Build the Team Your
Store Deserves.
Practical, hands-on leadership training built for the realities of grocery retail — by people who’ve actually run stores.
Grass Valley, CA – September 15-17, 2026 | Buffalo, NY – October 6-8, 2026
WHY RISING STARS?
Your team is your edge. It’s time to sharpen it.
Let’s be real: running a grocery store has never been harder. The competition keeps intensifying, margins keep shrinking. And finding good people? That’s its own full-time job.
Teams are being stretched thinner than ever. Which means strong leadership and well-trained people aren’t a nice-to-have anymore. They’re your competitive advantage.
Rising Stars Workshops bring you the trusted content that’s been developing natural foods leaders for over 20 years, now reimagined for today’s reality. Led by people who aren’t just consultants — we’ve run stores, managed teams, and faced those same challenging days.
I would not hesitate to recommend this seminar to others and I would insist on it for anyone in a leadership position in my store.
— Patricia Smith, General Manager, Willimantic Food Co-op
How it works
More than just lectures.
This is hands-on practice: role-plays, small group work, and real conversations about real problems — building skills you’ll use the day you get back.
01
Practice, Not Passive Learning
Role-plays and small group work in a low-stakes environment that builds real muscle memory for the situations you face every day.
02
Ready-to-use Tools
Leave with interview guides, coaching frameworks, evaluation templates, and communication protocols — built for the realities of grocery retail. No fluff, no theory.
03
Peers Who Get It
Learn alongside leaders from across the industry facing the same challenges — and build a network you can lean on long after the workshop ends.
Workshop Topics
Practical Skills. Zero Fluff.
Built for the job you’re actually doing — the team stuff, the hard stuff and the stuff nobody warned you about.
Build a Real Team
Your leadership team shouldn’t just coexist — they should operate like a unit. Forge shared expectations, strengthen accountability and align around ways of working that hold up when everything on the floor is going sideways.
Communicate Like You Mean It
Bad communication doesn’t just slow things down — it breeds confusion, frustration and the kind of misalignment that makes everyone’s job harder. Get the tools to run meetings that actually move things forward, deliver messages that land and make sure your team knows exactly what’s needed and why.
Lead With Integrity
Integrity isn’t a poster on the breakroom wall. Explore what it actually looks like in the messy middle of daily decisions and how it earns the trust of the people you lead.
Grow Your People — and Keep Them
Learn how to deliver evaluations that inspire. Practice the real conversations — the ones that actually move people forward, surface what motivates your strongest performers, and give them a reason to grow with you instead of outgrowing you.
Read the Room, Resolve the Tension
Emotional intelligence isn’t soft — it’s one of your sharpest tools. Hone your ability to navigate conflict, read what’s really going on in the room, and handle tension before it erodes the relationships your team runs on.
Drive Results, Protect Your Culture
Know when to invest, when to advocate, and when to act. Build the confidence to use financial insights to make your case, push for what your team needs, and deal with the people and performance problems dragging your department down — before they spread.
who should attend
If you lead people, this is for you.
Rising Stars is designed for anyone responsible for teams and culture in the independent foods or cooperative grocery environment.
- Department Managers
- Emerging Leaders
- Store Managers
- Independent Grocery Leaders
- People Responsible for Teams & Culture
Learn the skill building, confidence and resilience to go beyond just keeping the shelves stocked and doors open. Our workshops will give you the tools to create a thriving workplace where shoppers and staff actually want to be.
NEW TO LEADERSHIP?
This is exactly the place to start.
Rising Stars was designed to meet leaders at every level — whether you’re stepping into your first supervisory role or looking to sharpen skills you’ve built over years. You won’t need experience to get the most out of our workshops, all you’ll need is a drive to lead better.
What you’ll take away
Leave with more than a certificate.
Everything you need to lead better — starting the day you return to your store.
Actionable Frameworks
Practical tools for assessing team performance, identifying skill gaps, and measuring the impact of your coaching so you know what’s actually working.
Real Soft Skills
The communication, coaching, and feedback skills that turn good managers into leaders people actually want to work for.
Confidence as a Leader
The clarity and tools to stop second-guessing yourself and lead with intention — even when things get messy.
Comprehensive Toolkit
Interview guides, coaching scripts, evaluation templates, and step-by-step protocols for the situations that used to stump you — all yours to keep.
A Real Peer Network
Connections with other grocery leaders who get it — people you can text when you’re dealing with a tough situation or need a reality check.
Something That Sticks
Because learning alongside peers facing the same challenges helps make the changes last once you’re back at work.
Preventing Burnout
Recognize the early warning signs — in yourself and your team. Build the systems and culture that sustain performance without burning everyone out.
Pricing & Registration
Invest in the leaders who drive your store.
This is the most practical leadership investment you’ll make this year.
Individual Registration
$1995
per person for 3-day workshop
- 3 Full seminar days
- Seminar workbook with key systems, forms and documents
- Great organic food provided
- Tour of our host store
- Access to the participant website and downloads
- Discounted lodging when you reserve through our registration website.
Bringing a group? Register 5 seats, and the 6th seat is on us. Discount automatically taken at checkout.
Expert Presenters
Facilitators who’ve been in your shoes.
These aren’t just consultants. They’ve managed departments, run stores, and navigated the same challenging days you face.
Danielle Scallin
HR Training & Administrative Coordinator
Danielle has spent 15 years in hospitality management. Along the way, she learned a thing or two about people. She’s built teams, hired staff, and designed systems that work—first as an assistant manager, then as an event coordinator, and later as a marketing manager. And for Danielle, service has always meant more than good customer experiences. It’s about how we show up for one another. That idea drives everything she does. Today, she is the Training Coordinator at BriarPatch Food Co-op where she creates practical training programs that help teams work with clarity and purpose.
People do their best with the ideas and tools they know. I create a space where they can experiment with new skills, explore new ideas, and workshop with their peers – leaving inspired to do better work in the days ahead.”
Mike McCary
BriarPatch Grass Valley Store Ops Manager
Mike has worked in the cooperative world for 16 years holding multiple roles. He was a front end manager, assistant store operations and customer service manager and is now Senior Store Operations Manager at BriarPatch Food Co-op. He has also been a front end systems consultant. Prior to working with cooperatives, he owned his own masonry business. He has “mastered” the art of staff relations starting with hiring for fit, training for understanding, setting expectations, creating an environment of collaboration, and empowering staff to own their roles.
People are messy, self-included, when we accept people for who they are and where they are at we create an open space where we can all work, collaborate and grow. Be curious and assume we have the best intentions and understand we all want to do a good job.“
Mark Mulcahy
Consultant, Owner of Organic Options
Mark started as a produce clerk, learned to buy at the San Francisco Market, managed the first all organic produce department in the Bay area, launched Organic Options Consulting and co-created Rising Stars. He’s also served as interim general manager and operations manager at co-ops and independent natural foods stores across the country.
Even with 40 years of experience, I am still a work in progress. I begin with passion and curiosity in everything I do. I meet people where they are and start with listening. This opens the door for new ideas, mutual accountability, and the discovery of what’s possible beyond the retail norms.”
WHAT ATTENDEES SAY
Don’t just take our word for it.
Surpassed my expectations by far. It’s an incredible thing you do, to create a learning experience that is chock-full of nuts and bolts, nitty-gritty content, that’s carried along (but not overwhelmed) by an undercurrent of spirituality and love. I would not hesitate to recommend this seminar to others and I would insist on it for anyone in a leadership position in my store.
Patricia Smith
General Manager, Willimantic Food Co-op
I was prepared for three days of useful information and received so much more. It was inspiring and more insightful than I ever imagined. The presentation is simple to grasp and absolutely crucial to successfully leading a team. I’m so excited to go home and do my job with these tools in my kit!
Tyler Kulp
General Manager, East End Food Co-op
Ready to build your best team yet?
Seats fill up fast. Secure your spot — or bring your whole team — and leave with the tools to lead with confidence. Grass Valley, CA – September 15-17, 2026 | Buffalo, NY – October 6-8, 2026
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Got questions? We’ve got answers.
Join us in Grass Valley, CA this September or Buffalo, NY this October. Training and lodging are hosted together at accessible, full-service hotel and conference locations for ease and convenience. When you register, you’ll have the option to include your stay.
The closest commercial airport to Grass Valley is Sacramento International Airport (SMF), about 64 miles away. The easiest and most affordable ways to get from the airport to our hotel in Grass Valley are to rent a car, ride sharing, or to arrange a shuttle with Foxen Shuttle.
The closest airport to Buffalo is Buffalo Niagara International, which is 18 miles from our hotel. The easiest and most affordable way to get to our site is to rent a car or use a ride share service.
Your registration includes three full days of training, a comprehensive workbook and lunches hosted at the event, with food provided by a local co-op and prepared with a range of dietary needs in mind.
We offer a refund of registration less a 5% processing fee up to 45 days before the event. Within 45 days we will refund 50% of the cost or allow you to keep a credit for a future seminar within two years.
Of course! We know that things come up and will work with you to make sure your team has access to this great learning experience.
For stores sending 6 attendees, the sixth seat will be free.
Be prepared for warm fall days, the possibility of rain and anything you need to settle in and learn. Most importantly, bring an open mind and your strong desire to learn and grow as a leader.
· Rising Stars Seminars are presented by BriarPatch Food Co-op ·
