The best leaders don't just build great stores. They build the people who build great stores.

In Season 2, Episode 18 of Frontline Fridays, host Ron Thurston sits down with Mike Love, Chief Retail Officer at Boot Barn, to explore what it really takes to develop the next generation of retail leaders — and why most organisations leave that work to chance.

Mike came up through buying, planning, and operations across nearly four decades at some of retail's most formative organisations before taking on stores at Boot Barn. Today, he leads a store network of 550-plus locations with ambitions to reach 1,200 — and he's built a leadership pipeline to match. Nearly half of Boot Barn's district managers came up through the stores. Every regional vice president over the past eight years was an internal hire.

Ron and Mike explore Love's Law — Mike's framework for understanding why the skills that get you promoted are rarely the skills the new job needs — and what that means for every ambitious leader on the floor right now. They dig into Boot Barn's Level Up programme, the balance between internal and external hiring, why community investment pays dividends no spreadsheet can capture, and what Mike looks for when he walks into a store and wants to know who the future leaders are.

His answer: engage and be curious. Two words. Consistently applied.

If you lead people, develop people, or are trying to figure out your own path in retail, this episode is for you.

What Boot Barn's Chief Retail Officer Knows About Building Leaders — Frontline Fridays, Season 2, Episode 18 is available now.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrohqoj-V_gskdgonZVHPSVNYO0K2mtpO

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinefridayspodcast/

Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-love-2348181/

Ron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronthurston/

YOOBIC: https://yoobic.com | https://www.linkedin.com/company/yoobic/