Canadian Retailer - Store 2013 - 51

This year's RAAC scholarship recipients at STORE 2013.

try, sit in on educational sessions, and network
with top industry professionals. For most, this
is the highlight of the entire experience.
“The best part of winning was going to STORE
2013 and making connections with major retail
personalities, learning from them, understanding what it takes to be a leader,” says Marvin.
“Meeting these professionals was inspiring.”
A winning start

Lauren Jaques, an ambitious young woman
studying retail management at Ryerson University toward a Bachelor of Commerce, is the
Interac $5000 Scholarship recipient in 2013.
She had a similar view of the value that came
with attending STORE 2013. “Going to Store
2013 is huge for my career. The connections
I made are invaluable, and I met leaders in
the industry that I learned from. Winning the
scholarship helps me stand out in their eyes.”
Jaques has strong views about what makes
a great leader and it was these views, as elaborated upon in her application essay, which
helped industry judges set upon her as the
2013 Interac Scholarship recipient. “Leaders
deﬁne a clear vision and mission for the business, and goals and strategies to advance the
vision and mission. Leaders have extraordinary communication and interpersonal skills
to convey their thoughts and ideas effectively
and to connect with the people they are leading and interacting with,” she writes. “Leaders
know when to seek input and advice; a crucial

part of leadership is building a strong team with diverse expertise and skills and complementary styles.”
The 2013 CRI Scholarship recipients have every right to expect that this experience will be a deﬁning moment in their
retail careers. Certainly Abbasova looks back at the moment
she won and credits it with much of her success today.
“The whole experience pushed me to succeed. After winning my conﬁdence grew and in my fourth year I became
more active at school, becoming President of the Retail Students Association. I was inspired and translated that into
winning one of six $10,000 Royal Bank Scholarships. This all
helped me stand out from others and I was fortunate enough to
be admitted to the Hudson Bay Company Executive Development Program, which sees you rotate through stores and positions to groom you towards becoming a sales manager. I’m
currently at the Queen Street location managing the largest
shoe shop in Canada. A lot of my success can be linked back
to winning the CRI scholarship.”
For 10 years Retail Council of Canada, through the Canadian Retail Institute, has helped to shape future retail leaders through its Retail as a Career Scholarship. For those bright
and ambitious students who win, it marks a proud moment in
their young lives. More importantly, the experience represents
a deﬁning step in their emerging careers, helping to set them
up for future success in an increasingly competitive globalized
ﬁeld. In the long run, it’s not merely the students that emerge
as winners but the Canadian retail sector as a whole which
can’t help but beneﬁt from the contribution of young leaders
with extraordinary drive, vision, charisma and expertise.
For more information about the Canadian Retail Institute
and Retail as a career Scholarship program, visit
www.retaileducation.ca.

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Canadian Retailer - Store 2013

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