Exploring Life & Business with Mel Tull

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mel Tull.

Hi Mel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have worked in retail since I was 18. My roots in the retail scene here in KC run deep. I was part of the opening team for The Great Mall of the Great Plains during a summer break from college. I learned about store mix and leasing spaces from 5000+ sq ft to individual kiosk placement.

After college, I jumped right into retail store management with Abercrombie & Fitch where I managed both the Town Center and the Oak Park Mall locations. I then went on to open & manage the GUESS? Jeans on the Country Club Plaza. My store management career peaked when I was hired to run the flagship bebe store at Oakbrook Mall in the suburbs of Chicago.

Thanks to my years of work in retail management, I have the knowledge and skills to help build a business from lights on to lights off and all things in between. Professional retailers are a highly trained workforce with skills ranging from fiscal responsibility with P&L to hiring and developing a highly competent team members. As a retail professional, you can effortlessly merchandise & re-merchandise for sell thru and provide a complete and outstanding customer experience within moments of each task. We can literally do it all, and we do it all in one work day, day after day.

When I was hired into the wholesale side of luxury goods, it was because of my experience working for the Tivol family here in Kansas City. Talk about learning from the absolute BEST! I worked alongside world-class salespeople and was personally trained by Harold Tivol on the art of selling in a luxury environment.

For the last 13 years, I’ve grown brand awareness and sales inside both family-owned and national luxury retail doors by creating memorable in store events and enthusiastically providing great sales trainings. My hands are always on marketing, sales, merchandising and more. Because I’ve both worked in retail management and wholesale sales, I have a confident understanding of the cadence and operations of retail stores and how to bridge the gap between the two.

I recently left my corporate role as a Wholesale Account Executive and Business Manager for a global brand to open my own business consulting services for retail. I love working with independently owned businesses because I understand it is more than a day to day business. It is a lasting legacy for the owner and their family! Anyone who is to join forces with a new entrepreneur or a family business needs to completely understand that dynamic and how to leverage their strengths as an independently owned retailer.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Retail work is so underestimated by the corporate world. Most corporate interviews end up with the “you’re just in sales, or you only have retail experience” as the sum impression of retail professionals, and I have been passed up for roles I’m more than qualified for because no one in their organization understood what we do in retail. It is a funny thing because in the retail world, you can be trained and turn out great or not great – but most solid candidates are given the opportunity.

There is that old adage that everyone should have to work in a restaurant, and I would add working on a retail sales floor.

Service industry workers see the best and the worst in human behavior. It’s a really interesting transformation people take once they take on the role of customer. People become highly entitled and lose a certain amount of basic manners sometimes, and it’s really shocking!

I also spent many holidays away from family, experienced quite a bit of FOMO with friends who did not work weekends, and then there were certain years I really resented the holiday shopping seasons in general!

All in all, I’m very proud of the time I spent in retail because I have amassed many skills having worked in every kind of retail setting.

We’ve been impressed with The Mel Tull & Co, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a business consultant specializing in sales, marketing, and social media for entrepreneurs, family-owned & small businesses.

For the last 13 years, I’ve grown brand awareness and sales inside luxury retail doors by creating memorable in store events, enthusiastically providing great sales trainings. Because I’ve both worked in retail management and wholesale sales, I have a confident understanding of the cadence and operations of retail stores.

I am a master at brainstorming and downloading ideas into strategic, actionable plans.

I deliver them to you and your team with clear direction and support, and I can be an outsourced team leader for sales, marketing and social media.

You need me if you don’t have time to be creative and strategic, or you’re running out of time and energy for both.

In 2021 I also became a co-founder of The French Toast Social Club – a social media consultancy that believes social media should be wickedly simple and fun. We promote organic growth and storytelling to both connect and promote authentically with your community.

I’m married, mom of one girl, and we live in OP KS!

With my background in comedy performance, I approach my work light-heartedly and find it easy to navigate nearly any situation with a good sense of humor, laughter and fun.

I believe success and total well-being is a lifestyle; your whole body matters! It’s yours to power up, nurture and create magic with.

Yoga with meditation is how I stay in my zone of genius and productivity.

I am a Classical Yoga Instructor and have been teaching the ancient and beautiful practice of yoga since 2017.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I am very inspired by the Earl Nightingale definition. “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

In my own words, it is the continuous forward movement towards something so worthy of your time, you are willing to trade most of your life in pursuit of it.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @themeltull_andco

Image Credits
Pic of me: Sarah Connole, Trouvaille Creative