Behind the Scenes at The Voice of the Frontline. What's Really Going on Around Here.
My weekly process and why I do what I do
One night, after a three-day retail tech conference and a six-hour drive, I stayed up for hours creating this newsletter. I don’t even know how long it took me - time evaporated. The ideas spilled out of my brain. It was like throwing a bucket of water on my keyboard. I had this spark, and I had to see it through before I lost it to sleep.
Way back, this newsletter started out as something other than The Voice of the Frontline. It was something wildly different. It was lighthearted and playful, but it lacked direction. In January of 2023, I stopped writing it. Quite literally, what was the point?
It all changed in March, 2023. The Voice of the Frontline became a rebellion.
I became dedicated to telling retail stories from the frontline and advocating for the people in the field. Each week, my goal is to challenge the status quo and ask questions about the industry.
How can we innovate in a people-first way?
What does reimagining retail look like as we barrel through this decade?
We can no longer sustain this “do more with less” trajectory, and people in stores deserve better. Customers deserve better.
We all do.
Since the overhaul, I’ve brought you the following:
✨ Breaking news and insider stories.
This is by far my most-read edition. It stands at 67K views and ranked number one on Google for days.
✨ Behind the scenes of an actual retail leader’s life.
✨ Full-force advocacy.
About Me - Why I Do This
I ran retail stores for over twenty years, led teams in stores, and trained and developed so many people along the way that I lost count. I’ve never worked in a corporate office, and I deeply understand the work of people in stores.
I understand the disconnect between the C-Suite and the stores.
For much of my career, upper management met my ideas with the following:
”We can’t.”
”We won’t.”
”We don’t know.”
My ideas didn’t matter because I was “just” a store manager. My words had little weight. The companies I worked for didn’t have to change. They could just tell me no and go about their day.
It’s different now.
It’s different because I’m a writer and, for whatever reason, that seems like a credible job in people’s brains. I can write an essay, so maybe I know what I’m talking about.
I know what I’m talking about because of my experience in the field.
My Process
Each week, I comb through industry articles and my conversations on LinkedIn. Some weeks, I feel full of fire, so I step into the lane of advocacy. Other weeks, I write about something newsworthy.
Like price surging.
Or Walmart charging for self-checkout.
Because independent writing is of utmost importance.
I do this every week, no matter my client work or what I have in front of me. I do this with no ads and no sponsors. I make every edition of this newsletter free so everyone who works in retail can read it, no matter what they make hourly.
Because independent writing is of utmost importance.
Because what we read online in major news outlets is backed by money. Tons of cash, all vying for clicks, without much thought or consideration to readers.
Here, there is no corporation in the mix.
There are only two decades of experience, a lot of ideas, and a heap of questions.
I do this work alone each week with only support from subscribers.
Subscribers who care about the truth. Who care about the workforce that drives the economy. Who care about democratizing information so that we all may have access.
I want to reach as many people as possible because we can change how we work. I believe there is a new way to run retail stores and care for people, but it will take a lot of us to make that happen.
(Why, yes, I am an optimist. How did you know?)
I’m also a pragmatist with a heap of resilience and self-efficacy.
I don’t know where this information innovation journey will take us, but I’m glad you’re here. Oh, and if you want to help fuel the future of retail, transform the way we work, and put people first, you can do that right here.
Kit Campoy is an author and retail expert with two decades of experience leading retail teams. She thrived on building relationships with customers and motivating sales teams. Now, as a ghostwriter, she leverages this people-centric approach to craft compelling content that resonates and ignites brand loyalty.
You are such a leader in this revolution! Good to remember the journey and see all these groundbreaking articles.