In this episode of At Your Convenience, CSP Executive Editor Hannah Hammond talks to Danielle Gutierrez-Stone, senior director of retail operations at Pony Express. They spoke at CSP’s Outlook Leadership event in August about the challenges of running a small chain, being a female leader in the convenience-store industry, what it means to work for a Native American-owned company and more.
Ho-Chunk Inc. is the parent company of Pony Express. It’s based on the Winnebago Indian Reservation in northeast Nebraska. Pony Express first opened for business in 1996 in Winnebago, Nebraska, according to its website.
Listen to Hammond and Gutierrez-Stone’s conversation above, or read the transcript here, which has been edited for length and clarity:
Hammond: I’m so happy to have you at Outlook Leadership. We're in beautiful California now. I was thinking back to the first time we met, and I'm pretty sure it was at a NACS Show in Atlanta—I think it was at the welcome event. Time really flies, right?
Gutierrez-Stone: Yeah. I do remember that. At the football field in Atlanta, right? Which is always a fun one. So yeah, that feels like that was years ago now. Oh my gosh. I know, now we're like seasoned pros.
Hammond: For those people who might not know, tell us about Pony Express.
Gutierrez-Stone: Pony Express, we are a small retail chain in northeast Nebraska, and we're part of a larger corporation which is Ho-Chunk Inc., which is the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. So our locations are in rural areas. When I first started in this industry we had two grocery stores, and then multiple c-stores and one café, and things have changed significantly over the past 10 years. Again, we’re a small chain, we're in rural areas and we're around big competition, which makes it really challenging sometimes to compete with some of those larger chains.
Hammond: And what do you do specifically for Pony Express?
Gutierrez-Stone: I am the senior director of retail operations, so I basically am the jack of all trades, doing anything from strategic planning to compliance to operations in the store. Right now, we have multiple projects going on, from changing the back-of-house software to transitioning our loyalty platform. I mean, there's just so many different things that we have to do in operations.
Hammond: How many stores do you currently have?
Gutierrez-Stone: So currently we have three convenience stores [in Emerson and Winnebago, Nebraska, and Sloan, Iowa]. The past couple years we've really been assessing, and there was one year where we literally shut down two locations and we sold a location. But, that being said, we're also in the process of rebuilding one of our locations. So that's exciting. But you just having to assess where we're at, and what's not working and sort of stop the bleeding per se in some of those underperforming stores.
Hammond: What is the biggest challenge for those underperforming stores?
Gutierrez-Stone: A lot of it is foot traffic. Just getting people to stop. When you have older, rural locations, they can be a little intimidating or scary. Especially when you have newer chains in the area that are brighter and shinier. We’re not really a destination. You kind of stop there if you have to sometimes, which is unfortunate. But I mean it really goes back to just the date of the locations, and the age of them and just really needing to upgrade. We're really excited about our project of rebuilding the new store in Winnebago. So that will be all new, bright, shiny, clean and have all the technology, all the things. We're really super excited about that because the community really needs that. And so I think that'll be a lot more inviting to people who are passing through the community.
Hammond: How did you get started in this role at Pony Express?
Gutierrez-Stone: Long story short, I did not apply for this job. I didn't ask for it. It sort of presented itself to me. I think there was just a lot of things going on at the time. I had just got my bachelor's degree, and I'm a hard worker. I just like to work, and learn and keep going, and I also outgrow things. So I'm doing a job and I'm like, ‘Okay this is boring. Now I need something else.’ And so that's basically what happened. I worked for a larger company, and I started applying outside and kind of within the company, just looking for different opportunities, something new, something different. And it just so happened the director [at Pony Express] was leaving at the time. And so then they approached me with the opportunity that I didn't apply for. But they said, ‘You know, you'd be a good fit for this.’
I kind of knew what I was getting myself into, but not really. It was really intimidating in the sense that I've always been a hard worker, I've gone to college, single mom, I've done all these things, so I'm really dedicated and motivated to try to be better. But it was just so challenging to have to learn something from the top down. I think that was probably my biggest challenge. And then not really having a lot of support or experience in that. I think my training consisted of two weeks before [the previous director] left, and she didn't really tell me anything. I had to figure out the whole EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and compliance thing and all of that, and not really understanding the scope of what I signed up for. So it's been a lot of learning, but I mean, I'm grateful for the opportunity and the challenge because it really helped me grow.
I couldn't just sit there and wait, I had to figure stuff out. And I think coming to conferences like this is what really, really helped me understand the industry and understand that we're not special. The same things that I was struggling with and going through in our locations is exactly what the industry was going through. So just to get that validation and to know that I'm not crazy, it's not my fault, like this is happening industry-wide, I think that really went a long way with me in helping me understand, and being able to strategize and look forward. So we really have come a long way.
Hammond: What does it mean to you to work for a Native American-owned company?
Gutierrez-Stone:I really enjoy it because, well, I am Native American, so it's my background, and my people and it's just a really good way for me to give back. I do a lot of nonprofit work, so I work for free when I'm not working. … This is a really good way for me to be in the community you know to kind of just help out. We provide jobs for the community and just really help with people in developing and just working.
Hammond: There's only so many female c-suite and executive level positions and leaders it feels in the industry. Being a female leader yourself, I'm curious, what advice would you give to someone else who's maybe looking to grow their career, their education like you have?
Gutierrez-Stone: I would say that it really starts with you. If you don't have a mentor, not everybody's fortunate to get candy-picked, … you have to put yourself out there. Surround yourself with people who know more than you. And find somebody that you respect and reach out and ask to have coffee. I do that to this day. If I see somebody and I just really admire the things they've done or they're really giving back to the community, or I love their tenacity or whatever it is, I will literally just [reach out to them]. And it's uncomfortable, but you gotta do it, right? You gotta be uncomfortable and you gotta take those leaps and you just have to invite them to coffee. Just say, ‘Hey, my name is so-and-so. I would really love to have coffee with you.’ I had to seek my own mentors and my own people and I had to decide what I wanted to do and just really just go after it regardless and it's not easy.
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