Samantha Johnston: Modern Leadership Challenges in a Digital Era

What if a grocery store could feel like your people? We sit down with Samantha Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer at Clark’s Markets, to unpack how independent grocers build real loyalty by leading with care, operational clarity, and a deep commitment to community. From the Colorado high country to Sedona and Utah, Clark’s carries a bold, independent spirit—and Samantha reveals the practical moves that turn transactions into relationships.

Samantha’s career path is anything but linear—media executive, hospital service excellence leader, even firefighter—yet each chapter shaped a leadership style rooted in courage and empathy. She shares how “alignment over balance” guides her priorities, why hiring for cultural fit prevents foundation cracks, and how rolling up your sleeves on the front line leads to smarter systems and higher trust. We also explore the power of NGA share groups and WGA’s network to accelerate learning, open doors, and support women thriving in a historically male‑dominated industry.

Then we look forward. AI and personalization are redefining grocery marketing, loyalty programs, and e‑commerce, freeing teams to invest in what machines can’t: hospitality, storytelling, and memorable human touchpoints. Samantha outlines why prepared foods and cafés expand a grocer’s “seat at the table,” how to move beyond simple satisfaction to true devotion, and the practical habits that help rising leaders grow fast—curiosity about people, fluency in business fundamentals, and service grounded in the community. Along the way, she spotlights two essential reads: Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott and Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia.

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National Grocers Association Foundation
Welcome to "Grocery From Her Seat," the WGA podcast offering a unique perspective on the independent

Transcript

Season Three Welcome & Focus

Producer 0:05

Welcome to season three of Grocery from Mer Seat, the Women Grocers of America podcast. This season you will hear from influential CEOs and industry icons to rising stars and game-changing entrepreneurs. We are bringing you bigger conversations with bolder voices you won't hear anywhere else. Every episode is packed with leadership tips, fresh strategies, and grocery insights for store owners and operators, as well as product and service providers. Grocery from Hersey is where inspiration fuels action. Now, let's dive into another episode of Grocery from Herce, powered by the NGA Foundation and hosted by WGA President Kristen Pop.

Kristin Popp 0:45

I am your host, Kristen Popp, and today I have the privilege of chatting with Samantha Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer for Clark's Markets. Welcome to Grocery from RC, Sam, and thank you so very much for sharing your time with us today. Thanks, Kristen. It's so fun to be here. Sam, can you tell us a little more about Clark's Markets and your role or if there's a day-to-day, what that looks like?

Career Path From Media To Grocery

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Clarks Market is a really fun, small family chain, mostly in Colorado, also with a store in Utah and a store in uh Sedona, Arizona. We operate mostly in the Colorado Resort Mountains and then have some ranch markets that are in outlying communities. But I think when we talk about the Clarks brand, it's really independent and brave and curious. I think it's a really cheerful, energetic, and fun store and retailer and something just deeply rooted in community. Started in the 1978 in Aspen, Colorado. And so that's really where everything grew from. And my role in the day-to-day, it is all of the marketing and advertising. It's e-commerce, it's loyalty, it's sponsorships and donations, it's public relations and community outreach and engagement. So I wish I could say what a typical day looked like, but it could be anything from fixing a reward customer's account to merchandising in a store and kind of everything in between. So what inspired you to get involved in groceries, Sam? When I moved to Aspen about 12 years ago, I was in the media business and I met Tom Clark Jr. through Rotary. And we were both active Rotarians and both had been Rotarians for 20 plus years. Tom had said, I have a need, and I feel like you're the person who could fill that need for Clark's market. And so it really was sort of serendipitous.

Kristin Popp 2:27

Can you tell us a little bit about your background? What other industries and kind of what was your road to get to grocery and where you are today?

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Well, I spent most of my career in the media industry, 20 plus years working for mostly family-owned media companies. I was a general manager of a group of daily newspapers in the Colorado Mountains and worked for an extraordinary family at that time, the Swift family. And when the company sold, I made the decision not to join the new ownership. And so I started a consulting business for two years. And that is what ultimately led me into that conversation with Tom about the grocery industry. I spent a short stint in healthcare, actually got hired to try to pass a mill levy in a community where they had been trying to build a new hospital for several years and couldn't get the funding to do it and couldn't just get the community to rally around the project. And at the time, I was working in media and I said to my bosses, I really want to do this. And they said, Sam, you can always come back to an industry you love and that you're good at. If you really want to explore this, go do it. So I did end up uh working as a consultant for this hospital, and we raised all of the funding to build a replacement hospital. It was the biggest Section 242 HUD loan in the history of HUD to do this particular project, in addition to getting the community mill levy passed. And so it was just really fun experience again with community. So I worked in that healthcare. I then worked at the hospital for three years. My position was service excellence officer. It was really all the initiatives to just have an exemplary customer service, which I think serves me so well in grocery. And I think just a fun little side note was that I was a firefighter for almost a decade in my 30s. So it's been sort of a windy path.

Defining Leadership: Care And Alignment

Kristin Popp 4:12

Well, I love the uh impact that you had on the community. What an amazing accomplishment. So congratulations on that. What are some of the things that you've learned that have stuck with you and shaped you into the leader that you are today?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

One of my favorite learnings that I'm so grateful that I know now is that not only is it perfectly possible to be a leader and a friend, but it's beneficial. I think I came up at a time when I worked for for mostly men in my career. And I'm really grateful because I worked for so many men who were strong champions of women in the in whatever roles we were in. And so I feel really fortunate to have worked for some really great male mentors. But I would say that I consistently got the message that caring deeply about people was just not the way to lead. And that to be a manager, you really had to separate that and they had to look at you and know you were the boss. And I believed that for many years as a young leader and believed that I had to have that separation. So I think what I learned and the most important lesson was that caring deeply about people doesn't make you a less effective leader. It makes you a much more connected leader and gives me, you know, me a line of sight into things I couldn't have seen from the periphery. So I think that's my favorite learning. I also talk about it on LinkedIn, I talk about it in the world, I talk about when I'm on panels. There's no such thing, in my opinion, as a work-life balance. There's just an alignment. And alignment, you know, for me means you're giving the most important things the time and attention that they need when they need it. And sometimes that's work, sometimes it's your family, sometimes it's your health. But that alignment means you know you can't prioritize everything. You can only prioritize one thing. So you have to choose what that priority is in any given moment to get that alignment. And that's the last thing that I would share from those learnings is that I say you can't coach give a damn, that you can hire all day long for a cultural fit and you can train, you can all hire all day long for a cultural fit. You can always train skill set. But I think hiring a person with extraordinary skills who's not also an organizational fit is just kind of agreeing in advance to that crack in the foundation. I mean, I could talk for five hours about the lessons I've learned and all the things I've done wrong and how I learned those lessons. But I think those are my favorite three.

Kristin Popp 6:32

I like the alignment. I think that's a conversation I have often is um that you can't always do it all all the time. And so, how do you align your time and use your time with intention so that you're prioritizing what needs it at that time? And I think, Sam, the other important thing to mention there is that looks different for everybody, and that's okay. It shouldn't look the same for everybody, and trying to match what somebody else is doing is not going to get you to your best self. So great, great nuggets of information. Thank you for sharing those. Sam, not entering the industry early on in your career and then having to learn it as you've gone through other different paths. What role has organizations like NGA WGA played in uh you being able to be successful in your role today?

Grocery As Human Connection

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Like I've just been so blessed for the friendship and support of independent grocers involved in my NGA marketing share group. That's really where it started for me was getting into that share group. And I can't say enough about how just veterans in marketing, but also people who are really doing cool stuff in the in the grocery space, like you know, Jamie Collins at Dearburgs and Tristan at Roach Brothers and Matt Corbin at Lowe's are people who have just immediately put their arms around me and said, We know you think you don't know what you're doing, you know more than you think, and lean on us when you need help. And so I think that has been just, I'm so grateful for that. So many who were so supportive at NGA. And then WGA has also been invaluable. I am so happy that when um I really got involved at Clark's, Tom Clark was the first person to say, connect with WGA because you need strong women around you, both role models and people you can mentor. And he's like, but this is such a male-dominated industry that that go find those connections. And so I am so glad that he turned me toward WGA. And Tom Clark is a great support and been in this business so long that that is helpful. Well, I also have colleagues here. I mean, Jim Clapp and Adam Liberty at Clark's who have just spent a career in the food industry and they have endless knowledge to share. It takes a village. And how does it impact the industry as a whole? I'll go on a small little side journey here. When I think about what it means to be in grocery retail, it's so much bigger than walking into a store and seeing a beautiful produce display or hitting the deli for a hot lunch. I mean, yeah, that's at the core and the basic thing that we do. But grocery is such a real and a human connection. It touches every life food does, whether you have an abundance or whether you're just doing your best to put food on the table every day. And when I think about how every single customer who comes in our store is a human being with a story, and that when that customer chooses us, they choose to let us be part of their story. And man, that is just such an honor and a responsibility to do our best for them. And I think when you can find that group around you and you are all so passionate about what you're doing, and you dive deeper than this is just selling tomatoes. You dive into what it really means to connect people and food. So I think having all of that support around you reminds us of just how important this work is that we we really do.

Kristin Popp 9:41

Absolutely. Sam, you talked about alignment with your job, your life outside of your job, right? Or can you uh talk about your life outside of work a little bit?

Life Outside Work: Dogs And Mountains

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Absolutely. I to know me it all is to know that I'm a lover of senior dogs. I just have a heart for rescuing the dogs that are least likely to be rescued. I don't know how that happened. Over time, it just did, and I ended up with these older dogs, and now I can't live without them. You know, my husband Jeff and I live in the mountains of Colorado, and we are avid travelers. We just finished a uh a trip this this summer to the Arctic to see polar bears. And I think it's, you know, we have a real heart for the land and the animals and, you know, what makes this earth such a special place. So I think you'll you'll always find me doing something connected to the animals, whether it's the photos I'm taking or I'm I'm, you know, out in our back country wondering if I'm gonna see a bear that day. I think those are the things that the people know um about me. Definitely outdoor wherever I can be, cooking, gardening. I like to say that I'm still trying to perfect this sort of high-altitude gardening and growing things that people tell me I can never grow. And as soon as they say that, I'm like, all right, that's it. This I am, if it's the last thing I do, I will grow that thing. Also, we're uh an aunt and uncle to three great nieces and nephews as well. And so it's sad. It's the animals, it's family, it's getting outside. It's all of that, Kristen.

Kristin Popp 11:09

And I just love your heart of gold. And let's go back to the industry. You mentioned some names of people that have helped you. Is there anybody that's inspired you, helped you in learning or understanding the industry?

Mentors Who Shape Decisions

SPEAKER_02 11:21

But I think I learn um from people almost every day, whether it's an email, whether it's attending a share group, going to NGA and meeting different, different people, whether it's retailers or vendors. I I there's someone every day. I think, though, a person who always inspires me every day to consider the right things. And I don't think it matters if it's grocery or it's any other industry, but was Megan Boyer, who was just a force to be reckoned with. And she was a colleague in the media business and just like the best human I know. But she was diagnosed with terminal glioblastoma when she was 37, just a few years ago, and she passed away at 40. But she was a colleague and a friend for 15 years, but she was the kind of leader I always say that if Meg said, I'm going on a journey, do you want to go? People didn't ask what it was. They just said, Yes, I do, I want to go. Um, if you're going, I'm going. And no matter what Meg faced uh when I worked with her, uh, she would approach every situation with two questions. And the first one was, how will this impact our people and our customers? And if money were no concern, what's the right thing to do? And we put everything through that filter so that we made the decisions based on the right sets of inputs and didn't only operate from a spreadsheet or only operate from a like with a business lens on. And in the end, everything started with people. And no matter what the decisions we made were, when we put the people first, which was our team and our community, we really never went wrong by the by the business. So the story I love to share is that we we were both up for the same promotion at one point in our careers, and we both wanted the job. Um, but we also both had such deep respect for each other and felt confident that whoever got it would be the right person. But our boss at the time couldn't decide. And so he split the job and promoted us both, which in the end we laughed and said, of course, that's what he did, because that was the easy way out. But the first thing she did was to send me a Wonder Woman poster with my face photoshopped on it and a bottle of champagne congratulating me on the job. So she was um that woman who you you you've heard that saying, that woman who always adjusted my crown first before she adjusted her own. And I think so. I I just carry Meg with me in everything I do. And I think that the that spirit of how she approached everything is something that has served me so well in grocery retail as well.

Today’s Leadership Challenges

Kristin Popp 13:54

What a great story to have, you know, people like that in our lives that really shape us into who we are and have such a big impact and uh just doing good. Thank you for sharing that. Sam, we let's talk about challenges. We all face them as we talk about challenges with leaders. What are some of the common things that you see leaders facing today as far as challenges go?

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Oh, I think there's so many. And if I start with a few that leaders have now that we is different than we've had in the past, I mean certainly leading through uh hybrid scenarios and flexible work demand. In the past, those work-life balance conversations weren't really on the table. And specifically, I think women were expected to choose do I want a career or do I want to be at home? And today, women leaders are often at the forefront of navigating those flexible work arrangements and advocating for caregiving policies and modeling boundaries. But there's also a lot of criticism that we face for doing so, as if flexibility somehow undermines productivity. Another thing we're really facing is that visibility versus scrutiny in a digital era. You know, every decision, the public's got some sort of input into that on social media. And I think, you know, things just get amplified and judged and criticized disproportionately because of the ability to just have things be front and center in this digital era. And so I think that's something that we're all combating, and that you make one small decision one time and it gets amplified in the wrong platform or in the wrong way. And that's the only shot you had at giving context. So I think it's just we live in a in a world now where we really just have to be so accountable and so intentional about what we do. And I think that sometimes makes people a little less authentic. What the conversation they want to have is one that they just think really hard before having because of how it might play out in in various ways they can't even imagine when they're saying it. So I think those are a couple of the things that that are making this world a very different than it used to be.

Books That Build Better Leaders

Kristin Popp 16:02

No, I think those are important call-ups. As we continue to talk about leadership, are there any books or tools that you've read? I'm an avid reader. I love to read to learn. So I'm always curious for this question in the podcast. But are there anything that you've read that have had an influence on your leadership that you recommend?

Why Mentorship Matters

SPEAKER_02 16:22

Uh yes, I know you're an avid reader. I love your LinkedIn posts every week, giving me the next book that I need to add to my list. But Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott is a book that I send to everyone I've ever mentored or coached. That book is a reminder that leadership isn't about knowing the answers, but it's about really about creating space for courageous and curious and candid dialogue. And so the book is so tactical, but it's also really thought-provoking. It's not like so many business books that you read and you're like, you feel like you're in, you know, a college class. It really is so practical. So I love it. I can't say enough about it. Also, I'm a big fan of the work that Bob Chapman has done in his our community cares programs across the country. He has a book called Everybody Matters that he co-wrote with Raj Silvia. And it's just leadership rooted in love and respect, which is always my favorite approach. And it's not to say that there aren't times when assertive approaches are required, but I think that that really tough love is better than no love. And so I really appreciate his approach to that and also his just approach to all of this starting from um a manufacturing company where people said, you know, we're never gonna get these people to do what we need them to do. And Bob was like, that is just insane. These are human beings with families and lives, and we can do better.

Kristin Popp 17:40

Thank you for sharing those. Now I have two new books to add to my list. So I appreciate you sharing those. And Sam, I love that you talk about that. You send that the Fierce Communications book to those that you mentor. And as you mentor mentioned mentorship, what is the importance of mentorship and what impact do you feel that it plays on the industry? If you can talk about like your journey with being a mentor or a mentee.

Trends: AI, E‑Commerce, Foodservice

SPEAKER_02 18:04

You know, coming up um in business, I didn't have any real strong female mentors. I did have some really wonderful male mentors. And a story that I love to tell is the CEO, uh hospital CEO where I worked in a small rural uh community in Northwest Colorado. His name was George Rorick, and he had been in the Air Force and had a very stern way about him, but also a very wonderful way of empowering people to just do the thing he hired them to do. When I was young, I mean, in my 20s working for him and took on this massive project at this new hospital, I said, George, I don't know how to do that. And he looked at me and he said, Johnson, you don't need to know how to do it. You need to know how to find the people who can. And that was something that has stuck with me for my entire career because I thought, you know, he said to me, I don't know how to build a hospital either, but I know how to find smart people who do. So it was really an empowering way for him to say to me that put you in this role for a reason. And as I went along, there were other learnings that I had from him, up to and including, I would sometimes ask him about decisions to make that I needed to make and say, What do you think I should do? And he would say, Well, what do you think you should do? And I would tell him, and he would say, I trust you to make the right decision. And at the time, I was like, God, this is so annoying. Why won't he just tell me what to do? And all these years later, I realized, you know, he built the foundation that I have now. And so when I think about mentorship and grocery, and especially um people coming new into the industry now, no matter how what age you are, if you are new to the industry, I think having those people to really help you immerse yourself and then empower you to just do the right thing. And in this industry, I think it changes so fast and things are changing so fast in grocery retail and with the with AI being such a huge player now, it's really important to have those people who have not only been there, but can help you get to the place where they're like, who knows what the future is? You're smart and capable. That's why you're here. Make the decision, be accountable for it, learn from it and grow from it and move on.

Kristin Popp 20:59

Those relationships can form organically and help you. And if you have the opportunity to do that and help somebody else throughout your career, those are very impactful. Also important. So, Sam, you mentioned AI. Obviously, I think it's there's not a conversation that I have that it doesn't come up in, but let's look towards the future. And what trends do you see having a role in shaping what that looks like?

From Satisfaction To True Loyalty

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Oh, uh there's so much potential for AI to positively shape the future of grocery and to really help our leadership's teams as they deliver world-class customer experiences. And if we can embrace a way that AI allows for efficiency and data diving, we don't have the resources or the skills for on the human side. We have so much more capacity to use our skills and talents to polish and perfect the things that AI can't do, which is curating those customer experiences and those employee experiences, those human touch points that AI can't do. And if we can allow it to do what it does really well so that we can spend the time doing what human beings do really well, we're we're in a really, we're gonna be in a really good spot. And e-commerce, such a strong potential into the future. You know, humans are not getting less busy. I don't even see a world where we get less busy. We're only going to continue to be more fragmented in our personal and professional lives. And that personalized e-commerce um is an area where we have to play really well, I think, in the future. And AI is is built for that. I I I'm just I love the growth. Of grocery as food service retailers because we own such an intimate relationship with our customers and the food that they put on their table. I literally dream about the ways in which we can continue to continue to cultivate that within the industry with those grab and go and cafes and the the ways that we become another place at the table inside the homes of our customers. And I think AI really helps us to see what are those preferences, who are our customers, what do they need from us and how can we serve them better? It's terrifying for all the reasons that AI is terrifying. And also that that train has left the station. And I'm happy to jump on it and find the ways that we can use it for good.

Practical Career Advice For Grocers

Kristin Popp 23:18

I like how you frame that. How are we utilizing it to our advantage? How are we embracing it so that we're using it to do the things that we don't want our people investing there and spending their time doing so that they can do the things we need them to do and do them very well? Um, so I really appreciate how you frame that. I agree with you. The train has left the station, and if we're not on it, we need to be because we're already late to the game. But is there anything else that excites you about the industry and the future of the industry?

SPEAKER_02 23:47

The future that's so exciting me is continuing to engage with those customers. I don't want satisfied customers. Anyone who buys a tomato in a grocery store at a fair price and gets home and it's delicious feels satisfied. I really want those loyal customers that are like, I don't care if I have to drive a little out of my way. I don't care if it's a little more expensive, whatever the barriers are, I don't care because this retailer is, these are my people. And I think that just every day, that is what inspires me to get up and to get after it is figuring out how to continue to build that loyalty for the industry, for Clark's market, around food. That that's really the passion spot. And I think there's an endless amount of ways that we can impact that going into the future.

Kristin Popp 24:40

I love how I hear the passion and the excitement that you bring when you even just talk about that. It's amazing. Keep that energy. We need that in the industry. Sam, you've given so much great advice, so many nuggets of information. But is there any advice that you would give somebody either aspiring to join the industry or advancing their career in the industry?

Gratitude And Closing Notes

SPEAKER_02 25:00

Well, stay curious about people. Know your customers internally and externally and understand their experiences with your brand. Remember that independent grocers don't just sell food, they sell experience. And that applies to any business. But I think staying curious about people and why they choose us or why they choose a specific retailer, like what makes them love you? I think that that number one, stay curious. Number two, embracing that business side early. It doesn't matter what your role is. I mean, you could be uh on the janitorial team, you could be working in the deli, you could be in marketing. But when you really understand how and why the business works, you create for yourself a freedom to innovate while you really are working to make sure you're running a tight ship, whatever little space you have in the business. Leading with the community, I've talked about that. If you root your choices in service, you'll build loyalty that the competitors just can't touch. Certainly as a leader being willing to roll up your sleeves. And I often talk about as leaders, you can't spend all of your time in the business. You need to be able to spend your time on the business. But grocery isn't always glamorous. One day you're in a meeting about merchandising strategy and the next day you're stocking bananas because the store you go in doesn't have any on the floor. And I think that versatility is what makes it makes independence really strong. But it's also where you earn respect. When I go into a store, I don't ever go with my computer and do my marketing. I find a way to connect with what the stores are dealing with every day. You know, I run a register so that when people say, Hey, um, you know, this coupon code you set up or this loyalty thing you have set up doesn't work very well. It's really clunky. It's very easy to say, come on, this is just you being lazy, use the system, it works. I know I set it up. It's a whole different thing to go run that register and be like, I really understand why this is challenging for them. So I think just being willing to roll up your sleeves in this in this business and understand the challenges of the others around you is what makes better teamwork. Or the last thing I'll say is just thinking beyond those aisles that food is so much more than food. It's cultural and social and environmental. And I always encourage the people around me, it doesn't matter what role you're in, is not to just see shelves, but to really see the stories that are there.

Kristin Popp 27:27

Such great advice. You know, food is personal in so many different ways. And understanding that it's not just buying X, Y, or Z, but it truly is personal and has different impacts to different individuals. And those are your customers and understanding that. Great advice, Sam. Sam, I thank you so very much for sharing your story and your voice with us today. I appreciate everything you're doing for the grocery industry. Keep leading, keep inspiring, and I look forward to following the impact you will continue to make.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Thank you, Kristen. Thanks so much for what you bring to WGA, to NGA, to the industry. Uh, you are one of those silent mentors for all of us. You may not know you're mentoring us, but you are, and I appreciate all that you do and the energy you give to the rest of us.

Kristin Popp 28:11

Thanks, Sam. I appreciate that. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope it sparked ideas, inspiration, and a reminder of the impact you make every day. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a conversation and consider leaving a review to help others discover grocery from her seat. With gratitude, making a difference one story at a time.

Producer 28:32

Thank you for listening to today's Insightful Interview on the Grocery from Her Seat podcast. If you think someone should hear her story, please share this podcast with a friend. You don't want to miss any episodes this season, so be sure to subscribe. And remember, more people will hear about stories of her success if you like, follow, and leave a five star review. Episodes are sponsored by NGA, hosted by WGA President Kristen Pop, and published by Rachel Milo with SWA Marketing. Until next time, continue your great work in the independent grocery industry.