Meet Raquel Summers, The Store’s New Chief Operating Officer

Back in April I wrote here that we were looking for our first Chief Operating Officer.

I’d like you to meet her.

Raquel Summers started two weeks ago. I thought the first month would be orientation. Badge, org chart, a lot of listening.

Then I walked into the conference room.

She had maps of our locations strewn across the table, working through them nook by nook, looking for anywhere we could be storing more fresh food.Nobody asked her to do it.

She’s been meeting with our vendors, too. Not to squeeze them. To tell them what we do, and why a few cents saved on a case of grocery bags can become groceries on somebody’s table.

She sat in our leadership offsite in week two and contributed like she’d been here two years.

I’ll admit, I’ve been sleeping better.But that’s not really the thing.

Somewhere along the way I was told to hire for values and teach the rest.

Ours are Love, Dignity, Community, Collaboration, and Choice.

Easy to put on a wall. Harder to find in an operations executive with nearly three decades of manufacturing and distribution experience behind her.

Raquel told us during the process that this work isn’t abstract to her. It’s personal.

That isn’t something you can coach into somebody.

The maps, the vendor conversations, the food costs she’s already pulling apart. They all come from the same place.

She isn’t making our operation leaner as an end in itself.

She’s doing it because every dollar we save gives us more room to say yes to a family.

Two weeks in, and it feels like two months of work.

In April I wrote that the right person was out there.

That was more hope than prediction.

I’m grateful we found her.

Welcome to The Store, Raquel Summers.