I have learned many valuable lessons during the many years of my career. Too many to list so I will select just a few. I learned that failure is an indispensable prerequisite for success. In the business world, there can be no major accomplishments without some major setbacks and failures. Overcoming failures and major obstacles are what make a good story. So, I always ask – what’s your story? You have to have enthusiasm and love what you do. If you have passion for what you do, then it’s not work. You should never be afraid to change your mind if something doesn’t work. Someone once told me that the only person who can change their mind is a person who has one! Something else very important that I learned a little later in my career is the importance of surrounding yourself with a good reference group. A good reference group, to me, are people with different knowledge and skills that you can tap into from time to time. They should be people who don’t always think like you do because when we all think alike, no one thinks at all! Finally, I learned that especially in retail, it’s all about the customer. I used to tell my employees that we’re in the business of customer service, if you’re not serving the customer, then you better be serving the person who is!