through them. She is the reason I have the job I have today, so I owe a lot to her.