Dates: 2013 – 2014
The Story
Costco, the second largest retailer in the world after Walmart, hired me from the US to help lead and manage the overall launch of Costco Spain and the first country in Continental Europe. I thrive in chaos and ability to create and manage a clear path forward. My 10+ years of doing business in Spain combined with my fluency in Spanish, provided me with one of the most unique opportunities in my life. Costco is not only one of the most successful US companies, but it’s from my neighborhood in Seattle! Thriving in the Spanish culture, Madrid would become my second home overseas. It was an ideal match that aligned with my professional and personal experience to date. In this role, I lead complex, international, geographically dispersed teams. This involved working with Stakeholders from each functional business unit to ensure a successful, coordinated opening and launch. This was the first Costco in Spain which created a unique set of challenges — a new global operating system with the first use case in Spain, a new country, culture, language, retail model (Spain was not accustomed to buying in bulk or paying a membership fee to join) and legal structure.
The Impact
I was able to gain rapport immediately with local employees, vendors and management who valued my knowledge of the Spanish business environment, culture and language. This helped gain efficiencies and success quickly. I felt like I was conducting a global orchestra with so many pivotal moving parts, partners and global engagement. I still remember pulling the all-nighter before we opened making sure all the produce was in place, witnessing the crabs escaping the containers — as people did not realize they were in hibernation upon delivery — and making sure the pin pads worked at check out. I worked with all partners and teams as the ‘front door’ for all issues and escalations to ensure success (working with leaders from all key global partners including, Costco executive leaders, Accenture, SAP, Telefonica, Sipay and others). This experience encapsulated every aspect of international business and was a pivotal moment and achievement in my career. When Spain’s Secretary of State showed up representing the Spanish Government for opening day, I was astounded that it was a friend of mine from my days at EY in Madrid almost 20 years prior. Talk about coming full circle!