Illumine Ventures, LLC

Founder

Whole Foods Market

- Defined the leadership development strategy and roadmap for the organization.
- Enabled Whole Foods Market leader’s growth, happiness and performance through the successful design, implementation, facilitation and sustainability of unified leadership development programs.
- Responsible for all facets of leadership development for Store, Regional, and Global Support leaders.

Global Director of Leadership Development

• Defined the regional learning & development strategy and led cross-functional efforts to build impactful leadership development programs to enable the growth of leaders of all levels.
• Collaborated with global leaders to champion the “Success Profile” tool that will be foundational to all aspects of talent management at Whole Foods Market. Outputs: EC & RVP Success Profiles.
• Led the Unified Leadership Development working group through multiple strategic iterations. Outputs: virtual TL development workshops and defined competencies for four levels of leaders.
• Partnered with senior regional leaders to define regional strategic priorities as they related to talent management. Outputs: high-potential development strategy & programs, “Leading through Change” strategy, “Speed-to-Floor” & “Always-On-Hiring” mechanisms.
• Led cross-regional effort to build the TL Cross-Training program that was adopted company-wide.

Regional Director of Learning & Development

•	Responsible for developing and implementing the vision and strategy for the following programs: Team Educator, In-Store Educator, NM Onboarding Path, Certified Purchaser.
•	Created a comprehensive training and communication strategy to support the transition of the Team Educator program from a role to an official position with its own wage guideline.
•	Led the region’s Envisioning initiative; developing and facilitating an Envisioning Day for each Regional Support team and overseeing the execution of the Metro Envisioning Days.

Regional Learning & Development Associate Director

•	Demonstrated ability to increase store support for training through effective communication of training benefits, relationship building, and proven leadership development results.
•	Developed Restaurant Venue Orientation in collaboration with store and regional leadership. 
•	Created Metro Educator Guidebook to support new Metro Educator onboarding.
•	Served as a mentor to fellow Metro Educators and ISEs to maximize their effectiveness.

Metro Educator

•	Contributed to a successful new store opening through effective training, leadership, and communication with department team members.  Our department nearly tripled our opening sales projections.
•	Improved team performance through strategic merchandising, diligent inventory management, and by motivating our team to stay focused under the rigorous demands of a new store opening.
•	Focused on training team members to deliver an excellent customer service experience through role playing, recognition, and leading by example.
•	Developed a firm understanding of department operations and financials.

Specialty Associate Team Leader

•	Successfully completed leadership development program designed to prepare Team Members for team leadership.
•	Challenged to execute new product strategies to support regional objectives and increase department sales.

Leadership Development Candidate

Compass, Inc.

•	Responsible for leading all field training efforts; including creating the learning roadmap, content, and systems to support the field in achieving sales objectives.   
•	Increased monthly recurring revenue by 126% in one year by revisiting and adjusting the business system training; then followed through by increasing field awareness of both online and weekly training courses.

Director of Field Development

Ok, let's be real. What comes up for you when you hear the words "spiritual awakening?" 

If you're like I was, the idea of spiritual awakening probably seems like a fringe concept. Something for saints or monks, but not for you. 

It's probably not even on your radar, or if it is, it probably feels completely out of reach. 

I get it. That was me. But, what if I told you that awakening is not the "woo-woo" stuff you think it is?

When you take away all the mental labels, awakening is just about understanding that there is another way to live. A way of living connected to your Creator. You can call it God, Source, Consciousness, Universe, or whatever language feels right. It's not about what you call it; it’s about learning to call on it. Making the effort to get still and learn the truth.
 
Why would you want to do this? Well, it's pretty simple. It is the only way to find lasting peace, joy, and fulfillment in your life. 

How do I know? Because I had to learn this the hard way. By the age of 45, I had achieved all my dreams and reached the pinnacle of my success. I had the dream job, the dream partner, and the dream house.  Then, the bottom began to fall out. 

I was experiencing a sort of quiet misery on a regular basis that began to seep into every area of my life. I couldn't escape the feeling that something was still missing. I looked at my life and wondered "Is this all there is?" 

Let me tell you, it's a rude awakening when you have achieved everything you set out to achieve and you still feel unfulfilled.

Instead of accepting that this was just how life my life was going to be, I decided to discover the source of my discontent.

You see, the problem wasn't my life. The problem was how I was approaching my life. 
•	I was approaching my life from the outside in, rather than the inside it.
•	I saw my life as a grind, rather than a gift.
•	I thought my answers were out there, rather than within.

Everything changed when I learned to do the REAL work of my life. I learned to listen to my inner voice, and it guided me to the truth of who I am, and why I'm here. This was my "awakening," and it's how I was able to finally release the quiet misery and experience the joy, peace and fulfillment I had always been seeking.

Awakening is for all of us: the rebels, the skeptics, the never-settlers, the non-conformists, and even the recovering perfectionists. 

I am here to share what I have learned so that we all may awaken to the truth. I am here to help you do the REAL work of your life.

Ready? Go to my website to get started: www.jencarew.com

Jen Carew

Erewhon

Store Director 

Team Erewhon 

Jimbo's Natural Family

•	Review and execute strategic plans to drive sales. 
•	Embeds ‘customer success core’ - build satisfaction, resolving issues, ongoing staff training, reinforcing a culture of ‘yes’.
•	Support employee training e.g., hands-on shadowing, ensure compliance and follow-through with Standard Operating Procedures.
•	Embed guest service fundamentals in operations and build a customer-first ethos across the store.
•	Assist with inventory auditing and cash reconciliation. 
•	Manage day-to-day operations and organize staffing playbook to empower and engage team, boost customer satisfaction, and achieve quarterly business goals.
•	Analyze market competition, guest feedback, and business results to iterate on sales and merchandising strategies.

Assistant Manager

•	Direct all store operations, creative layout, and product merchandising. 
•	Consistently reach sales targets, exceeding $65 million in annual revenue.
•	Develop and enact strategies and campaigns to improve customer acquisition and retention. 
•	Build and sustain win-win partnerships with vendor partners and third party in-store operators. 
•	Ensure food safety and government agency compliance, forecasting, purchasing, shrink, and inventory control. 
•	Develop expense projections and organizes budget, ordering, and inventory management. 
•	Facilitate recurring meetings with Leadership and team members to align on priorities and build camaraderie. 
•	Lead recruitment, hiring, mentoring, and coaching of team members. 
•	Implement an open-door policy to ensure a positive work environment.
•	Maintain awareness of customer flows and needs and directs team to delight customers; respond promptly to customer needs and questions.

General Manager

•	Create a welcoming destination that offers unique and exciting experiences for customers and community.
•	Effectively manage full store remodel while ensuring safety and boosting sales.	
•	Ensured compliance with established policies and procedures to include safety (HACCP, OSHA) personnel, security, pest control, and shrink control.
•	Orchestrated the restructure of several core positions and teams within the store to align to company expectations and standards. 
•	Hand-selected as 1st transitional Store Team Leader.

•	Established and monitored expectations for retail standards and ensured consistency across team. 
•	Revitalized staff engagement and resolved core issues to improve agility and reduce turnover.
•	Utilized an invigorating approach and new strategies to improve merchandising, customer service, and leadership.

•	Identified our niche within the community to improve outreach and increase sales.
•	Implemented the Whole Foods Market culture, standards, and expectations. 
•	Stimulated brand confidence and built relationships within the community, resulting in positive sales impact.

Store Team Leader

My personal motto is "Be the Change". I believe that each person can make a difference and connection with others can ignite change for the better. As a servant leader I prioritize learning, development, and care in everything that I do. Equipping and empowering others to do their best each day is my not-so-secret sauce to effectively building capacity and heightening profitability in companies large and small. This approach is embedded in store practices, work culture, and expectations and consistently yields measurable success.

I am a people-oriented and results-driven retail leader with 30+ years’ experience in sales, customer success, and developing high-performance teams. Highly effective in developing comprehensive strategies that consistently exceed sales forecasts, align associates, and elevate customer success – exceeding sales goals by 10%+ in 2019 and 2020. Consistently raises the bar for retail execution and customer engagement. 

AWARDS
•	Diamond Store Award for top 5% sales in region – 2018, 2019, 2020 
•	Top 5 Store Regional Sales Volume – 2019 and 2020 
•	All Star Regional and Global Store Team Leader – 2012

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
•	Developed and spearheaded plans to drive growth; increased weekly store sales from $756k to $1.35 million.
•	Managed 6 store remodels including full store, bar, and restaurant additions. 
•	Implemented effective systems and protocols (i.e., new associate training, merchandising techniques, setting performance goals) to improve overall store effectiveness.
•	Cultivates a positive, high-performing culture backed by trust and shared accountability to inspire, motivate, and up-skill staff.

My specializations include:
•	Budget and revenue
•	Sales and retail execution
•	Profitability
•	Customer satisfaction 
•	Marketing and merchandising
•	Organization 
•	Inventory 
•	Compliance 
•	Project management
•	Customer acquisition and retention

taplio

The Battle

Jen Carew

Kimberly West

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?