Leader Susie Kuhn on Resilience, Reinvention, Empathy, and Transparency
In early 2021, I had the opportunity to see Susie Kuhn do a live video presentation. Susie at that time was the Senior Vice President and General Manager at Foot Locker Europe. I found her insights and journey inspiring and made a note to reach out to her. Several months later, we connected, and I had the opportunity to interview her.
This discussion is an excellent chance to learn more about success stories like Susie’s as you navigate the ups and downs of business and life. It gives all of us the space to not only be encouraged and inspired, but also to absorb practical content to apply in our work lives as we continue moving forward.
Bouncing Back From Being Laid Off
“You mentioned in your presentation how you were laid off from your job when you were 25 years old, and then you bounced back,” I said to Susie. “Tell me more about that experience.”
“I did an executive training program out of college for two and a half years,” Susie said. “I then jumped to Adidas for an entrepreneurial retail gig. From there, I jumped to a dot com, which was lucy.com, a women’s online retailer for sport.
“I was underqualified a bit, but I was learning a lot. I was in the heart of that late 90’s original dot com boom…
