Conversation with… Shannon Osman of Footasylum, judge for The People in Retail Awards
Shannon Osman, head of retail at Footasylum, has had a remarkable year – celebrating the company’s Retail Employer of the Year win at The People in Retail Awards and now stepping into a judging role for 2026. We caught up with her to hear what’s happened since we last spoke, and why she’s on a mission to change how retail is valued as a career.
We last interviewed you in April last year, before Footasylum won Retail Employer of the Year at The People in Retail Awards. Can you give us an update of what’s been happening since then?
Subscribe to TRBWe’ve been incredibly busy. We’ve opened nine stores and signed off on three megastores that will be refitted and upsized next year, including the Trafford Centre, Manchester Arndale, and a new megastore in Leeds Trinity.
Our team has also grown significantly, which is fantastic because it means even more opportunities for everyone. At our October 2024 town hall, we told store managers that if you treat your store like your own business and you’re hungry for progression, the opportunities will follow. A year later, it was brilliant to stand up and celebrate the 24 store managers who had stepped up, alongside those who moved into the operations team and our newly appointed VM manager. In total, around 50 people across the estate progressed into more senior roles year-on-year. For a retail estate of just 67 stores, that level of progression is huge.
And of course, there were The People in Retail Awards. I think you saw our team’s reaction on the night – it was incredible. We’ve never really entered awards before, and championing that was something I felt strongly about when I stepped into this role. To win something in our first year of truly putting our name out there was amazing.
Why do you think the awards are so important to the industry?
This has been a big focus for me this year, not just within my own team, but across the entire business. So many people “fall” into retail, and it’s still too often viewed as an undervalued career where people shrug and say, “Oh, I just work in retail.”
But moments like this remind you that’s simply not true. You can be recognised. You can win awards for the work you do. You can feel like you’re going to the BRITs because you deliver an outstanding experience on the shop floor. And that’s exactly how our managers felt on the night; they dressed up, they felt proud, and they felt seen.
We brought store managers from across the business and we made a conscious decision not to fill the room with chiefs or senior head office figures. So, the reaction you saw wasn’t corporate applause – it was genuine joy from people who work in stores every day, celebrating one another and recognising their own worth. It was a real, honest, unforgettable moment.
What does it mean to you personally to be appointed as a judge for the awards?
Honestly, I was shocked. When the email came through, I thought, “Wait… me?” I’ve only been in this role for just over a year, so to be recognised and invited to do something so prestigious felt enormous.
It genuinely felt like an out-of-body moment. The people who usually sit on these judging panels have been in their roles for years and are hugely respected across the industry. So, to be asked to join them was an absolute honour.
Why is it important to celebrate not just leaders, but rising stars and unsung heroes?
Retail is such an under recognised career path. At a recent town hall, we pulled up a huge list of skills including analytical ability, people management, problem solving, you name it – and there must have been around 50 skills behind me on the screen. I said, “You might feel like you just fell into this career, but how many professions demand this breadth of capability?”
The message was simple: Retail is a career. Even if you stumbled into it, the skill set you develop is unmatched.
And that’s why these awards matter. They recognise everyone including shop-floor colleagues, managers, heads of department, and C-suite leaders. It’s not a corporate event reserved for a select few. Everyone attends. Everyone is valued. Everyone is celebrated.
And what message would you share with the retail community as you step into your judging role, especially for those thinking about entering?
When we were deciding who to nominate last year, we brought a group of people together. Senior leaders can sometimes make decisions based on a single store visit or one standout moment – and that never tells the full story.
There are people behind the scenes who keep everything running but rarely get recognition. It might be someone in the stockroom who a senior visitor never meets. That’s why my biggest piece of advice is: involve people at every level.
We also used our internal communication platform for voting. We shared all the nominations so the wider team could have their say, and we took the same approach for our end-of-year town hall awards.
Ultimately, being recognised in any profession feels amazing, but it’s especially powerful in an industry that’s so often overlooked. And that’s exactly why these awards matter.
Entries for The People in Retail Awards are now open.
