I'm not sure if its that time of the year when you start to reflect on the year that was (passed at such a pace we are trying to keep up!) or that I was back on a plane and loving my time away from the daily distractions to plan and reflect, but I am feeling loved up! And while its not a very Kiwi thing to do, I want to Share the Love we have for some people we are fortunate enough to work with.

At Retail Connect we are lucky to already have a group of passionate clients who we have worked alongside and are enjoying the small successes they are making.  And along the journey we have met some inspiring people who really make our Retail Sector so much more positive.

• Chris and Cam from Katabolt - so looking forward to working with your more, your assistance to date has been so positive and encouraging and your work with have a huge impact on our mutual NZ client taking NZ made product to the world.
• My girl crush Juanita, of Hotfoot and Retail Geek fame  - only you could have pulled off the Retail Geek blog, love it!
• Trish and the team at RetailWorld Resourcing - Recruitment is one of the more difficult roles in the big Retail jigsaw but the RWR team take out the pain and make it, well a little bit fun! (did we mention they also have the best contacts in the business?)
• Anya and the team at Redseed - apart from the fact that you are going from strength to strength both nationally and now internationally you are so grounded and customer centric, what Redseed is doing for retail training is going to change the face of customer service in NZ (no mean feat!)
• Niki Gunning - For those of you who have not had the pleasure of working with Niki, get on to it! Incredibly inspirational and motivating, Niki always has a fantastic way of putting lifes challenges into perspective, and encouraging you to always pursue your dreams and aspriations.
• My other big crush at the moment, and sadly I haven't yet had a chance to work with them, is the Warehouse.  The people focused strategy the Warehouse is rolling out should be replicated across all retail businesses.  Your focus on a positive customer experience across all channels and a focus on the Warehouse team makes me proud to work in retail.

And these are only some of the people who are making a difference in the retail sector.  New Zealand has the opportunity to create a positive vibrant retail environment if we all work together and with some of the people we are lucky to be involved in on a daily basis, I think that change is on the way.