Brett Barcelona
Brett Barcelona, President and General Manager Retail Services
Knocking Down Walls
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why our company is a great place to come to work every day. For me, and hopefully for all of you, one of the greatest parts of what we do within Retail Services is helping others achieve their goals. Every day our teams innovate, execute and provide detailed analysis for our retail and CPG partners. I’m proud of the services we provide others and think it’s important, especially when times are challenging, to remain focused for our partners and build on the value we can offer.
A few years ago, I discovered The Last Lecture by former Carnegie Melon University professor Randy Pausch. If you’ve never watched the lecture or read the book, I highly recommend it. It changed my life and my perspective on so much within and outside of business. In his lecture, Randy talked about obstacles and the brick walls that we all face at times. He said, “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”
Sometimes challenges in business may seem like coming up against a brick wall. Clearly in 2014 we have experienced some of these situations. I firmly believe that our organization is comprised of people who want, more than anything, to get beyond that brick wall. We have the kind of associates who won’t shy away and will accept this challenge in front of us—the kind of people who look beyond themselves and ask what more can they do.
Ask yourselves: Are you spending time on the right things? Are you listening to your clients and delivering on what you hear? Are you working as one organization to achieve results? These things matter and we are each accountable for asking the right questions and acting on them.
Thanks for all that you do.
 Brett Barcelona President and General Manager Retail Services |