Daniel Sampietro is the founder and CEO of RETAILATAM Business Solutions, a regional company of Retail Solutions in partnership with leading global and regional companies to provide Solutions for every need and budget. With more than 30 years of experience in the Information Technology, Market Research, and Services Industry, Daniel has developed a unique perspective on success and challenges. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on success, challenges, and the journey that led him to become an entrepreneur in the retail solutions industry.
Daniel describes himself as a dreamer, and one of his first work experiences was as an entrepreneur, creating and founding an information technology company. This experience taught him resilience, perseverance, and the importance of learning from failures.
Defining Success
According to Daniel, success does not have a one-size-fits-all definition. It depends on each individual and the context in which we find ourselves. He believes that there are different levels of success, both in personal and professional life. For example, success can be raising a family and feeling fulfilled, enjoying what you do and getting paid for it, achieving a promotion and developing your career, or being recognized as a leader, impacting in a positive way in the lives of others. Daniel emphasizes the importance of always giving your best, being realistic and concrete when defining your goals, learning to delegate when necessary, and opening your mind to new ideas and knowledge.
The Power of Challenges
Daniel firmly believes that challenges make us stronger. He faced a major dilemma four years ago, after more than 26 years of a successful professional career. He had to choose between corporate work or entrepreneurship. With the help of an outplacement company, he realized that he wanted to become an entrepreneur again, taking advantage of business opportunities and sharing the knowledge and experience acquired during his corporate life. Daniel shares the following valuable lessons he learned through his journey:
- Apply the Attraction law. Our thoughts attract our results, what we think about and believe, we tend to do. Our actions then produce the results we have in life. Limited and negative thinking leads to limited action.
- Talk about your decisions with your family, they won’t always agree with you, but they need to know what’s coming.
- Define a clear, measurable, and achievable goal behind your business or personal project based on your knowledge and experience: if required, think to onboard the right partners to complement your skills and offering.
- You should be willing to take risks: your prestige, personal finances and networks will be in the game with you.
- Adopt a strategy of learning by doing, keep a sense of curiosity and an ability to act even in your most trying moments.
- If you feel like the “game is over”, stand up and don’t give up: perseverance, perseverance, perseverance…
RETAILATAM Business Solutions
RETAILATAM Business Solutions is a regional company of Retail Solutions that offers a diversified portfolio with services and solutions to attend the End-to-End Category Management and Planning process. They help Retailers and CPG Manufacturers to better understand and manage their businesses through software solutions and business consulting services. RETAILATAM offers several solutions such as Space Management Software, Artificial Intelligence applied to Retail, and Retail Execution & Monitoring.
The Changing Landscape of the Retail Industry
According to Daniel, the retail industry is experiencing a revolution when it comes to technology and business models. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated trends that were previously seen as medium and long-term. In 2023, technological advances such as Artificial Intelligence and Automation, predictive analysis with Big Data, the construction of the Metaverse, Neural networks and Computer Vision, the deployment of 5G and cybersecurity are expected to mark the route of industries. For retail companies to stay competitive, they need to focus on improving efficiency, streamlining staff work, and enhancing the shopper experience.
Core Values of RETAILATAM
The Core Values of RETAILATAM are aligned with their Mission and Vision. They focus on Wisdom, Performance, Excellence, Teamwork, and Innovation. The company’s mission is to create added value for clients by providing solutions for every need and budget to facilitate decision making. RETAILATAM’s vision is to streamline retail business processes across manufacturers, retailers, and customers by helping to implement smarter operations, optimize assortment and inventory, and improve the shopper experience.
Influencing a Change in the Generation
Daniel believes that young people care more about having a positive impact on society and having a sense of purpose, in addition to salary and flexibility when considering job opportunities. He thinks the best way to influence young people is to have a clear vision, look at the future beyond the short term, show a desire to improve, grow and inspire by being an example for them, and help them to persevere and develop. He also emphasizes the importance of creating a safe space for the whole team, effective communication, and opening channels of productive feedback between all members of the team.
From Organizing Priorities, Communication, to Client Meetings
Daniel starts his day reviewing his Outlook calendar to get organized for the day ahead. He then checks his emails, responds to clients and executives within the organization, and focuses on the projects that have top priority. Daniel spends most of his day meeting with potential clients, doing video conferences and important calls in the morning. Effective communication is vital for running a successful business, so Daniel tries to stay connected with the team daily and interacts with different departments, but also has discussions with important direct reports one-by-one.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance
Daniel admits that maintaining a work-life balance has always been a challenge for him since he enjoys his job. However, he emphasizes the importance of managing professional and personal lives to make the most of everything we do. RETAILATAM offers its employees the best place to work with a culture of teamwork, professional growth, and development. The company has implemented a hybrid working model with flexible labor conditions and applies the meritocracy principles to identify who deserves recognition and reward.
To maintain focus on the important things, Daniel schedules a time to go running or workout during the week. He assigns specific tasks to specific time blocks, knows the schedules of those around him, and analyzes his time to spend it exactly how it’s most needed. He also devotes more of his personal energy and care towards his personal responsibilities, like going on vacations, taking more time with family, and friends to enjoy life beyond work.
Future and Personal Leadership Goals
Daniel has a positive view about the future of RETAILATAM, believing that it is just around the corner and promising. The company has been working on several projects with major FMCPG companies and retailers across Latin America, and their client list is growing every day. The medium-term plan is to consolidate their position as one of the leading providers of retail business solutions in the region by maintaining innovation and cutting-edge technologies as key components of their portfolio, ensuring sustainable business growth in the long run.
Regarding his personal leadership goals, Daniel assesses his performance based on five major components of EQ: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, social regulation, and motivation. These traits help him make decisions, set goals, and manage stress. His main personal goals are financial freedom, continuous professional and personal growth, never stopping learning, having flexible hours, and having a better work-life balance.
Daniel advises aspiring leaders to understand that simply occupying a managerial position does not make them a leader. There are differences between the two roles that must be considered. While leaders have people follow them, managers have people who work for them. He emphasizes that developing certain skills is crucial for effective leadership, such as being adaptable to growth and change, leading by example, building a dynamic team, delegating tasks, improving time management, practicing transparency, becoming a mentor, practicing active listening, offering more helpful constructive feedback, improving decision-making, and becoming aware of the personal strengths of their team members.
