Helaine Suval
Helaine Suval spent a decade building the macys.com business from $40M to $1.1B and recruited and developed a world-class team that grew from 5 to 400+ people. Prior to macys.com Helaine held a variety of executive positions including Senior Vice President for living.com, Vice President and General Manager for Avon, Senior Vice President for Ex-Cell Home Fashions and numerous executive positions at Bloomingdales.
We put a few questions to all of our Advisory Board Members. Following is what Helaine Suval said:
What’s your most important work success factor?
People! First and foremost, It’s all about the people and the team! Resources and knowledge base are second and third.
What contributes to your success?
Integrity; Results; Ability to influence others; Coaching and Mentoring; Never resting on what I did last time – need to continually reinvent and move forward.
What do you focus on and care about in your work?
Strategically leading the team to the next level; constantly pushing and challenging them to “think out of the box”; coaching and mentoring the team and individuals to be the “best” and deliver outstanding results (and they do!).
What is the role of listening in your work?
Influencing others, as well as coaching and mentoring requires strong listening skills, allowing me to tailor the conversation and persuasion to the “touch points” for others. I deal with everyone as individuals, and in order to do that, I need to listen and understand what motivates them, so that I can address those needs. These skills will be even more important in dealing with my clients, because I need to understand their needs, so that I can ensure that I satisfy them.