Life is an unpredictable journey, and as a result, our paths to success are often circuitous, with twists and turns along the way. But it is these twists and turns that shape us into resilient and wise leaders, empowering us to rebuild and achieve what we need to ultimately succeed.

This was a key theme discussed during a breakfast panel I moderated at the 2023 CommerceNext Ecommerce Growth Show in New York City Tuesday titled “Women in Retail Leadership: Navigating the Path to Success,” with retail superstars Susie Kuhn, the former president EMEA at Foot Locker; Savannah Sachs, the CEO of TULA Skincare; and Kim Tobman, CEO, Bouqs.

Each of these women have made significant strides in the retail and e-commerce industry and in their own careers, and we had a great time discussing their career growth stories, leadership lessons and secrets to success.

A pivotal moment in Kuhn’s career trajectory was saying yes to her first overseas assignment with Nike in 2006. It was a move she never thought she would make, but she was glad she did.

“It completely changed the trajectory of my life and career,” Kuhn said. “I had a personal motivation because I love to travel and so it was so easy to say yes to going overseas. On the professional side, however, I didn’t realize how different it was going to be.”

But after spending 10 years in Asia and most of her 30s — and post-manager and pre-VP roles — in foreign markets, “I really learned the value of listening, and how develop strategy and execute plans,” she said.

In addition, living overseas helped Kuhn understand the importance of constantly learning and growing.

“When you arrive in a new culture or in a new market, it’s necessary to learn, so I take that same approach with all of my new roles — regardless of how familiar they may seem,” she said.

For Sachs, moving from consulting to a startup was life changing. “After business school, I took a bigger pivot than I was expecting and followed a leader I knew from my consulting days who joined Birchbox, the beauty subscription business,” she said. “I learned all things ‘growth-stage startup’ and that’s when I really fell in love with the beauty category and realized it was what I really wanted to do.”

For Tobman, a pivotal moment was taking on a general management and marketing oversight role at ShoeDazzle after acting as head of public relations and social for the company.

“Working on my leadership abilities and opening myself to learn from my peers in marketing and data gave me an opportunity I didn’t realize I was excited about,” she said. “I found that while I loved PR, I really loved a data-driven marketing focus and understanding how to build and grow businesses, so that is where my career made a shift.”

How has your career journey pivoted? Have you made any career choices that were surprising to you but ended up changing your trajectory and leading you to success? Please let me know by dropping me a line at mcampanelli@napco.com. We would love to hear from you and perhaps feature you in an article in the Inner Circle!