Today we’d like to introduce you to TJ Bennett.
TJ, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always seen myself as a “go-getter.” In the middle of grad school, I hit the ground running looking for job opportunities across central Alabama in an ’86 Cutlass in the middle of the summer. No, the Cutlass did not have air conditioning, but I ran across a networking event with Coca Cola and I literally talked to every human in the room, a room with at least 30-40 people in it. From coke employees to other aspirants, through it all, I got the attention of the district area manager and became the youngest large store account manager in the Alabama region. During my stint in corporate America, I relocated to Georgia where I reconnected with my undergrad employer and his business partners where they gave me the opportunity to join their team and help build the Sole Play brand to a household name in our industry. Even though there is always room for growth, we have done just that.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It wasn’t smooth road at all. At times, we thought it would all come crumbling down, especially with certain factors not aligning in the time frame we expected them to. The only thing that helped us get through it was never giving up on our vision. We stayed persistent and hungry, now we are reaping the rewards. If it were easy, everyone would do it, right?
Please tell us about Sole Play.
Sole Play brings the community together through fashion. We have several in house events that keep the community involved in what we do. We also have fundraisers and community outreach programs that gives back to the community that gives to us. Currently, I am the managing partner for Sole Play, my overall expertise is in customer service and sales. I am a lifetime student of the art of sales but my day to day tasks consist of overseeing store operations such as store presentation, sales training, merchandise buying, maintaining online price competitiveness and everything in between. However, I have been blessed with a great team with Bart, Kiana, Kris, Neil, Raj, Sanjay and Vini, they make my job easier. But I have to say this, the proudest moment of Sole Play has to go to us overcoming the many obstacles and delays in our brand expansion and approvals. Oh, and “Air Max Day 2019” was pretty epic too. Hahaha! With all of that being said, If I could pick one thing that sets us apart from our competitors, it would be our customer service. That is the main thing that we focus on as a team. Building customer relationships and engaging with them the right way. We provide value from the time to you walk into the store, until the time you leave, and even when you leave we keep you updated on promotions and events that we have going on in house.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Don’t laugh, but I have two childhood memories that have stuck with me since 1997. The first memory is winning my pop warner football league “Peanut Bowl”. It is the closest thing to the super bowl a child from Phenix City can experience at such a young age. The second memory is when my pops surprised me with Ushers “My Way” CD. I still remember most songs word for word. Lol!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1956 Duluth Hwy Suite B-108
- Website: WWW.SOLEPLAYATL.COM
- Phone: 770-682-7999
- Email: info@soleplayatl.com
- Instagram: @SOLEPLAYATL
- Facebook: SOLE PLAY ATL
- Twitter: @SOLEPLAYATL
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