The more I learned about our business, the more I fell in love with it

People Business Partner, Charlie, shares her squiggly career from joining a Co-op store during Covid to working in the People team – and loving every step.

My career journey with Co-op started in 2020 when I took a three-month role as a Customer Team Member in our Auchterarder Food Store. After six years as a stay-at-home mum, I was nervous returning to work but with fantastic leaders, great training, and supportive colleagues, I quickly found my feet. I was soon offered a permanent role and later became a Team Leader. The more I learned about Co-op - its history, its vision - the more I fell in love with it. A seed was planted, “maybe I could have a career here”.

Starting my squiggly career

Through honest Colleague Conversations, I recognised that a traditional food retail career path wasn’t for me. My manager introduced me to the idea of a ‘squiggly career’ - one that moves in different directions rather than just upwards. I knew my strengths were in community engagement so when the Member Pioneer Co-ordinator role came up, I went for it. For a year, I had the privilege of helping bring our Social Value strategy to life across rural Scottish communities.

Eager to understand the strategy behind our work, I next took a secondment as a Community & Member Participation Advisor. Walking into the Support Centre for the first time was unforgettable. I had never worked in a corporate environment before, and honestly, it took me six months just to learn the language!

Discovering my passion

As that secondment was coming to an end, I explored opportunities across the business, shadowing colleagues and reaching out for advice. That’s when I realised my passion lay in People. Now, I’m a People Business Partner for our two Scottish Food Store Divisions, bringing my journey full circle. I love connecting with colleagues in-store, hearing their career ambitions, and supporting their growth - just like my mentors did for me.

During this time, I also started volunteering for two of our Colleague Networks, firstly Aspire, our women’s network, and now with Strive, our youth network, which helped me build relationships across the business. I also joined a Learning Group which allowed me to connect with peers and led me to finding my now Mentor.

My advice for career growth

My advice to grow your career would be start by truly understanding yourself – your skills, behaviours and strengths. Tools like Personal Growth Insights on the Development Hub can help guide you, as well as seeking regular feedback through Colleague Conversations or from peers. In a business our size, it’s important to also build your network, and do it in a way that suits you. There is a lot of opportunities to do this at Co-op. Finally, remember setbacks will happen – but staying resilience, learning from them, seeking support will keep you moving forward.