Courtney McCune

*Story originally appeared on ASU Online’s website.

To be a leader, you must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Nicki Schillhahn-Amos has employed this philosophy many times throughout her life and essentially, it is the secret behind her many successes.

Schillhahn-Amos currently works as a Retail Operations Coordinator for the Frys Food Stores, overseeing the retail strategy for 22 of their Phoenix-area Marketplace stores. Along with a very busy full-time job, she is an online student at Arizona State University and on the board of directors for the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. She is also a wife, mother to a blended family of six, and grandmother to 10.

Throughout her life and career, she has used her natural inclination toward leadership to put herself out there and set a strong example for her family and co-workers. “My personality type is that I like challenge. When I’m really busy and challenged, I do my best work.”

Schillhahn-Amos has found plenty to keep her challenged in her more than 30 year career in the food industry, which she began as a part-time cashier at a Smitty’s grocery store in Phoenix. Since then, the company has gone through changes and a few different names – now Fry’s/Kroger – but through it all, she has kept pace and grown along with it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it was easy. “There weren’t nearly as many opportunities for women as there are now,” says Schillhahn-Amos, “but through some tenacity and patience, I started moving up into management.”

As the Retail Operations Coordinator, she is responsible for scheduling, budgets, sales and personnel issues for approximately 2700 employees. It is exactly the sort of challenge that she thrives on.

Making Time for Education

Schillhahn-Amos worked hard to build her career and has achieved much in her life, in her work and in her community. The only thing she had yet to achieve was a college degree.

“I started at ASU in 1972. I went to school for a year. My father was terminally ill, so I quit school. I ended up getting married, moving away, and never had the time after having a family to go back to school.”

She eventually returned to school for computer classes and went on the earn her retail management certificate. She was considering going for her AA when she learned about ASU’s Bachelor of Arts in Business with a focus on Food Industry Management.

Offered by the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU, the program prepares students for careers in processing, marketing and distribution across the food industry. Graduates go on to work in all sectors of the industry, including retail, restaurants, and institutions.

For Schillhahn-Amos, the focus on Food Industry Management is a perfect fit and fortifies the career she has worked hard to establish at Fry’s/Kroger. “I feel good about it and it’ll impact my career and make me more marketable. It’s just all around a huge sense of accomplishment personally and professionally.”

And because it is offered online, the program provides the necessary convenience to make it achievable: “There’s no way I could go back to school – my minimum work week is 50 hours. There’s no way I could physically go to campus and take classes often enough to get my degree in a reasonable amount of time. If it weren’t for online, we would not be having this conversation.”

Achieving her degree will provide many personal benefits, but she firmly believes that her experience should serve as an example. As she often likes to quote, “Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in your life, it’s about what you inspire others to do.”

“I deal very closely with a lot of younger associates who are moving up in the company, who have goals and dreams. I’ve been able to share some of that knowledge with them and help them improve their skills, which also improves my skills at the same time.”

While Schillhahn-Amos has been supportive of so many others throughout her career, that support has been returned many times over – from ASU’s Success Coaches who provide support and guidance to online students; from Fry’s/Kroger’s strong support of employee education; to scholarships earned from ASU’s Food Industry Management Program and the Arizona Food Marketing Association.

Nicki Schillhahn-Amos’ story is truly one of reaping what you sow and it’s all by design. “I hope I’m forging the path: going to school, working in the community and doing the things that, in my opinion, make a well-rounded life.”