20 Questions With Nora Gomez, Chief Merchandising Officer, Nebraska Furniture Mart

Nora Gomez is the chief merchandising officer of Nebraska Furniture Mart, a home furnishings retailer. She’s also a Women in Retail Leadership Circle member! In this member spotlight, we asked Gomez a series of questions about both her professional and personal lives, including the woman that inspires her, her leadership style, her advice for the next generation of female leaders, and much more, so that you can get to know her better.

1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
   “Believe It” by Jamie Kern Lima. One of my favorite quotes from hearing Jamie speak at the 2022 Women in Retail Leadership Summit is, “Do you listen to the ‘No’ or the ‘Knowing’?”
2. What’s a tip you have for productively leading a remote or hybrid team?

• • Ensure there are rules of engagement for virtual meetings.
  • Have an agenda. Virtual fatigue is a real thing!
  • Have a heightened awareness to “proximity bias” — there’s a tendency to look more favorably on the people we see more often. Or “Presenteeism” — favoring those who feel most comfortable in a traditional office setting.
  • As leaders, we need to build an environment where employees feel seen, heard and included no matter where they’re working.

3. What’s a mistake you made early on in your career?
   People associate mistakes or failures with their identity. Developing a strong center core of belief in yourself helps transcend beyond the mistake. Be persistent in building resilience to re-frame your perspective on failures or mistakes. If you make one, fail fast and recover fast!
4. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
   There’s tremendous pressure on leaders today to maintain culture. Culture is a competitive advantage. Putting our core values into practice every day sets the tone of our culture. Honesty and integrity. Being the person others can count on. Being a positive influence on people and processes. Encouraging teamwork through sharing ideas, successes, credit and effort.
5. What’s the best way you motivate team members?
   Autonomy over empowerment.
6. What woman inspires you right now and why?
   My daughter, Lucy. She’s the future with an old soul. She’s my constant reminder of what’s good in this world. She inspires so many people by being kind and humble yet fierce and driven. I wish everyone could spend even five minutes with her. She’s life changing.
7. What’s one thing you look for when interviewing a job candidate?
   Honesty and integrity. Oops, that’s two things.
8. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year?
   Exude what you expect. Grace comes out of the heart of a giver. Wake up each day with gratitude.
9. What’s your favorite podcast?
   I have many favorites and cannot pick one.
10. What values are most important to you as a leader?
    Honesty and integrity. Trust and respect. Humbleness and empathy. Always remember that leadership is a privilege. Your influence will affect the trajectory of someone’s career and, often, their life.
11. What’s the most important thing people should know about you?
    I’m extremely loyal.
12. What’s one habit you adopted while working from home that you’d like to keep with you as you return to the office?
    Actually, I never left the office. Even when our stores were temporarily closed, I came to the office every day.
13. How would you describe yourself in a single sentence?
    I actually asked a few people in my life to describe me in a single sentence:

• • “Nora is a highly energetic and fearless leader who challenges and motivates people to think differently and embrace change.” — Hilary, General Manager of Visual
  • “A natural leader, trend setter, loyal, adaptable to any environment, always looking to learn, optimistic, and you just get shit done.” — Nick, our son
  • “You’re a go getter, committed and driven. You have the warmest and kindest heart and go above and beyond for family and the people you work with. You are badass boss woman and you’re the greatest mom to ever exist. Oh, and you’re inspiring and inspire me every day.” — Lucy, our daughter
  • “Humbled.” — Me

14. What’s your favorite app?
    Poshmark
15. What do you do to recharge?
    Spend time with my family. I also love to travel. Oh, and I also love to shop!
16. What’s your biggest accomplishment?
    My family. Keith, my husband of 31 years, Nick, our son, and Lucy, our daughter. We’re a very tight unit even though we live in three different states!
17. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
    I love this advice from Gary Ridge, former CEO of WD 40: “Make sure that your empathy eats your ego, and your ego doesn’t eat your empathy. It’s not about you. It’s about what you’re there to do, which is to help those you lead step into the best version of their personal self so they can feel accomplished and they can feel the benefit of the work that they do.”
18. What gets you up in the morning?
    The gift of a new day, of a new opportunity.
19. How would you describe your leadership style?
    Transparent
20. What’s one thing you love about being a Women in Retail Leadership Circle member?
    The wonderful universe of women.