Hey, Everyone! Welcome back to this week's edition of Gavin's Musings!
The past week or so at The Lab was challenging for us. Aaron had planned to take some well-earned time off on a vacation to Mexico, leaving Stefan, Sam, and me to steer us straight for a little over a week. It was interesting for me to see how the store operates with only three retail associates, which is, of course, what the boys were working with before I was hired. Safe to say, we have reached an operating capacity where we should avoid having one associate in the store at a time. And that's a good thing! We're growing! Business is good, thanks to all you fine folk. I also got to close up shop alone! The boss gave me my very own keys!
It was a particularly challenging and learning-intensive time for me. Given Aaron's absence and my comparatively small amount of experience at the store, many challenging moments presented themselves. For example, there were a couple of days where I had to run the store alone. There was a moment when someone was trying to sell their gear to me while there were two or three other parties in the store trying things out and needing assistance. It was very overwhelming and probably the most challenging situation I've faced yet. There were also a couple of times when I had to tell people that I honestly couldn't answer a question they had, or I didn't know how to do something for them. Challenging moments like these, of course, happen all the time. They happen to everyone. It's just not the greatest feeling when you can't turn to your associate to lend you a hand. It's all good though! Out of necessity, I was forced to think critically and improvise. No matter how difficult things got, I made sure to keep a good mindset and try to learn something from every experience.
But Aaron is back now, and it's good to see him again. He enjoyed his vacation, and he seems to think that we did a good job holding things down here. Aaron gave me some helpful tips and lessons on how to better handle some situations I faced while he was gone. Had he not left, I would not have been put in the position to learn these lessons and face these challenges. Once again, it's all good. So far, The Lab has been an awesome learning experience through and through, and I don't see how that could change.
Oh, most horribly though, we happened to have a 90-degree day on Monday, and the AC was off! Stefan was teaching lessons for a while, leaving me in the store alone, and I didn't know how to turn the thing on. I knew that Aaron was able to control it with an app on his phone, but I didn't want to bother him on his vacation. When Stefan was FINALLY done teaching and walked back into the store, I made my problem clear. Stefan suggested that I, "Just text Aaron…". Well, I texted Aaron. He instantly responded that he would turn the AC on... Lesson learned.
That's all I got for now, folks. Make sure to thank your Boss and any coworkers for all the work they do to keep things moving! Stay tuned for next week's blog. May marks two years at this location, so we're working on cooking up our craziest sale yet! Seriously! Check your emails and our social media for news about what we have in store for ya!
Take care, everyone. Until next week!
-Gavin
