WORKING FOR LULULEMON
“Our purpose is to elevate the world by unleashing the full potential within every one of us”
Self-Enquiry Workshop with Lululemon ambassador and life coach, Kat John
For a long time I have held that there is an energy for exercise within everyone, whether this be through sweaty pursuits such as running or functional fitness training, or endeavours such as yoga or hiking which are less commonly associated with fitness in the conventional sense of the word. But the thing I believe that binds these- is movement. Deep within us is an escape from the world through movement, and those who doubt this have merely not yet discovered their passion. From this I have taken a life long goal of mine to prove this and empower others to discover this escapism.
I voiced this in the group interview stage of my application to Lululemon, where on the outside I probably seemed confident and collected, when on the inside I felt a bit of a dick for expressing what I truly believe in. I felt discomfort in breaking my English stiff upper lip.
Upon my research into the company I sought confidence in that this goal of mine resonated with the purpose Lululemon held at the forefront of the company. However after the second round of one-on-one interviews I was unsuccessful, and after what was a very long interview process I felt dampened. Was I not “Lulu” enough? Secondly, surely it was just a retail assistant job- why were they so picky? I wasn’t convinced that it was just my Visa which stopped me from going forwards, and I was resentful of the fact I felt led on for two months in this process.
I continued to apply to multiple stores, had further group interviews, further one-on-ones with the store managers. It was a very long recruitment process, but since working for Lulu I now understand why they are so particular and why an Educator role is more than “just a retail assistant”. I don’t believe that Lulu recruit only a niche calibre of ready-made go-getters, in fact far from it. I have met yogis, cross-fitters, mothers, business men and women, pole dancers, actresses, ex-corporates; you name it! The thing that binds us is the relentless drive for progress in our own way and strive to lead by example.
I’ve never doubted that I take personal responsibility for my life and that i’m determined to achieve success in my own way, but in other aspects of leading my life I allow inside voices hinder my progress. When I arrived at Lulu I lacked confidence to voice my strengths to others and I think this is what one store manager perhaps saw in me to not bring my application further. I remember on our first day of training I was stumped at the question of what made us unique. I felt awkward; I refrained from talking about myself because I was worried about what people would think; I predicted negative responses to questions or statements before i’d even verbalised them to others, and this was a practice which circulated every day of my life! I may have felt a leader in the fate of my own life but I deeply struggled to convey this to others. In other words I was in a weak position to lead others, one of of the key responsibilities of even an Educator at Lululemon. But it’s thanks to the company’s investment in its people which I have to thank for my development in not only becoming a stronger leader in my own life, but also in the lives of others and as a representative of the company. I don’t doubt that there is still a lot I have to work on, but working for Lululemon has given me just a taste of the career path I wish to take on my return to the UK and has raised my awareness of some of the skills I have to offer.
The purpose of this post is to document some of the learnings I will take away from Lululemon so I can reflect on them in years to come, and to demonstrate what a wonderful company Lululemon is. A role of an Educator really is more than just a retail assistant!
The practice of mindful communication
“Mindful communication is modelling behaviours around clearing and straight talk in order to use speech to shape reality. It is having the confidence to voice and execute the ideas for ones own development without fear of external factors which may hinder”.
This was one of our “practices of leading the self” which I struggled with for a while, mostly because I didn’t understand what it meant until I started to practice it without realising. One of our ambassadors, Kat John, put it very well in a podcast. Kat illustrates how we ‘cock-block’ ourselves from manifesting things in the physical plane by allowing the ego in our mind to take over, for example making excuses such as “I can’t”, “they will care”, “it’s a bad idea”. Kat’s insight made me realise how my ego’s limiting beliefs such as the fear of rejection conflicts with actual reality (i.e that people don’t hold such negative opinions) and obstructs me from manifesting things in the physical plane. It is my ego which has held me back from growing and becoming conscious of this has allowed me develop further than ever before!
Living into possibility
“Living into possibility is modelling behaviours around curiosity and self-awareness in order to create a future that otherwise would not exist”.
I guess that moving to Australia was the first step towards this, but Lulu has helped my cultivate a lifestyle which lives into this every single day. Since working amongst an environment where we are not only permitted but encouraged to live into this I have become a lot more brave and experimental to live into my ideas, for example with some of my community event ideas. I have learnt that living into possibility is the only way we can achieve progress in some way. Without it we are stagnant beings, so if I’m to want to change something about my life or something about the environment I live and work in, the only way to produce that change is to live into possibility and act upon my ideas. It can be daunting, and this isn’t to mean that every idea is always a good one! But how are we to know without trying or without voicing our intentions? The practice of feedback massively helped facilitate this learning, which takes me onto my next point of leading others and the organisation.
Enrolment and feedback
In my second interview I remember being asked for an example of a time I had embraced the practice of feedback. The only example I could think of was of the feedback we regularly receive by the coaches at CrossFit. I struggled to think of an elaborate example of feedback I’d received in the workplace which wouldn’t reflect on me in a negative light. In hindsight I think this might be because every work environment I had previously been in had been based on vertical relationships with a manager holding authority, supervisors below, and general assistant’s at the bottom, so reciprocating feedback was very limited and in times it was received it was often for poor performance. I think this is what fed my very narrow understanding of feedback.
I have since learnt that we encounter feedback every day of our lives and not only from those in a superior position to ourselves. Feedback isn’t only seen in top-down relationships, but also in horizontal relationships. Feedback can be reciprocal, and what’s more feedback can be positive as much as it can be negative. Every single day at Lululemon involved this practice whether it be receiving feedback for store operations, giving feedback for things we were struggling with or things we thought the team could improve on to fulfil each of our roles. The most valuable lesson I have taken from this is that feedback isn’t criticism and shouldn’t be taken personally. If delivered correctly it is a mechanism to aid our development, such that positive feedback is an acknowledgment of our good work, and constructive feedback is a demonstration of someone’s investment in our development. Once in the practice of feedback I found myself more confident to enrol others in my ideas, leading us to collaborate and inspire action.
Collaboration
Similar to my previous point, communicating my perspective of things to others helped us to discuss ideas for bringing about change and driving results. As the practice of this became so habituated I grew in confidence to then enrol businesses outside of Lulu and bring our ideas together for community events. This was without a doubt the most rewarding part of my role as an Educator - playing with my ideas and giving something back to the community!
One of the biggest learnings: If you don’t ask you don’t get, if you don’t try you’ll never know. Our own pre-determined ideas of a negative outcome hold us back from living in the present and allowing for change. Live each day mindfully. Get playful with ideas and experiment. Voice them to others, embrace feedback- it will develop an idea further so its chances of materialising are greater.
I could go about some of the wonderful people who have played a role in my development with Lululemon, and even further about the memories I will hold with me forever, but 1500 words in and I suspect no-one is reading further! (Sorry not sorry). What I will say is that in the short amount of time I have been with the company I leave feeling more inspired in my career than ever, and I look forward to modelling the Lulu approach towards business in my own ventures later in life.
