After graduating from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, Mary spent 9 formative years developing IKEA’s processes for customer service, employee training and product delivery surpassing $40M. Swedish influence would shape her perspective on equality, work-life integration, and the potential to harness American ingenuity and pursuit for a greater cause. 

Upon joining the Best Buy team in 1994, Mary funneled her considerable experience into District and Regional roles. In 2003, Mary and other like minded women launched WOLF, the Women in Leadership Forum, which develops talented women into stewards of the future. Ever a forward-thinker, Mary conceived the E.D.G.E. (Engage, Drive Profit, Gain Insights, Embrace Diversity) program as a tool to fuel corporate success by prizing clarity, diversity, and engagement. Her’s was a corporate revelation, a profound opus – and an immutable standard for the impending future.

It was only natural when, three years later in 2006, Mary earned her title as Vice President: a Territory GM responsible for 140 stores, 13,000 employees, and over $5 billion in revenue. Mary’s employee engagement scores and customer satisfaction index scores consistently ranked first in the company; she led Best Buy in NOP growth and expanded digital markets. Due to her focus on diversifying the workplace, rewarding merit, and streamlining the customer experience, Mary received several accolades, including an Ally Award in 2008 and the Innovation Award for Best Learning Contribution from IMD Business School in 2009, the same year Profiles in Diversity Journal named her one of their “Women to Watch”. Mary went on to hold the title of Vice President for Dick’s Sporting Goods and Toys R Us, growing her list of accomplishments and broadening the reach of her unique perspective. 

Lagom - the Swedish concept of balance - requires attending to several orders of needs. Truly successful companies learn to promote professional and personal growth: the synthesis of these metrics determines true strength and predicts innovation. The implementation of those values has helped her evolve into a role model and a universal measure of success.

Today, Mary’s boutique consulting firm, Dune Primrose, concentrates on engaging her expertise at every level of her clients’ businesses. Continuing her EDGE processes, Equal parts strategic planning, structural analysis, and solution oriented evaluation, Dune Primrose is unparalleled in its holistic approach to consulting. 

In addition, Mary recently launched a retail online company, combining design and inspiration with a focus on current trends and unique products. Riga Road is a start up which has turned her business experience and creative passion towards unexplored landscapes

At every step of her journey, Mary draws inspiration from the potential of a better tomorrow. It should be no surprise then (with four prospering children, her dedicated spouse of over 30 years, and a landmark career that continues its upward trajectory) that she is also formulating the return of US textile manufacturing, using her personal artistic inclinations to map out pathways for future artists and entrepreneurs. 

So what does Mary Stoddart, titan of corporate America with a mile-wide creative streak, say to the people with dreams still yet undreamed, and potential for days?

“Adapt the ‘I Am Undeniable’ strategy. Go above and beyond in every situation. Defy the barriers; go after what you really want...And if you can’t find it, you can always make it.” 

Words to live by.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marystoddart