As I consider my final day at Nordstrom tomorrow, it’s hard to believe that 32 years have passed. When I began selling men’s shoes as a student at the University of Washington, I never would’ve imagined leaving this company supporting the Shoe Division. This was the greatest honor of my career. I believe in brevity and a concise message, however today I’m allowing myself to write an email that requires scrolling.

Over these years, I have had the opportunity to work with so many talented teams and leaders, in so many parts of the company. From Seattle to Hawaii, Utah, San Francisco and back to Seattle again I’ve spent a lot of years in Shoes, but also had the chance to lead several stores, work in product development, and support divisions from Kids’ Shoes, BP Shoes and Women’s Specialized, ultimately landing back as a Shoe Dog to end my career. I left every job loving it and hating to leave that team behind, but having been challenged and stretched, and excited to take on something new.

I am grateful for all the opportunities given to me, and businesses entrusted to me. I am grateful to so many mentors—Jack Minuk, John Hall, Margaret Myers, Scott Meden among many others, and to share almost the entire journey as colleagues with my sister, Kerry Price-Duffy. I am grateful to have supported a team that I am so proud of—driven, competitive, and customer obsessed. I am grateful that the Nordstrom family believed in me.

Working in the Shoe Division, I had many opportunities to be coached by Blake, and even a few from Mr. Bruce. Those moments were hard at times, but taught me so much, and I only hoped that our team could make Blake proud of Shoes, for which he had a clear bias. Above all, from Blake I truly learned the value of extending myself, and believe it is our responsibility to bring forward the next generation of talent through teaching, mentoring, and even those tougher “coaching” moments.

These are not easy times, but I have every confidence that Nordstrom will win by holding to the core values that make the company unique, while completely reimagining retail for the future. I look forward to cheering from the sidelines, and hope to stay in touch. How special to leave a place where colleagues feel like friends, and friends feel like family.

Thank you to so many of you for being part of my journey. For that I am endlessly grateful.

Kristin

Kristin F.