We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cherry Lea a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cherry, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
Building an inclusive, supportive, and joyful staff team for the Dancing Moon is central to our core values. As a beacon of light for the community, it is of utmost importance for our staff members to carry on the mission statement for community service. From the ground up, we view our positions as service to the community instead of retail and sales. We enjoy greeting all who enter with open minds and hearts so that we can meet them at any point along their path. It has been a learning process with a few ups and downs along the way but we have reached a wonderful point with all staff truly valuing their role here as beacons of light for the community. Our hiring and training process is unique to us, and each person who is hired on as we all have our own paths and ways to learn and grow.
Cherry, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I would like to share a little history with you about Dancing Moon Books and Gifts. We began in a lovely little house on a side street near downtown Raleigh in January of 1990, and stayed there until October of 2002 when we moved to Oberlin Rd. In March of 2005, we moved once again to our present location on Wake Forest Rd. Dancing Moon Books & Gifts has become one of the largest independent, New Age retailers in the Southeast. We carry a large selection of books and gifts, aromatherapy and candles, CDs, incense and crystals, jewelry and tarot decks, and herbs. We invite you to browse our website (as you do, remember that the inventory listed is just a small subset of what we carry in the store), check our events calendar for a listing of readers and healers, upcoming events, classes, and seminars; or just come by in person and spend some time at the “MOON” – we trust you will find it an enlightening experience! Our knowledgeable staff has been serving the community for many years now and we consider ourselves fortunate to be a part of the Spirit of Dancing Moon, and we trust that you will as well.
Our purpose here at the Moon is to:
Maintain a consciousness that grows and changes as our awareness expands; Consciously live out of the box with values such as integrity, honesty, and compassion; Offer to the community, a safe place to come, to learn, and to grow. Once again, welcome to Dancing Moon! If you have never been before, see the Contact Us page for a map and directions. Thank you for taking the time to visit our site, and if the opportunity arises, please come by and see us in person.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
We have a newsletter, Moonbeams, that goes out twice a month featuring upcoming events, readers, products, etc. We enjoy marketing featured products, folks, and feelings through our Moonbeams Newsletter.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
I highly suggest it for any and all learning how to converse with others appropriately.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dancingmoonraleigh.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancingmoonraleigh/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancingmoonraleigh
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dancingmoonraleigh
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dancing-moon-raleigh-2
Image Credits
Caroline Binz