OPINION | In Nettie's new role she provides sales tips and support to other vendors
Decked out in a crisp hoodie with a coach’s whistle draped around her neck, Nettie Johnson checks in on her vendor roster at our Old Town office. She chats with people, texts some others. Since July, she’s coached about a dozen vendors, helping them set goals and improve their sales.
Street Roots has been creating income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty for 22 years. People earn income by producing a newspaper that people purchase wholesale for a quarter and then sell for a dollar plus tips. It’s a model we share with more than 100 street newspapers internationally.
Since the pandemic, sales have taken a hit, so we are pursuing new ways to support vendors with their sales. How, we wondered, could vendors who have high sales give support to other vendors?
Enter the vendor coaching program, funded this first year by a Cannabis Seed Grant.
It made sense that Nettie became our first vendor coach. Nettie has always looked out for other vendors. She shops at estate sales and finds quality items, bringing them in to share. No longer homeless herself, she makes sure unhoused people have warm, quality coats.
She has also trained as a peer support specialist, graduating from Portland Community College in 2020. She’s kind-hearted, smart and professional. She’s the perfect person to launch this program.
“It feels pretty good to be the first Street Roots coach. I’m a coach by nature,” Nettie told me, chatting by video call while she sold newspapers at her New Seasons Woodstock location.
“I played basketball all my life. So being a coach at Street Roots is an opportunity for me to practice my skills, and also to give to people and see what people need the most.”
“Be confident and wise. Never fear the flood if you can swim.”
As a matter of fact, Nettie has coached me plenty. For the four years I’ve been the director, Nettie has frequently left me hand-written notes. I keep them all. Since the pandemic began, the notes have become a particularly valuable lift to me:
“Be confident and wise. Never fear the flood if you can swim.” She wrote on one. “Lead with patience.”
I knew first-hand she would bring this hard-earned wisdom to other vendors, too.
“When I’m coaching, most of it is observation,” Nettie said. “Trying to get a connection with that person, without getting in their business. I check in with them.”
Some have fallen off, struggling too much at this moment. Others have begun to thrive. She’s coaching one person who recently got housing, so Nettie helped him find a post near his new apartment. Housing helps people by leaps and bounds because it’s easier to be consistent.
Nettie works with vendor staff to find a sales location that will work well for the vendor. If they have a hard time, she stands at their post for about 30 minutes, suggesting what they can adjust.
Nettie says vendors need to establish a consistent presence, so customers become familiar with them. She also encourages people to be friendly and wear bright colors, so they stand out.
As if on cue, she pauses our conversation to warmly address a customer who picked up a newspaper and left a payment.
“Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate you,” she calls out to a customer. Nettie turns her attention back to our video chat, holding her lively but snuggly puppy, Neeko.
“Mainly, don’t be aggressive,” Nettie explains, recommending people simply encourage customers to buy a paper.
Vendors need to read their customers.
“Most customers don’t want to stop to talk,” she explains, “and when they do want to talk, they let you know they want to talk.”
“What type of goal do you want for yourself today?” she asks her team. She aims to help people earn $65 to $100 in four hours.
When it gets slow, Nettie coaches her team to “pull out a book, read the article in the newspaper.” It’s about building “a positive movement” at that post.
“Read a little bit, say ‘hi,’ keep friendly.”
Nettie has aspirations for developing the coaching program. She wants to make short coaching videos, talk vendors through sales tips and showcase examples at posts.
She also hopes to grow a clothing closet so vendors can access nice clothes. She scours estate sales for top-notch clothes and brings them by the bag to Street Roots.
Nettie’s concern for other vendors is exemplary, but it’s also an impulse that runs through the program. Plenty of vendors help each other.
We see time and time again that when one vendor is short on change, another vendor steps up to pay for papers. Sometimes, when people experience good fortune, such as a new job, they return to Street Roots to pay that forward, leaving money at the counter for the next person who comes up short.
Vendors each run their own little business, but they come to the Street Roots office not only to purchase their next set of papers but also to share coffee and conversation.
It’s where vendors come to share news of housing. It’s where they come to share rough stuff. It’s where they come to find support and compassion — the specialties of Coach Nettie Johnson.
Kaia Sand is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots.org. Follow her on Twitter @mkaiasand.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
© 2021 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657, ext. 404.
"street" - Google News
November 25, 2021 at 03:37AM
https://ift.tt/30UuFba
Kaia Sand | Street Roots vendors coached by Nettie Johnson - Street Roots News
"street" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Ql4mmJ
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment