Footwear Insight

T hank you to the entire Beck's team for welcoming me back to the Beck's Shoes Leadership Summit, held a few weeks ago, in Santa Cruz, California. is annual event represents the independent footwear channel at its best. Beck's consistently exceeds expectations, creating an atmosphere which allows for open discus- sion and providing presentations which encourage people to reflect upon how they run their business and to consider new possibilities. What makes this event exceptional are all of the independent retailers, along with the brands that support the Beck's team, who have taken the time to venture out to Santa Cruz — and Julia and Adam's willingness to share their ideas and goals with them. At the two-day Summit, we heard about trust and recognition. I commend the awards showered upon many of Beck's employees, recognizing and appreciating their contributions. Bob Infantino and Steve Mahoney led things off with a conversation on Fusing Power and People to Drive Your Ecosystem. According to Infantino, from a company leadership perspective on culture and relationships, it's about "understanding people that we work with and getting people to care about our business as much as we do. Common sense isn't all that common. People are watching everything you do, all of the time. In today's WFH environment, those water cooler conversations aren't happening anymore. So how do you build culture? Culture saves you a lot of money. Yes, pay people fairly, that's a given. But what do people want (that culture thing)? Involvement, being heard, participation, contribu- tion and, certainly recognition. And, recognition is not only top down, it could be bottom up or from a colleague." Infantino went on to say, "leaders also need to sit down and listen to their team (avoid having that smartest guy in the room mentality). Flip the organizational chart, with 'consumers' at the top with the idea that those closest to the consumers know what's going on. A good question can serve as a great tool. As an example, if you have plans to change things at the warehouse, then go to the source—the people in the warehouse—and ask good questions." Steve Mahoney's experience, before joining Samuel Hubbard, includes executive positions at Clark's and Earth. Mahoney stated, "brands are built at independent retailers." Reflecting on Beck's theme "control your controllables," Mahoney went on to state "consumers may shop D-T-C, but independent retailers have the sit and fit service experience that can't be duplicated on the screen. Tell your story." Moving on to the Power of People, we heard from Jeff Bloomfield, author and founder of Braintrust, who said, "Treat people better than they expect. Ask the right questions to help them discover themselves and self-invest." Bloomfield encouraged everyone 4 • Footwear Insight ~ September/October 2023 footwearinsight.com Some things are better in person. Road trip. L to R: John Luck, Lucky Shoes; Garrett Breton, Comfort One Shoes; Gavin Martin, ELM Shoes; Joel Habre, Shoe Mill; Joe Wright, Vernon Powell Shoes; Adam Beck, Beck's Shoes. L to R: Justin Kehrwald, Tradehome; Adam Beck, Beck's Shoes; Julia Beck-Gomez, Beck's Shoes; Kim McKeown, Tradehome. What makes this event exceptional are all of the independent retailers, along with the brands that support the Beck's team, who have taken the time to venture out to Santa Cruz. LETTER

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