A Day in the Life of Ulta Beauty’s Johnny Tran

In this week’s ‘A Day in the life of…’ interview, Ulta Beauty’s Johnny Tran provides an insight into his role as District Manager, San Diego South.

Hi Johnny, can you tell us a bit about your role and how you got here?

I lead a team of General Managers to support and develop teams within a district to drive outstanding performance, while embodying our Ulta Beauty values.

I got here from my humble start as a support manager at Ulta Beauty over 10 years ago. I had dreamed of becoming a store manager and in 2013, received my first promotion to General Manager. In 2015, I was able to take on another assignment to showcase my skill sets as a leader by improving performance of another store within my district. From there, I had the opportunity to advance my skill sets in stretch positions such as the District Event Lead and Retail Market Trainer. In 2017, I was promoted to a regional field position within corporate as a Regional Loyalty Manager. Just one year into that promotion, I was invited back into retail field management and advanced my career from Area Manager to District Manager in 2018. I would like to add that in every step of my career with Ulta, I was challenged by a group of leaders who inspired me to grow and supported me to show up as my authentic self.

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day for me would start off in the office. I spend most of my office time reviewing/corresponding to e-mails and phone calls, complete any outstanding administrative work and then head out of my office to visit my store teams. On a typical day, I visit two stores in my district to connect with my teams to impact our district’s results in sales within retail and salon/services, and focus on leading guest experience programs such as Ulta Beauty Loyalty and manage associate experience programs such as product and service trainings

What part of your role do you enjoy the most?

The part of my role I enjoy the most is talent development. I enjoy working with my direct reports to ensure our teams are set up for success. I find a lot of joy in watching the growth of my team and am extremely gratified when a member of our team earns a promotion.

Which top three skills are vital for this role and why?

1. Accountability as self, as a manager and leader: This is important as you are responsible for your own behaviours which impacts the performance of your team. As a manager of your general managers, you are accountable to empower, influence and motivate your team to perform successfully. As a leader, you are accountable to ensure your team executes on the vision of Ulta, your Region and District.

2. Quality and Timely Decision Making: The ability to make decisions that impact the guest/partner positively while advancing the business in the right direction. Often, you are faced with situations where you are tasked to make decisions that are balanced and fair for all parties involved.

3. Communication: Foster an atmosphere of open communication where ideas are expressed openly, and others are encouraged to speak with truth and candour. This is important in my experience because it creates a culture where trust is present, and individuals can show up to work as his/her/their best selves.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your role?

The most challenging part of my role involves the most enjoyable part of my role, which is talent development. It is challenging as I would like to spend as much of my time developing talent, however, the scope of my role requires attention in many different areas of the business. To do more of what I enjoy, I need to be great at planning my day/week/month and executing on my plans effectively.

How do you help others feel like they belong in your team/promote inclusion?

I help other feels like they belong to the team by creating a team that celebrate differences and values diversity. I do not condone behaviours that are prejudice and ensure I act quickly to correct or coach to bias when I am aware of it. I have also learned the past couple years to use my voice and platform to promote awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I feel that awareness/education is so important and often is the first step to promote inclusion.

Which podcast/YouTube series would you recommend to someone interested in pursuing a career in this area to help develop their skills/prepare them for the role?

I am fan of Simon Sinek and would recommend his channel on YouTube. I am also a fan of Brene Brown. You can find many videos of her on YouTube. My favorite one is about vulnerability.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I look forward to more growth with Ulta Beauty and see myself in a position that impacts our organization on an even bigger scale and continue to influence positive change and innovation, inspired by our guests and associates.

WORKFAIR 2022

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