by Jackie Walker
A new mall is coming to town! To the delight of the population of Tampa, Florida, a two-story modern shopping experience was to be opening in 1976. It would be filled with many popular stores and restaurants. Prior to this retail establishment, shopping was sparse except for an outdated mall only a few miles from this one. This former retail destination had very few appealing offerings and many were closed due to lack of business.
Anchoring at one end would be a department store called Burdines. This was the first of its kind in the city to offer high end clothing for men and women as well as home furniture and accessories. Burdines’ central offices were in Miami. They had been known for years in that locale as the place to shop! Once finding out this news in 1975, I sent them a letter of introduction with my resume. I asked to be the initial person they interviewed when they opened a year later. I finally did get that call and was among the first to be hired.
The beginning year was glorious. We were all new and were so impressed with our store manager and the entire executive staff.
After six years of employment there in various clothing and jewelry areas, I was going out on a six-month maternity leave. At that time, associates were given one month leave of for every year of employment. This was an over-the-top benefit that ended with my perk. They realized that this particular benefit was excessive and from then on only gave a total of three months, which was still very generous.
The day had come when I was to report back to work. Feeling secure that my darling baby boy would be well cared for at home, I entered the associate entrance and reported to the store manager’s office. After a warm greeting, he shared my future assignment.
“We were happy to hold your manager’s job, but there are no openings in the clothing areas, so you will now be managing Decorative Home.” I was startled because these were areas that I had no experience in—China!? Crystal? Linens? Collectibles? He assured me that I would love it there. He said, “If you have talents in clothing, you will have talents in these areas.”
The next day before opening I arrived to start my new position. I was always early, way before many of the other employees arrived. The Decorative Home departments turned out to be my very favorite. My staff was like the United Nations. My Bridal Consultant, Marinette, was from France. The flower area was run by Tina from Germany. Collectibles were run by Trish from Switzerland. They all were enthused about taking me under their wing and taught me the art of sales and display in all these departments. I was fascinated by all the china patterns and the desires of the registering brides. Tina created stunning silk flower arrangements for our many delighted customers. I spent many hours displaying elegant linens on the eight display tables. To this day I set my personal tables with colorful designs.
Four years passed and I must admit that I loved every day working with a staff of women that was experienced and delightful. Then it happened again!
I was called to the store manager’s office and told of a reassignment.
“We are going to make you our new Human Resource Manager.” He explained that the prior manager had been transferred to another location, and this was a needed move for me and the store.
Stunned I blurted out, “That is Personnel. I know nothing about Personnel! I am a retail merchant!”
He seriously looked at me and said that he highly expected me to take this position. He tried flattery by saying that I was the “Rah! Rah!” person in the store, always planning parties and events along with my actual job. When your superior highly encourages a move, you know that the deed is done, your name is on the door, and you had better get going. I thought if I could have fun planning parties and events, what a great position this would become. No one told me that I would have to fire people, deal with insurance, and handle the first HIV/AIDS case in the entire corporation.
Again, very early the next morning, I opened the door to my new second-floor private office. Prior to this, my office had been a tiny spot located in one of the stockrooms. I hung pictures, put a vase of fresh flowers on the desk and, without any training, readied myself for the first employee to need my help.
She knocked politely and walked in to be seated across the desk from me. She was wearing designer clothing on every part of her body. I knew this lady as I had worked with her for years as an equal manager.
“How may I help you?” I asked.
Then it happened. Misery poured out of her mouth. She hated her boss. Her paycheck had been shorted. She was having problems at home. As women do, she told me her whole life story in the next ten minutes. I remember looking down and glancing at her shoes. I thought to myself, how can she be so miserable? Those are the most beautiful shoes I had ever seen! Being a fashion buyer and manager, I had been all about the “Outside “of a person.
Everyone that I met with that day was unhappy and needed my advice. They were all adorned with elegant clothing and accessories. I closed my door at six pm and, as I was driving home, I knew that this position would create new challenges for me. I felt as if I had been doing my career all wrong.
Aha! Now it became clear to me! If you are not happy inside your heart and mind, no amount of materialism on the outside can make it so. It is not the next ring, new home, designer handbag, or person that can make you happy. It is YOU!
The next years were filled with more trainings, as well as many serious occurrences. There was that one employee who had contracted HIV/AIDS. At that time, it was so new that there were no rules about how to handle it. Corporate made many mistakes by working with him as a special case and then had to revert to handling his benefits like everyone else’s. I went through a roller coaster of emotions as he asked me to tell his parents. They had no idea he was gay, and he could not face them with, at the time, this death sentence news.
I think of him so kindly till this day. Many more of my associates struggled with family issues and some had to be terminated, which was always hard for me.
I stayed just long enough to insure my benefits. All the while I was planning ways to diversify my career. Then it became apparent where the road would take me next. Relying on my human resource experience, I would analyze women on the “Inside” to see what they saw in the mirror. What would improve their lives both inside and outside? What would raise their self-esteem? Then I would use my retail experience to bring their closets into harmony with their current lifestyles. I created work books to analyze them, A Day in the Home and Dressing from the Inside Out. My business was born! This was the answer to my next step toward personal freedom and on life’s journey.
For my entire life, my dream was to make a difference in the world. The answer was here in an “Aha” moment that started in that second-floor personnel office. Now I could take clothing to a higher purpose, enhance self-esteem in my soon-to-be clients, and teach them how to become their own kind of beautiful.
Sometimes you lead your life. And sometimes your life leads you. The positions that I had disliked so much brought me to my future career opportunities.
Jackie Walker began her career in the retail industry in postions ranging from a couture clothing buyer to a Human Resource Director for Federated Department Stores. In 1988 she left corporate life and started Option Dressing, a unique personal image consulting service focusing on the options in people’s closets that create inner and outer confidence for their personal choices. At this point Closetology was created and Jackie was branded Dr. of Closetology, a consultant on the psychology of clothing, with workshops and training seminars for clients and the public. Her bestselling book, I Don’t Have a Thing to Wear, The Psychology of Your Closet, now in the 8th printing with Simon and Schuster, has been translated and released internationally. Her second book Expressionista, How To Express Your True Self Through (And Despite) Fashion was published by Simon and Schuster in 2013. She has appeared on many national and local television and radio shows and contributed to magazines across the country. Jackie teaches a course in Closetology for OLLI in April. For details and registration, click here.
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