This interview with Jenny Ming, president and C.E.O. of Charlotte Russe, a clothing chain, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. Ms. Ming is a former president of Old Navy.
Q. How do you run meetings?
A. I want a really authentic, good conversation. We had interns this summer, and in the beginning they were afraid to speak. But in the meantime, they are our customer — I mean, literally — because they’re 21, 22, and that’s who we sell to. So in the beginning, they wouldn’t say how they feel.
And I said: “Tell me what you love, what you don’t love. You have to have an opinion because actually I pay for your opinion. I pay you to have a point of view, good or bad.” And toward the end of the summer, they couldn’t wait to tell me what they thought. Most people can’t wait to tell you what they think anyway, but they didn’t know that they could.
Q. Have you always done that?
A. I’ve always done that, even when I was in Old Navy and Gap, because I think that kind of environment is very important. We get probably the best advice or the best decisions when it’s a little bit more democratic. I don’t always have to agree with them, but I certainly should listen to them because they are more of the target customer than me.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Corner Office - Charlotte Russe’s C.E.O., in a Start-Up State of Mind - Interview - NYTimes.com
