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This podcast provides practical training for convenience store assistant managers. Each episode focuses on the real challenges of running a shift, supporting store managers, handling employees, and keeping operations on track in a fast-paced environment.
Assistant managers are often expected to lead without formal training. Survive helps bridge that gap by breaking down shift management, team accountability, inventory control, and problem-solving in a way that can be applied immediately on the job.
If you are stepping into leadership or currently managing shifts, this podcast will help you build confidence, make better decisions, and handle the daily pressure of store operations.
S Episode 81 Survive Resource Intro: Never Cap Your Growth
Hello everybody, I'm Mike Hernandez, and this video is specifically for convenience store assistant managers. I want to let you know about resources that are available, and the first one is this website I have called cstorethrive.com, and you can just obviously type that in here. Well, I'm not going to go through the process. You know how to type in an address. Also, it's in the link for this video in the comments or something. I don't know. But at any rate, I put this together. There are, I think, 351 different articles on different topics, right? And some of these may apply to you, some of them may not, not right now to your position. But it's good to know that this exists because I don't believe in capping somebody's growth because I never wanted that, although I experience that often.
I always wanted to learn more, right? I wanted to get better and improve and earn more money and move up and things of that nature. And so it's one of the reasons why I started creating these resources, I guess. So you can scroll through and there's all kinds in here. So just because something doesn't apply to you right now doesn't mean you shouldn't know about it. You can't know about it, right? And I think that's the biggest thing that I'm trying to kind of overcome.
You work at a company, you're a sales associate, and you don't really get access to anything more than that. Now, over time, if somebody likes you, if somebody thinks, "Hey, you're doing a good job," all those different things, you might. That's if your company has any kind of a training program. Some don't. Independence, you don't get access. So this is really, I would say, invaluable, right?
But aside from everything that's on here, you're busy, right? You may not have time to read. So you can listen. This is going to give you just a brief intro, right? But you click on this and you have English or Spanish. So if you are on the sales floor, you're ordering something, right? You're working in the back room, you can listen to something on your way to work, on your way home, just stocking the cooler, whatever the case is, right? You're in the back office doing paperwork on the weekend. You can be listening to something, learning something. And if you want your team to develop, you can let them know, your sales associates, "Hey, check this out. Come over here. You can listen, read, whatever the case is," right?
I put it in Spanish because everywhere I've been—not everywhere, but a lot of places I've been, a lot of Spanish-speaking employees. I'm in Texas right now, but I've been in other parts of the country and it's the same thing. So if you have colleagues who speak Spanish, they can listen to it. Unfortunately or fortunately, right, depending on how you look at it. It's not in my voice, but that may change in the future.
Right now, there's two different voices here. I have to use a lot of technology, a lot of AI to be able to put this together. It's a massive undertaking, really. And so in order to help people get this, I need to be able to work on the accessibility, right? There's 153,000 roughly convenience stores in the United States. There's convenience stores everywhere or some variation thereof, right?
And so if you're watching this video on YouTube and you want a language that's not on here, let's just say, for example, oh, I don't know, French, right? Canadian French or French, whatever the case is. I think there's two. Send me an email, admin@cstorecenter.com. Say, "Hey, Mike, can you put this in French?" And then I can add French here, right? Again, the goal is to give as many people who want it access to learning.
It's not for everybody, and I know not everybody's going to want to. But if you're one of those who wants to, I think it's going to be a big benefit because the cream rises to the top. And if you're investing in your own learning, your own training, there's nobody hindering you, nobody standing in your way, you're going to see much better results.
Now, right here, I have this podcast, and I went from some long ones to these shorter ones called C-Store Legends. And in these podcast episodes, I provide a weekly challenge. The weekly challenge is the same for sales associates or the theme, the topic's the same: sales associates, assistant managers, managers, district managers, independent owners, right? Everybody's getting the same message every week, but from a different perspective. Sales associate gets it in a way that applies to them. Assistant manager gets it in a way that applies to them, and so on and so forth, right?
And I also provide a resource. And if you want that resource, I give you a code word. You text that code word and I will get you that resource. And then that way you can go and look at it. The goal is for you're not just hearing something or reading something. In this case, the podcast, you're listening to something, you're hearing it. I want you to be able to take what you're learning and go apply it in your store so that the learning transfers.
You're not sitting in a computer. You're not in a class all day. You're getting quick little lessons and the resources for you to be able to go apply. And I'm going to show you what that looks like, okay? So let's come over here. Now, actually, you know what? Let's go back.
If I ask you for your email, I'm not going to get access to something. I'm not going to email you at all. I hate email, and I'm going to show you why. Look, I have 12,811 emails in this email box. I don't have time for all this, and neither do you. That's why if I tell you, "I'm not going to email you," I'm not going to email you.
I have members here. They don't get emails, right? All they do is some of them who have signed up, they get access to other stuff that's not for free, right? A different level of content. And I'll give you an example. Some of these things are for free,
but this one here is not. So there's different levels where you would subscribe with your email. I'm not going to email you. I hate email, right? But that's kind of the price of admission, right, is an email in return. But the same thing with a text. I'm not going to text. I don't have time, right? I'm one person trying to do all this. I don't have time. Now, if you have a question or whatever, then that's one thing.
So here's the thought, right? You text me the code word. I send you the resource. Now, if you want to take it a step further, and this is really what I have in mind, is you fill this out, right? You do this. You actually go through this and you do this. And then you add whatever here, which vendor attempted a substitution this week. How did you handle it or the denial, right, if you denied it? So you're not just checking a box or answering a multiple choice question. You're telling, "Hey, what did you do?" Right?
And you're not just telling me. I'm just saying this becomes your—I want you to think of this like a portfolio. You sign off on it. Your manager signs off on it. So one, it gives you the actual practice. So when you go through this in the future, you have it and you start doing it and you get the skill down. Two, it lets your manager know, "Hey, wow, Sam is really taking some initiative. That's cool. Maybe we should get it for the whole team, right? The whole team."
But this way, you're going to pop up on your manager's radar, like you're serious about this, and even your DMs. The cream's going to rise to the top. You are going to rise to the top if you're going through this. Now, I'll take it a step further in the future and I can track all this for you in the future, right? So that your whole portfolio is there without you having to go. It's going to be all in one place and there'll be feedback at some point to differentiate, okay? Yeah, you still need some work here or no, you're actually doing really well.
Now, what that turns into is just like when I was a DM, "Hey, I'm going to interview you. I'm going to ask you questions," and you're going to be able to answer those questions, right? So that's going to improve the odds of you getting the position, right? Two, you can say, "Look, this is what I've been doing," and you have proof without having to go somewhere, right? I'm working on different things like that. So I mean, how can they say no, right?
I mean, it's going to make it harder for them to say no because what you're doing is you're making their job easier. And more importantly for you is you're going to be comfortable in the position. It's not going to be too big for you. You're not going to be stressed because you're going to know about these things, right? And again, you're going to hopefully take control of your career and your earnings potentials, right? You move up, it's usually more money. It's sometimes more benefits, better benefits, sometimes just access to benefits, bonus potential, and everything else that goes in with that, right? So those are some things that I want you to think about.
I know there may be some hesitation like, "I don't want to text," but trust me, I've got so much going on that—and I've had people already text me and they don't get anything from me. They don't get anything unless they ask something or whatever the case is. So the other thing I have is podcasts. And you can see I have Survive. And why did I choose Survive if you didn't watch the other video? This is the hardest job, assistant manager, right? You can survive this.
So 78 episodes every week. I will be putting out some more. And I paused because I put out a whole bunch and then I went to work on something else and now I'm back at this. And this is where you're going to get those challenges. This is where you're going to get the code word. If you want the resource, which I just showed you, there'll be a new one every week. Text the code word. I keep track of that. And at some point, this will turn into a certification, right? That's the goal, is to make it a recognized certification.
So you go apply for a job somewhere else. I'm certified, right? That currently doesn't really exist. You go apply for a job somewhere. You fill out an application and that's pretty much it. What do you think that does to the odds of you getting hired? Even if it's not an actual certification or no official, you have your proof of work. You have your portfolio with you. That's why I encourage you to do that, okay?
But here's something else. Like I told you, you're not limited. You can listen to what the sales associates are hearing. So for refreshers, if you're an assistant manager, you can give them tips. You can give them—you can turn them on to this to help them improve. It's going to make your job easier, right? I always look over here because the screen is over here, but the camera's over here.
If you want to see what your boss is doing, right? What a manager, what's it going to be like when I'm a manager? Listen to Thrive. There are no boundaries. Some of these things won't apply to you, but that doesn't mean you can't know about them. The more you know, the better prepared you are, the faster you're going to move up because you're going to be able to relate.
When your district manager comes in and starts looking, you're going to ask them questions. "Oh, wait a minute. Wow, that's a good question. Where'd you come up with that?" "Well, I'm listening to the—" "Oh, really?" And so now you put yourself on his or her radar. He talks to his boss. "Hey, you know what? One of the other day, Sam was asking some great questions. I think she's going to be somebody to keep an eye on and somebody that we want to invest in, develop," right? And same thing for an owner. It's going to give you perspective for some of these things that the other employees go through.
I have other ones. I have in Spanish, Smoke Breaks. I have in English. I have one for the kitchen ladies in Spanish. Now, I know I've been there. The parking lot clears out. You want to run out and have a cigarette? Boom. You listen to a short episode, five minutes, maybe four or five minutes. You learn something. You go apply it in your store.
Those of you in areas where you have Spanish speakers and they're allowed. I've been around the United States and there are a lot of places that have Spanish-speaking employees. Now, they're not capped. They're not restricted to their learning, right? They don't have to worry about—and you don't have to worry about the translation barrier. Again, the better developed they are, the easier your job is, right? The more cohesive. And when things go well, they go well for everybody, right? So you want to share this kind of knowledge.
But at any rate, do you have any questions? If you want to know about a certain topic, email me, admin@cstorecenter.com. That's the price of admission, right? That's how I know you're serious. That's how I know that you're taking a vested interest in your own development, right? I'm very busy. I'm one person. I'm only one person building all this. And there's a lot more. There's so much more that's coming that I can't share. I'm sharing all this because it's public, but you just may not be aware that it's there. So questions, anything, comment, suggestions, anything like that, email admin@cstorecenter.com.
If I can see a comment and reply to it, I'll do my best. But I work full-time as a teacher and I had to—I kind of went into this position, one, to become a better teacher, obviously, right? To teach and train, but also to be able for the stability of my schedule, right? That helps me have time, weekends, holidays. I'm on spring break right now, so I'm doing these videos. Create content that's going to help you, right?
And there's people from all over the world, right? 153,000 convenience stores in the US. There's more everywhere else, right? There's always somebody, in my experience, there's always somebody that wants to move up, always. At least one person in the store, sometimes more, but there's at least that one person. And if you're watching this, I think that's you, right? So it's not for everybody, but if you know somebody who would benefit from this, share it. Your team, share it. Share it with your manager. Managers don't know everything, right? And nobody does, really. But this is going to help with that knowledge gap.
So I'll see you around. I use a lot of technology. I'm going to put out a lot of avatar videos, right? With my AI avatars. It's not me, but I look at it from a utilitarian perspective, right? For the most good. And that allows me to reach and create a lot more so that you guys get the fruit, right? You get the benefit of all that content, right? So at any rate, the further down we go, the more I'll be producing and some really great stuff coming that nobody else is doing. So I hope you come and join the community and we'll talk to you soon. Take care.