No one has made it to the top without stumbling at least a few times. Challenging situations will inevitably arise during what is hopefully a long, fulfilling career in retail, and they’ll make you a stronger leader.

At Women in Retail Leadership Circle’s first On the Road event of the year in Dallas last week, four female leaders shared the stage to describe their biggest career pivots. They walked us through how they navigated the crisis, what happened when that self-doubt started to creep in, and how they made it through even stronger than before. 

The panel started by defining what it means for them to pivot, and how the biggest career pivots they faced changed their lives.

Titles Aren’t Everything

For Yasaman Stewart, a Women in Retail Leadership Circle member who leads marketing at Friendly’s restaurants, her title at work was the most important thing to her.

“My eye on the prize was my title, and I’m ready to admit that now,” she said. “I lost the passion of everything I wanted to do.”

She took a job in Colorado, moving her family from Texas for that coveted executive-level spot in an industry she wasn’t used to — and fell into a depression, experiencing burnout. When she realized she’d made a mistake, she quit, moved her family back to Texas, and found herself unemployed with no idea what to do next.

Nine months later, she found a job that she loved at Friendly’s and got the passion back.

“But I did take two steps back to take four steps forward,” Stewart said. “I don’t care about my title. I have a great team; I love what I do.”

Let Go of What Was Supposed to Be

For Mia Meachem — most recently the president of sun care brand KINLO —  the word “pivot” means “adapting to unexpected change,” like she had to do when, three months into a new job, an activist investor took interest, and the company was sold 16 months in to Meachem’s tenure.

“I walked into this role thinking, ‘I’m going to be here for a while, I’m going to help grow it,’ and for me, the pivot was really thinking about the opportunity differently. It became less about what I thought it was going to be, and more about leading a team through change,” she said.

Follow Your Life’s Purpose

For Mahisha Dellinger, “pivot” means “stepping out on faith and doing what your life’s purpose is.” She had a career at Intel as a marketing manager, where she said she was targeted by racist manager. That’s when she said she realized she didn’t want anyone else to control her “financial destiny” and she would become an entrepreneur instead. After quitting her job at Intel, she founded CURLS Beauty Brands, whose products can be found at major retailers across the country.

While she followed her life purpose, Dellinger said she had to learn how to keep work and life separate — there were many instances where something would happen at work, and she would internalize a failure, or a struggle, and her home life would suffer.

“I have to remind myself, ‘This is Monopoly. You’re playing to win, but you may have a setback.'”

Find Alignment Between Work and Life

For Kelsey Moreira, “pivot” means “finding an alignment between who I want to be and how I want to show myself in this world, and what I’m doing every day.” That meant addressing her poor mental health and alcohol addiction head on, leaving a high-stress career at Intel and coming back to a childhood passion: baking.

Her talents in the kitchen eventually led her to quit her job and create Doughp, an edible cookie dough company that now has more than $13 million in lifetime sales.

“You really have to keep yourself in check with things like gratitude practices to know that where you are is good, and there’s so many great things, and figuring out how you find a balance to keep yourself grounded moving forward,” Moreira said.

The panelists also shared the best (and worst!) advice they ever received, how they found their support systems, and how they knew it was the right time to pivot. Women in Retail members can watch the entire session — as well as all the keynotes and sessions from the event — on demand now. Not a member? Apply today!