Erin Talbot is the vice president of human resources at Diamonds Direct. She’s also a Women in Retail Leadership Circle (WIRLC) member! In this member spotlight, we asked Talbot a series of questions about both her professional role and personal life, including the woman that inspires her, her leadership style, her advice for the next generation of female leaders, and much more.

  1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
    “Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual” by Luvvie Ajayi Jones. I’ve always spoken my mind, even as a small child. She encourages people to fight the fear involved in saying or doing what you believe in to be true to yourself and live your best life.
  2. What’s a tip you have for productively leading a remote or hybrid team?
    Keep it personal. If you’re only focusing on productivity, engagement falls and productivity will decrease anyway. Instead, focus on knowing your people and inspiring them. They will naturally apply that inspiration to their work. Just take a look at your engagement scores from before COVID compared to a hybrid model.
  3. What’s a mistake you made early on in your career?
    When I was young I felt the need to be right all of the time. I spent a lot of energy trying to justify my recommendations. When I gave up on seeing the rejection of my recommendations and ideas as a personal attack and began to see them more as a collaboration, I became more invested in the big picture. This one takes a lot of practice because all of us tend to be our own worst critics.
  4. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
    Giving all of yourself to everyone. You spend a lot of time helping others achieve their objectives and it’s sometimes hard to focus on growing yourself.
  5. What’s the best way you motivate team members?
    Whenever a new team member comes on board I like to observe for a while. I figure out what they’re good at and look for ways to harness their strengths. I think too many leaders focus on what people don’t do well or need to improve on instead of leveraging their strengths. When you see someone is good at something and you give them the tools and space to excel in that area, you create a fire in them that opens the door to growing additional skills within them.
  6. What woman inspires you right now and why?
    I don’t know that there’s just one woman. I’m super inspired by all of the female entrepreneurs that have taken an idea from concept to thriving business. Spanx, Lume, and Bumble come to mind. Seeing women succeed like this gives me the energy to continue to pursue those bold ideas.
  7. What are you looking forward to the most for the industry over the next year?
    I think we will have a unique opportunity to discover even more ways to engage different types of shoppers. COVID forced us to focus on digital, Gen Z forced us to focus on experience, and I think the economic challenges will force us to engage and market to several new audiences all at the same time rather than the typical audiences we’ve targeted. With that will come new creative strategies, and that creates a ton of positive energy within the industry.
  8. What’s one thing you look for when interviewing a job candidate?
    More than anything else, I look at values and personal characteristics. We have a very unique culture and I want to be sure a candidate will emulate our rhino attributes (humility, work ethic, passion and ownership). We can teach them anything else they need to know.
  9. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year?
    I’ve learned that when I hit a road block, that I need to inspire myself with some sort of education. I usually come out of educational experiences with a ton of creative energy, charging at full speed.
  10. What’s your favorite podcast?
    I honestly don’t like listening to people talk for fun. I prefer to read because it’s more peaceful and self-reflective for me.
  11. What values are most important to you as a leader?
    Humility and grit. I want someone strong enough to persevere through failure, but humble enough to learn from mistakes.
  12. What’s the most important thing people should know about you?
    Authenticity is super important to me. We’re all busy people. There’s not enough time in the day to try to figure out someone’s true agenda. Just be real.
  13. What practices or boundaries have you implemented in your personal life to create more work/life balance?
    Exercise. You have to make time for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m researching all the time how to make it easier, but it turns out there’s no replacement for the health benefits of exercise. I’m also a girl mom of teens. I’ve had to learn that it’s not OK to give all of myself at work and have nothing left at home. I have to be very intentional how I spend my time once I walk through the door to my home.
  14. How would you describe yourself in a single sentence?
    I’m a fearless ally and coach with relentless dedication to those I support.
  15. What’s your favorite app?
    Instagram for sure. The animal reels have me going down the rabbit hole every time!
  16. What do you do to recharge?
    I love to be in a quiet, clean space. Spring is probably my favorite time to go on long walks or sit on the patio. Doing nothing, thinking about nothing gives me back my energy.
  17. What’s your biggest accomplishment?
    I got a Master’s degree on an accelerated track (15 months) while working full time with two kids in elementary school. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but it was necessary to take the next step in my career. I’ve pursued education/certification every time I was ready to advance. I think education is a key element of growth.
  18. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
    Learn the business! From numbers to people, be able to speak the company’s language. And when you want to grow, just CHARGE!
    C: Create relationships
    H: Hone your strengths
    A: Adapt quickly to road blocks
    R: Reflect on feedback
    G: Grow your knowledge
    E: Expect failure
  1. What gets you up in the morning?
    The fact that I have to take my daughter to school. LOL! I am so not a morning person😊 It helps that I love where I work though.😉
  2. What do you like most about being a member of Women in Retail Leadership Circle?
    I like learning from others’ experiences and celebrating their accomplishments. Knowing I have a network of people to collaborate with is encouraging.

Interested in connecting with women like Erin? Apply today to become a Women in Retail Leadership Circle member!