Name: Carson Hicks
What’s your current role/title?
I am a Multi-Store Operations Manager
Years in RTO: 35
What did you do before RTO?
Soon after graduating high school, I married my wife Carla. As she was pursuing her college education to become a public school teacher, I began to work in the RTO industry.
What do you do in a typical day or week?
More than ever, I believe that my day-to-day role is to inspire the team to achieve greater things and to make it a winning day. I invest in the team to make sure that each person not only knows their own position, but also is cross-trained in most areas of store operations. I assist the stores in local store marketing efforts, and with inventory control and safety audits.
How did you find your current position?
I was hired into this company initially as an accounts manager. When the company opened a new store in a town nearby, I was asked to take the store manager position of that new store. After I had been at that new store and had a few years of store leadership experience, I was asked to move to the home office to assist with multi-store operations. That was a big move for me and my family. My wife was able to find a teaching position at the local public school system, and our kids fit into the new school system very easily. I have been here at the home office for 17 years now.
What are the benefits of working in rent-to-own?
Everything is about the people – not only the people that I get to work with every day, but also our customers. I have been blessed to work for the same company for the last 30 years, which has provided well for my family.
How do you manage work/life balance with your role?
I learned early in my career that I must make time for my family. This company has allowed me to do that. I like my time working in the yard and playing golf. When it’s time to work, I give 100% effort.
What do you predict will change in our industry in the next five years?
I see that more of our customers are shopping online before deciding to visit a store. I believe we will need to continue to keep our website, as well as our social media pages, active.
How did you prepare for your role in RTO?
I didn’t know 35 years ago when I started in this business even how to prepare, nor did our company have a great training program at that time. Many years of experience and making a lot of mistakes have allowed me to better train our team now.
What do you love most about your job or employer?
I love the culture of the company; the leadership of the home office and the store managers has created a healthy work environment. And it’s great having a boss that’s been a mentor to me; Kent has helped me to look at life and work in different ways that have helped me to become a better person and leader.
To reach out to Carson Hicks, you can add him on Facebook.
