I didn’t plan to spend over a decade at Dollar General—but looking back, it became one of the most formative and wild chapters of my life. Here’s the full story—filled with corporate chaos, team triumphs, and a whole lot of pricing guns.
For over 14 years, I ran the aisles, schedules, freight, people, policies, and surprises of multiple Dollar General locations. I handled chaos with a barcode scanner in one hand and a coffee in the other. While the surroundings were retail, what I really mastered were the things that matter in *any* industry—resilience, leadership, critical thinking, and process improvement. And now, I’m applying all of it to a career in tech.
“I told the Vice President of Distribution that load quality ‘sucks big hairy monkey balls’—right there in the back room, showing him a rolltainer explosion firsthand. He nodded, took it in... and I never heard from him again. Truck load quality never changed.”
— on advocating for store logistics and safety in Westmoreland
“A corporate rep told me the new scheduling program was ‘system generated’ and shouldn’t be changed. I said, ‘Then your system is broken.’ I showed her how it scheduled closers to open, Associates in the store without a key-holder, and people driving an hour to work only four. She didn’t argue after that—just took notes.”
— on advocating for practical scheduling and team sanity
“When my kids needed me, I didn’t hesitate. I refused to let Dollar General—or an absent Store Manager—come between me and my family. That’s why I resigned the first time. Leadership isn’t just about showing up for a company. It’s about knowing when to show up for the people who matter most.”
— on choosing family over corporate expectations
“I partnered with Loss Prevention to track down patterns in shrink. We weren’t just chasing numbers—we were protecting the integrity of the store and the people in it.”
— reflecting on my collaboration with B.
“When I took Hartsville back over, I had to untangle a mess of vendor drama—Pepsi and Coke fighting over shelf and floor space, Ice deliveries not happening at all, and nobody following the rules. I laid down the law, rewrote the vendor dynamics, and made it clear: this was *my* store now, and we were doing things right.”
— on restoring order and accountability in Hartsville
“Those reports in the break room? I didn’t just glance—I studied. One showed inventory levels spiking in a sharp arc, and I finally understood: if stock keeps rising without matching sales, shrink is happening behind the scenes. It took questions, trial, and error—but once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. I could probably still spot it today.”
— on learning to read between the lines of corporate data
“There was no real way to verify if what the warehouse said was on the truck actually *was* on the truck. Yet when inventory rolled around, the burden fell squarely on the Store Manager and her team. That disconnect always felt wrong—like we were being graded on a system we weren’t allowed to check.”
— on warehouse blind spots and frontline accountability
“BOGO chips didn't ring correctly at the register. J. refunded one bag of Lay’s when she should’ve refunded both and resold them with price overrides. I pulled her aside and walked her through the logic: one refund leaves one bag off the books—hello, shrink. It wasn’t just a teachable moment, it was a moment that taught *me* how much corporate never explained.”
— on hands-on training and real-world logic in Store Management
“C. was furious that I’d called T. about her ‘busy work’ assignments. But when J. came in, he shook my hand right in front of her and said, ‘Thank you for helping out.’ I didn’t gloat—I just smiled. Respect doesn’t need volume.”
— on earning quiet validation and standing firm with integrity
“I once questioned why we were polishing a store for an investor visit when most days we were buried in freight, half-finished POGs, and a floor that needed sweeping. T. looked at me and said, ‘It’s not about how a store *is*, Violet—it’s about the *potential* the store has.’ That hit me hard. Of course you show the best version when you’re asking someone to believe in you.”
— on learning to see beyond the mess and into the mission
This page represents only a small portion of my days (and nights!) during my journey with Dollar General. The stories here are just the tip of the iceberg—moments that shaped me, challenged me, and taught me more than any training manual ever could.
I’m considering writing a full version as part of a memoir—one that captures the grit, the absurdity, the camaraderie, and the quiet victories that never made it into a report. Because behind every planogram and payroll crunch was a human being trying to do right by her team, her customers, and herself.
If you’ve ever worked retail, you’ll recognize the rhythm. If you haven’t, maybe this will help you see the people behind the counter a little differently.
Today, I’m proud to be chasing the next adventure—coding websites, building creative interfaces, and solving real problems with real people. My toolkit includes HTML, CSS, responsive design, and an eye for detail, but my true strengths were forged long before I ever opened a code editor.
I bring stories that shaped me, stamina earned from years on my feet, and strategy sharpened on the sales floor. Whether I’m refining a layout in Notepad++ or figuring out how to make a sidebar behave across screen sizes, I lean on everything I’ve learned: ask the right questions, expect the unexpected, and always leave a place better than I found it.
This site—and this story—isn’t just about where I’ve been. It’s about where I’m going. And I believe, without a doubt, the best days of my career are still ahead.