Career Spotlight- Retail Store Manager
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In our previous Career Spotlights, we’ve had the opportunity to learn about an Assistant Principal, a Heart Catheterization Tech, and a Registered Nurse. The common theme for all these professions is that they each require attending a college program and successfully passing an exam to practice the career. These are great careers and anyone would be lucky to be able to serve their communities in the way that these people do.
But what if you read each of those and thought, “I want to be successful and have a career but I am not sure college is for me?” You may like the idea of school but may lack the focus to sit through class. Maybe, you think it’s just too late for you to begin school at this point in your life. Whatever your reason may be, it does not prohibit you from being successful in life. Sure, it’s great to know what you want to be when you grow up, make a plan, follow it, achieve said goal and the rest is history. However, this is not everyone’s story. Sometimes you have to try a few things to figure out what you are good at. This discovery is not the “easy path”; in fact I would argue that it takes even more dedication, hard work and determination to keep trying when you find one thing doesn’t work to ultimately reach success in a chosen field. In this Career Spotlight, Keana S. Boudreaux will share her story about how she found her niche as a Retail Store Manager II.
Keana is from Lafayette, Louisiana but currently resides in Pensacola, Florida where she works for Cox Communications as a Retail Store Manager II. In her role, Keana supervises nine employees in retail sales. She does payroll time approval, sets team goals, shares skills learned through training with her staff and does her best to create an environment where her team can succeed and enjoy what they do in the process. Keana is the mother of 4 girls and hopes that her story can inspire others.
Keana S. Boudreaux - Retail Store Manager II
Describe your promotional track since you began working with COX. I began as a Dispatcher in 2008 and transitioned into sales in 2012 as a Senior Solution Specialist. In November of 2015, I was promoted to Assistant Manager where I worked in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In May of this year, I was offered the opportunity to promote to Store Manager with a relocation to Pensacola, Florida- to which I gladly accepted.
Your new position required a move, to Pensacola, Florida, what are the positive highlights about the move? I am excited to embark on my career in leadership. I love the weather; the people are nicer than in Baton Rouge, (I still love my Baton Rouge folks, though) and I look forward to taking my girls to the beach every week.
What would you say it takes to be successful in this profession? It takes a lot of patience, determination and good selling strategies to be successful in sales. There are monthly quotas that have to be met but “A-1” customer service is also very important.
What are some things you do to set yourself apart in this profession? I build an awesome rapport with my customers where they don't mind referring me to relatives or contacting me for further assistance. I believe my positive; "can do" attitude has helped me attain success.
What are the common misconceptions about this profession? A common misconception of working in a sales position is that all you do is sell a product and "it's easy". The truth is that first, you must sell yourself and the quality of the product before you get to quantity.
What advice would you give someone wanting to go into this profession? My advice would be; no matter how your day is going you must show up with a smile. If you are not a people's person this it's not the career for you.
What would you say to encourage someone to go into this profession? In this or any profession, don't let anyone tell you something is not for you! Whatever you want to do in life, the only answers you need to seek are from God.
What cautions would you share with someone about this profession? Sales positions are typically commissioned based which means your pay is related to how much you can sell. This means you have the ability to make an abundance of money, but be cautious because if you don't perform well you may make very little money- which if consistent can put your job in jeopardy.
How is the work/life balance in this profession? I am a mother of 4 and I work full time. You must find balance in your life and prioritize. In my position, I am still able to have my kids involved in extracurricular activities and have a social life of my own. Because of this, I would say the work/life balance is positive but it is also what you make it.
Prior Careers
What are some of the careers you had prior to this one? I attended Acadiana Law Enforcement training academy in 2006 and became a police officer for Lafayette Police Department. I was a Louisiana State Certified Police Officer with certifications in defensive driving and firearms. I also started “Strive 2 Drive” a Louisiana State Certified Drivers Education school in 2010. We offered 36 and 6 hour first time driver education courses and the business was very successful. I soon realized I didn’t have the time or passion to continue with it anymore so after 2 years I decided to close the office.
Why did you leave law enforcement? Unfortunately it was very difficult being a young, Black, female police officer. So many departments are filled with racism and biases. “Who I knew” became an issue for my superiors in the department even though I was great at my job. After realizing that I could no longer accept the beating down of my character, I knew it was time to create a different career path. I absolutely loved being a cop, I just couldn’t take the underlining discrimination within Lafayette PD. However, I’ll always be thankful for my experience as an officer because it was through that position God blessed me with my two oldest girls.
Do you want to share more about how you were blessed with your 2 oldest girls? As a young girl, I was always drawn to T.V. shows about adoption. I remember telling my mom at age 15, when I got older, I would go to Korea to adopt internationally. Then, at age 22, while I was working at the police department a friend, who was a foster care worker, knew how much I loved kids and advised me to look into becoming certified to fostering kids. She recalled how I always babysat and helped to provide for children anyway and how this would be a great way to do so for children who needed it. I was going through a rough time at the police department so I thought this could be a great way for me to help children while I considered my next career move.
I looked into the program and determined how great it would be to care of a kid that didn’t have it all. I became certified at took in my oldest Azarreya, when she was three years old. Five months later, the Friday before Christmas, this same friend called and asked me to “help her out”. She had just removed an eight month old little girl from her mother and needed to place her ASAP. She told me she would pick her up on Monday. Monday never came. I fostered Azarreya (now 11 years old) and Makayla (now 8 years old) for about 3 years before they were eligible for adoption. At that point, they were family and I loved those little girls like I had given birth to them. There was no other option for me, and in 2012 I adopted both girls. I changed their middle names to Faith and Hope because this is what was getting my family through hard times.
A few years later, I gave birth to Laila (now 6 years old) and Londyn (now almost 4 years old) with my then boyfriend of 6 years. Even though the relationship didn’t work out, we are co-parenting long distance to make the best of the situation for our girls. I am proud to be the mother of these four girls, they are literally the light of my life and all love each other very much.
My life is finally at a place where I am content and genuinely happy. My kids are amazing and for a while now, even as a “single mother” I don’t even remember the last time I lived “check to check”. My career is blossoming and after being friends for 8 years, I’m now in a relationship with Christopher “DJ Chill”. Chris has been heaven sent for the past two years. It’s been remarkable for me to witness a man who doesn’t have kids, love 4 kids as his own. I fall more in love with him daily and sometimes I think my girls love him more than me! We plan to get married in the near future and continue to grow our family.
Future goals
When you think back on all the training and different careers you've had, what might you do differently? I wouldn’t do anything differently. My motto is “God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.” So I remain positive. Through Him, I discovered I had a passion for building a rapport with people that helped me gain success in the sales industry. I believe everything I went through, is why I am who I am today.
Have you set any career goals for the future? I have completed three years of courses in Criminal Justice from University of Phoenix. I plan to complete my education and earn my Bachelors. I've set a career goal to be successful in my current position meeting sales goals and breaking records for a couple of years, then possibly aiming for a role in our Atlanta corporate office. I'm thankful for where I've been and where I am currently, but the best is yet to come!
We hope that reading about Keana's journey brought a different perspective to you about earning your way to a successful career. There are many paths to success but its up to you to take the steps necessary to get there. If you have more questions about a career as a Retail Store Manager, you can reach Keana at keanaboudreaux@gmail.com. Keana is also on social media: Facebook: @KDash Boudreaux Instagram: Mzhollowood0303.
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