Rhiannon Johnson

Background

About Rhiannon Johnson

My job as a retail store manager is not to sell clothes. My first week of my current position, I was approached by a customer whose story will stay with me forever. Her whole life she had wanted to move away from her hometown, but the timing never felt quite right. It seemed a complete impossibility when her 15 year old son was murdered. She explained he was buried in his favorite T-shirt, one from my company. The day I met her was her first day as a Portland resident. She was excitedly leaving her first job interview, but feeling homesick already. Had she made the right choice leaving her hometown? The place she had spent her whole life, the place her son never got the chance to leave. Her confusing feelings were weighing heavily on her as she left the interview, but then she looked up. Her eyes fixated on my store’s signs. She believed stumbling into my store was her son sending her a message of comfort and encouragement for this new stage of life. I cried, laughed, and hugged this woman who minutes before had been a complete stranger. That is my job. To create a space that these moments can occur and my company can have a lasting impact on my customers’ and employees' lives. Building this relationship with my clientele allowed me to grow my 2021 year end sales by 20% from 2019. My job isn’t to sell, it’s to care.