4 Pairs of C-Store Leaders Share Career Path Journeys, Mentorship Tips

At CSP’s inaugural C-Store Women’s Event, pairs of leaders and up-and-coming executives from four convenience-store chains—Enmarket, QuikTrip, TravelCenters of America and Wawa—shared how they rose through the ranks at their company and how mentorship affected their rise.  

Wawa is No. 9 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count, QuikTrip is No. 10, TravelCenters of America is No. 29 and Enmarket is No. 60.

Click through to see what employees from these chains had to say ...

Debbie Shelton started at TravelCenters of America as an assistant restaurant manager, and after 25 years, she has risen to vice president of retail operations support.

“The people that I knew and the examples that I had—we had jobs; we didn’t have careers,” she said.

When she managed the flagship store in Ohio, she thought, “I’m not good enough to be here. Eventually they’re going to come here and find out. I would hide out in the cooler. But you can’t hide out in the cooler the whole time. So eventually I came out and started making relationships.”

Shelton said she always knew she could do anything, but she didn’t know if she could get other people to know that she could do anything.

“I didn’t have what [other people] have,” she said. “And I thought, ‘well that’s true, but they don’t have what I have. People want to know what you think.’”

Because leaders like Shelton paved the way, Kayla Parker, district manager at Westlake, Ohio-based TravelCenters of America, said she never thought she couldn’t accomplish something.

“Be your authentic self,” said Shelton. “I used to tell people what I thought they wanted to hear, but when you actually put yourself out there, even if it’s awkward and clumsy at times, it’s okay. Who you are will come through. When you’re looking for your next leaders, don’t count out that person who doesn't have it all together. They can learn. Check the cooler.”

Jason Read, director of store operations at Wawa, saw his professional growth take off when he “embraced the concept of being comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Read and his team knew they had to act when all 115 general managers were assessed at Wawa’s year-end performance calibration, and more male leaders exceeded expectations than female leaders.  

Read recommended “How Women Rise,” by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith, a book that dives into the personal and professional challenges that are unique to women in the workplace. “The book will speak to you on how to overcome and combat them,” he said.

“In full transparency, we [men] may know about them, but we don’t know how impactful they are to preventing women rising, promoting, even performing in the workplace. We need the education so we can help be allies.”

Andrea Brooke, category manager of tobacco at Wawa, began her career in the aerospace industry working on the defense side of Boeing. She was in supply chain and government contracting. Six years ago, she joined the Wawa, Pennsylvania-based c-store chain and migrated from supply chain to marketing.

As the manager of the tobacco category, Andrea said “it takes a cross functional team to be and flow with the complexities of the regulations, legislations and taxations.”

“The category is an opportunity to highlight the importance of those internal cross functional relationships and make sure they feel valued.”

“Be an advocate and an ally,” she said.

Having advocates and allies that are willing to serve as models, listen, provide guidance and educate is important in a professional space, said Andrea.

“As I continue my career at Wawa, I hope to be that trusted resource for upcoming talent,” she said.

Misty Primera, personnel manager, and Aisha Jefferson-Smith, corporate communications manager, both worked their way up the ranks at QuikTrip, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The pair spoke on how important DE&I, or diversity, equity and inclusion, efforts have been to the company.

“Our people make the place at QuikTrip, and that’s the approach we took when we thought about our DE&I initiative,” Jefferson-Smith said, adding that QuikTrip likes to also include a “B” for belonging.

To create its DE&I initiative, QuikTrip sat down with employees from every market, listened, learned and discovered blind spots, Jefferson-Smith said.

 “And through that, we’re able to go in, create our own initiative, and make it tailored to the company versus what everyone else is doing. We’re making it for our people,” she said.

DE&I initiatives are vital in attracting and retaining employees, Primera said, because if you can see it, you can be it.

“DE&I just shows that no matter who you are, what you are, you can be something and someone wherever you are—but in QuikTrip, it’s a place where we can see it,” she said.

Jeannie Amerson, vice president of marketing for Enmarket, had a strong mentor when she started in the industry who taught her to build her own brand.

“When I went to NACS [Show] with her the first time, she said hello to pretty much everyone that passed, and they knew her by name. That was so impactful to me,” Amerson said.

As Amerson grew her career in convenience, she said she never knew there was a glass ceiling.

“I never knew that there weren’t opportunities for everyone,” Amerson said. “I just saw it limitless for myself. So I want to make sure that I carry that tradition on and provide that for everyone that I get to work with.”

One of those people she’s mentored is Melody McCarthy, manager of marketing for Enmarket. McCarthy said she wasn’t shy about communicating to Amerson and others that she wanted mentors. She also kept herself open to all kinds of feedback.

She also kept her mind open to learning from leaders who were similar and different from her: “Both of those characters can help push you along in your career path, McCarthy said.

To help build Enmarket’s future, Amerson said the company is focused on having many different opinions at the table when decisions are being made.

“I feel like we’re making very critical decisions together as a team, and it’s not one person making a decision and that coming down,” she said, adding that they’re making sure women, and younger generations, have a seat at the table.