10 things I wish I knew before my first retail job

1. Buy fantastic shoes made for standing in all day.

Vans slip-ons are comfy for casual wear, but will blister your feet and wear out faster than you can budget to buy a new pair.

Save the cute clothes and shoes for your off days.

Retail is not the place to be wearing Sunday’s best or Friday’s date night-style attire.

Find out your real shoe size.

There’s a possibility you’re not wearing the right shoe size.

Especially since retail can cause you to need to size up due to feet swelling.

Fleet Feet’s shoe fitting process is impeccable.

You don’t have to buy a pair of shoes after using their fitting process, but it does take 20-30 minutes.

Famous Footwear and Foot Locker size your feet using a Brannock device.

Buy better shoes.

Athletic shoes are great…nursing shoes are better.

Think about it: Nurses are also on their feet all day. And surgeons!

What shoes do they wear when standing on their feet for surgeries 8+ hours at a time?

Hoka shoes are one go-to brand for nurses. They last about 3-6 months, which may be longer than the cheap $15-20 athletic shoes that last only a month.

Rotate your shoes.

I recommend owning 2-4 pairs of work-friendly shoes so your shoes last longer and your feet don’t suffer.

Rotating shoes not only stretches your budget, but also helps prevent nasty fungal infections.

2. Have a dedicated work wardrobe.

Cute outfits are cute. That’s it.

I’ve been there with the cute outfits.

I don’t think they matter much beyond how hot they were to wear in the summertime.

Dressing like a manager doesn’t win you points when managers don’t dress like managers.

Instead, it sends the message that you are out for management’s job, so you come off as a threat.

That’s not to say you can’t dress cute or polished if you want to.

Rather, it’s a question of

• Why do you want to in the first place?
• What do you hope to gain from dressing this way, if anything?
• How does dressing this way make you feel?

I wear the same thing everyday — ish.

I bought a stack of men’s grey V-neck shirts instead of women’s spandex and jeggings (elastic jeans), because ain’t nobody got the time or pain tolerance for boob sweat and waistband suffocation on an 8-hour shift.

3. Don’t be a high-achiever.

It’s pointless.

Retail management doesn’t want someone who actually goes above and beyond, because it means they have to work harder, too.

It will also raise the average, ergo expectations, to an even more unrealistic standard.

This was explained to me when I worked in loss prevention. I didn’t understand it until recently.

Good management wants you to “care” enough to do the bare minimum they’re asking for. Nothing else.

Bad management underhires and expects you to do the work of 3-4 people despite being one human being.

Retail companies want employees to dedicate themselves to the company, but not employees who make waves unless exploiting those employees for PR makes the company look good.

Also, focus too much on pleasing your coworkers, and you’ll be taken advantage of.

4. Don’t trust anyone with your water bottle.

I’ve seen things.

I’ve heard stories:

• Customers urinating in associates’ stainless steel water bottles or Stanley cups at the fitting room when the restroom was a few yards away
• Employees from the same department poisoning their teammates’ water bottles with crushed Benadryl, hand sanitizer or isopropyl alcohol
• Customers and fellow associates stealing sips from other people’s water bottles, then the owners of those water bottles getting sick

For the love of your literal survival in the godforsaken company you work for, never leave your water bottle unattended.

And before you say, “But I work for a Christian company! People aren’t like that!”

Sure, Jan.

Tell me something…are they light switch Christians? Jesus-like at church or around churchgoers, but completely different elsewhere?

Someone I went to church with came through my line once and must’ve not recognized me because the sweetest person I’d ever met at church was the rudest, cruelest customer I’ve ever experienced.

That was 15 years ago and opened my eyes to a point a young Gen Z had made.

5. Know whether & why you want to be salaried.

If you want to be salaried within the company, figure out why before you make any moves to get there.

While not every salaried member of retail management has sold their soul to capitalism, the ones that have not are rare and either do eventually sell their soul or leave the company altogether because they refuse to let retail harden them.

Traditionally, growing with a company like this meant financial security and stability.

Nowadays, salaried means working 40+ hours for a company that owns your availability until it can also own your soul.

I never wanted to be salaried but was told that’s what I needed to want and strive for.

The idea of working for a company like that makes me feel trapped and less safe, like I have to sell my autonomy to a company who doesn’t care about me beyond how much money I can make it.

Also? I don’t want to be salaried for any company other than my own.

6. Emotionally detach off the clock.

Merch on the floor? So what. Look away, keep walking, don’t care. It’s not your job anymore.

When you are off the clock, it’s not your job.

You’re not responsible for it.

As far as I’m concerned, the problem does not exist to me.

Off the clock, I’m a customer with employee privileges.

I could buy and heat up something to eat in the breakroom or even nap there before going home if I was desperate (probably; haven’t tried).

Customers can’t enjoy the leather couch and TV in the breakroom or free water bottles on hot, summer days.

Or grab dinner from a slow cooker on holidays.

7. Establish work boundaries.

There is no work-life balance.

It’s a myth.

Work and life aren’t separate; life doesn’t stop happening just because you clocked in.

Boundaries sure do help create the illusion, though.

Some boundaries I have or have heard of:

• Not discussing work with coworkers off the clock, even to vent
• Not befriending/following supervisors, even if you seem to have a good work relationship — there will always be a power imbalance there that may transfer to work OR outside of work, even if not a direct conflict of interest
• Not sharing personal details with anyone/discussing non-work-related topics with people
• Not connecting with coworkers outside of work
• Not going to work on your days off, even if it’s a different location, to shop

Coworkers may not like your boundaries, but boundaries = respecting yourself and your limits, not aligning yourself with what people like about you.

Admittedly, I could use better boundaries. I feel like I really fell off the boundary bandwagon recently.

8. Love yourself on your days off.

Be kind to yourself.

It’s OKAY if you DO NOTHING when you’re off work but eat, sleep, use the toilet, bathe and binge your favorite book or TV show.

You do not have to deep-clean your entire house to be “productive” on your off days.

Rest counts as being productive, but it’s also crucial for your body anyways.

To work in retail is to live an active lifestyle.

And to work in retail in the first place, you need to take care of you.

9. You are not your job.

Retail will try to convince you that your worth is tied to your productivity.

That your attitude determines whether you “deserve” hours, days off or even breaks.

That being a team player means giving up your boundaries, your time and your body.

We can thank capitalism for that — not God, Jesus or even Obama.

Because it’s all a glitter bomb.

Your job is something you do.

It’s not who you are unless you have to be cold-hearted and soulless to do it because you’ve convinced yourself “it’s not personal” (ahem, salaried management).

Don’t let your self-worth rot in a breakroom trashcan with smashed cupcakes from a customer return.

You’re a whole human being outside of work — and you deserve to stay one.

10. Start planning your exit — even if you don’t know when.

Retail doesn’t have to be your forever.

It might be your right now, your first job, your survival job, your stepping stone — but that doesn’t mean it owns your future.

Even if you have no idea how or when you’ll leave, start imagining what your life could look like after retail.

Save screenshots.

Daydream.

Take notes.

Learn skills on your phone during your lunch breaks.

Take advantage of work-paid-for college to earn a degree.

Update your resume even if you’re not using it yet.

Every tiny step counts — especially when retail makes you feel like you’re stuck forever.

You don’t need a perfect plan.

You need a direction.

And hey — you’re allowed to want more.