Your store teams feel it: more pressure, more change, less time to get it right. FRONTLINE FRIDAYS helps you turn that pressure into impact. Built for senior retail + hospitality field leaders, each episode features candid conversations with execs and disruptors from the world’s most iconic brands — sharing honest lessons and clear tactics you can start using immediately. Hosted by Ron Thurston, retail leadership expert and two-time bestselling author of RETAIL PRIDE (2020) and HUMAN PRIDE (2025). Season 2 starts September 26, 2025. New episodes every other Friday.
What Boot Barn's Chief Retail Officer Knows About Building Leaders
The best leaders don't just build great stores. They build the people who build great stores.
In Season 2, Episode 18 of Frontline Fridays, host Ron Thurston sits down with Mike Love, Chief Retail Officer at Boot Barn, to explore what it really takes to develop the next generation of retail leaders — and why most organisations leave that work to chance.
Mike came up through buying, planning, and operations across nearly four decades at some of retail's most formative organisations before taking on stores at Boot Barn. Today, he leads a store network of 550-plus locations with ambitions to reach 1,200 — and he's built a leadership pipeline to match. Nearly half of Boot Barn's district managers came up through the stores. Every regional vice president over the past eight years was an internal hire.
Ron and Mike explore Love's Law — Mike's framework for understanding why the skills that get you promoted are rarely the skills the new job needs — and what that means for every ambitious leader on the floor right now. They dig into Boot Barn's Level Up programme, the balance between internal and external hiring, why community investment pays dividends no spreadsheet can capture, and what Mike looks for when he walks into a store and wants to know who the future leaders are.
His answer: engage and be curious. Two words. Consistently applied.
If you lead people, develop people, or are trying to figure out your own path in retail, this episode is for you.
What Boot Barn's Chief Retail Officer Knows About Building Leaders — Frontline Fridays, Season 2, Episode 18 is available now.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrohqoj-V_gskdgonZVHPSVNYO0K2mtpO (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrohqoj-V_gskdgonZVHPSVNYO0K2mtpO)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinefridayspodcast/ (https://www.instagram.com/frontlinefridayspodcast/)
Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-love-2348181/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-love-2348181/)
Ron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/)
YOOBIC: https://yoobic.com (https://yoobic.com) | https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/)
8 May 2026
What 900 Travel Centers Teach You About Frontline Technology
Most technology leaders build for the screen. David Dawson builds for the floor.
In Season 2, Episode 17 of Frontline Fridays, host Ron Thurston sits down with David Dawson, VP of Retail and Digital Technology at Pilot Company, to explore what it really takes to build and lead technology that serves frontline teams — not the other way around.
With nearly 25 years of experience, David has spent his career building the systems that power Pilot's 900+ travel centers: point-of-sale, payment processing, task management, and digital tools that help cashiers, maintenance teams, and store managers deliver for guests 24 hours a day, every day of the year. He talks about what a 24-7 operation demands of technology, why simplicity is a discipline, and why the best decisions get made closest to the work.
Ron and David explore the human side of what Pilot does — including why a Pilot cashier may be one of only one or two human interactions a long-haul truck driver has all day — and what that means for the people behind the counter, the technology that supports them, and the leaders responsible for both.
They also dig into the IT Road Trip program, how AI is reshaping frontline operations, and why "simplify, simplify, simplify" is more than a mantra — it's a leadership philosophy.
If you've ever wondered what great frontline technology leadership looks like from the inside, this episode shows you exactly that.
How Technology Serves the Frontline: Lessons from Pilot — Frontline Fridays, Season 2, Episode 17 is available now.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinefridayspodcast/ (https://www.instagram.com/frontlinefridayspodcast/)
David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveadawson/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveadawson/) | https://pilotcompany.com/ (https://pilotcompany.com/)
Ron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/)
YOOBIC: https://yoobic.com (https://yoobic.com) | https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/)
24 Apr 2026
Calm Under Pressure: The Leadership Skill Retail Needs Most
FRONTLINE FRIDAYS S2 Ep.16: Calm Under Pressure: The Leadership Skill Retail Needs Most
Pressure isn’t the problem. How leaders respond to it is.
In this episode of Frontline Fridays, Ron Thurston sits down with Lesley Hawkins, former Head of Retail at adidas Canada and leadership advisor.
Lesley stepped into retail leadership during one of the most challenging moments in modern retail — leading 1,200 associates across 32 stores as teams faced burnout, constant change, and growing disconnection from head office.
Instead of pushing harder, she chose a different path: slow down, listen, and rebuild trust from the frontline.
By asking three simple questions in every store, Lesley uncovered what teams really needed — and used those insights to reset culture, re-engage teams, and shape a more resilient retail organization.
Now, she helps leaders across industries navigate pressure, lead through change, and build teams that can perform without burning out.
In this conversation, she shares:
how to lead calmly when everything feels urgent
the three questions every retail leader should be asking
why listening is the fastest way to rebuild trust
how small acts of initiative create powerful cultural shifts
why “raising your hand” is the key to growth and innovation
Her message is clear: pressure is constant — but calm, intentional leadership is what drives performance.
🎧 Linktree:https://linktr.ee/frontlinefridays
(https://linktr.ee/frontlinefridays)👤 Lesley Hawkins:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-hawkins/
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-hawkins/)👤 Ron Thurston:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/)💡 YOOBIC:https://yoobic.com (https://yoobic.com) | https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/)
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