The wrong path is wrong until it’s right.(Grit & Glamour: Epi.2)

Continuing the anecdote “Timeless Wisdom” that began last week.

Previously:

In 2002, at the age of 27, I made the leap from the food service industry to the apparel industry. My management experience from my previous job was highly valued, and within just two months, I was promoted to store manager at a luxury select shop in Tokyo’s Ginza. However, I struggled with the new industry’s customer service and management, constantly feeling out of my element. Additionally, a breakup made me realize my dependency issues, leading me to focus on personal growth strongly.

During this time, I came across Ken Honda’s booklet, “The Happy Millionaire,” which gave me a new perspective on “turning what you love into your work.” This encounter completely transformed my view on work. Furthermore, the numerous questions posed by the entrepreneurially-minded president fundamentally changed my mindset.

How will I apply these teachings in the apparel industry, where I had a sense of inadequacy? This story of new challenges and personal growth begins now.

This time, it starts with a quote that most changed my life.

1.4 The Words That Changed My Life the Most

During a meeting one day, the president said to me, “Are you having fun? We are having fun!” While I enjoyed customer service, I didn’t find much joy in my work as a store manager. It was disheartening that I had less experience in apparel and limited knowledge about fashion compared to my staff. Perhaps out of concern for me, the president would occasionally call me for one-on-one meetings.

In these meetings with the president, I learned about our current initiatives and gained insights into the entrepreneurial mindset. However, when the president asked questions like “Why do you think that is?” meant to make me think about the reasons behind things, I often couldn’t answer and just listened silently, feeling quite embarrassed each time.

Additionally, the president would sometimes give me unexpected feedback from a unique angle. For instance, he once said, “Make friends with people you dislike.” This comment hit me hard and still sticks with me to do this day. I realized that I only talked to people who were easy to converse with or who approached me first. I struggled to find common ground with the stylish, more sensory-oriented staff. My lack of fashion sense also made me feel inferior. In my previous job, the environment was predominantly male, with a left-brained culture focused on manuals, so I found it challenging to adapt to the more sensory and emotional atmosphere of the apparel industry. Although I thought I had strong communication skills, I realized they only applied within my comfort zone.

The first thing I could do was to learn from the perceptive staff who had already reached out to me. I decided to make an effort to talk to those I had previously found difficult. By doing so, I began to see a world I hadn’t noticed before.

1.5 Succeeding by Leveraging the Strengths of Others

On another day, the president said to me, “I think you and I are similar. You can do business in apparel even if you’re not fashionable.” Although he acknowledged my lack of fashion sense, being told we were similar by the president was a comfort to me.

The president continued, “Surround yourself with fashionable people, show interest in them, ask questions, and draw out their ideas.” In the apparel industry, there are various roles such as buyers, press officers, designers, and VMDs. The president’s job was to extract their specialized knowledge and manage the whole operation. Essentially, what he was saying was to aim for a position that oversees the entire operation. It was not enough to simply accept my weaknesses; I realized that by overcoming them, new possibilities would open up. His words deeply resonated with my soul.

In fact, these words eventually led me to study “coaching.” While I didn’t immediately connect his advice with coaching, I remembered that a former boss from my previous job had given me a book on coaching. Learning coaching skills made me confident that I could achieve the leadership the president was talking about.

1.6. From Anxiety to Challenge: Why I Leapt into the Apparel Industry

Whenever I share my story up to this point, I often get asked, “Why did you enter the apparel industry?” It’s a fair question, so let me explain the reasons why I jumped into this field despite my initial anxieties.

After graduating from university, I joined a globally renowned fast-food chain. My involvement in the food service industry began during my university years when I worked as a waitress for four years. Initially, I had hoped for a kitchen position because I couldn’t imagine myself serving customers with a smile. However, the interviewer convinced me that I was better suited to being a waitress, so I reluctantly accepted the role. It was ironic that I got hired as a waitress when I had wanted to work in the kitchen. Given my shy high school years, I thought everyone would be surprised that I became a waitress, and I felt a bit excited.

Life works in mysterious ways, and making choices that aren’t an extension of our past experiences can teach us valuable lessons. This experience significantly changed my life and taught me the joy of hospitality. This newfound passion led me to aim for the top company in the food service industry. I even felt a sense of destiny upon learning that I shared the same birthday as the company’s founder. The interview process had about seven steps, but I leveraged my experience as a waitress and secured the job offer.

At this company, I learned practical store management skills while making hamburgers and frying potatoes. However, in my fifth year with the company, during a period of poor performance, I started considering a career change, fearing that my dream of becoming a store manager by the age of 30 might not come true.

Back then, recruitment magazines were more common than the internet, and one particular magazine, “Torabayu,” changed my fate.

Initially, I searched for jobs in the food service industry but couldn’t find anything more appealing than my current company. That’s when I remembered two of my former colleagues who had transitioned to the apparel industry. I visited their workplaces in Ginza and Harajuku, and seeing them work happily and vibrantly made me think that I could do it too. It helped that I was a bit taller than average.

Then, I found a job listing for an apparel company looking for “someone with management skills.” The salary range listed as “300,000, 400,000, 500,000, 600,000…” also excited me.

In the food service industry, I had management experience in three different stores, each with successful results, and the company’s brand name was well-known. I thought I might have a chance to get an offer. I figured that even if I wasn’t interested in fashion, I could still manage people and develop their skills.

1.7.First Contact

I passed the document screening, and the interview day was approaching. I decided to visit the flagship store of the apparel company in Ginza. While researching the store online, I realized that it looked familiar. It turned out to be the same store featured in the only fashion magazine for office ladies that I subscribed to. I remembered clipping an article about it because I thought, “I’d like to visit someday,” something I never usually did. This synchronicity gave me chills.

When I actually visited the store, the gleaming white glass facade immediately caught my eye. I felt out of place, but I decided to go in to have something to talk about in the interview. As I passed through the automatic doors, I was instantly enveloped in a sense of luxury. Inside, the store was filled with luxurious items, with silver details reflecting the light and a stylish staircase leading to the second floor.

I kept my eyes mostly downcast. The clothes on the racks were all high-end, and I felt overwhelmed. The staff seemed cold, and after a quick walk around the store, I left, feeling completely out of place and losing confidence instantly.

However, since I thought my chances were slim to begin with, I decided to focus on talking about my management achievements in the interview. I bought a black pantsuit, preparing myself for the interview day. For some reason, I could only think of black when it came to apparel.

On the day of the interview, it was after my morning shift. Even after my working hours ended, I hadn’t finished the scheduling tasks, so I left the store’s office and headed to the interview venue in Aoyama.

The office of the apparel company was in a black building on Kotto Dori in Aoyama. As I rode the elevator to the office, I felt increasingly uneasy.

The moment the elevator doors opened, a leopard-print fur coat caught my eye. Its overwhelming presence intensified my feeling of being an outsider. I muttered to myself, “I need to break the ice quickly.”

Eventually, it was my turn. The interview was conducted in a group format with five people. I wore a black suit, but the other candidates were dressed casually. To my surprise, they attended the interview in what seemed like their everyday clothes. Wondering why, I tried to change the atmosphere by saying, “I’m here for an interview as a management candidate; is this the right place?” The man in the aloha shirt sitting in front of me replied, “We’re pretty casual here.” I was seated at the far end, so I was the last to answer questions. As I listened to everyone talk, I realized that the man in the aloha shirt was the president.

This apparel company was a pioneer in select shops, and it was clear that everyone aspired to work there. I realized that pretending to know everything wouldn’t work, so I decided to be honest. “I don’t know anything about apparel, but I look forward to working with you today,” I said, and surprisingly, I felt calm and was able to talk about my achievements in my previous job with ease. I managed to say everything I wanted to. That alone gave me a sense of accomplishment. I didn’t care about the result anymore.

After the interview, I stepped out into the streets of Aoyama again. The scenery was the same as always, but I felt like something had changed within me. With a mix of tension and excitement, I felt I had gained the courage to move forward to the next step.

A few days later, around 3 PM after my morning shift ended, I received a call from the HR department. “Thank you for coming to the interview the other day. The president would like you to join our team,” they said. “What? Are you sure it’s me?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise. “Yes, definitely,” came the immediate response. I was truly shocked. The idea of moving from a store clerk to a management position was a future I couldn’t have imagined.

When I told people around me that I was switching to the apparel industry, everyone was surprised. “Really? That’s unexpected,” they said. However, it was precisely these unexpected turns in life that I had always hoped for. That’s why this decision felt like the right one for me. I became excited about my unforeseen future and started preparing for my new challenge.

First, I arranged to start my new job in the apparel industry three months later to use up my vacation days. I decided to spend about a month and a half of vacation on a two-week language course in New York. I thought it would be beneficial to visit New York if I were to become a store manager someday. Looking back, this might have been a perfect example of the “law of attraction.”

to be continued…