Area Leader 3 Month Public Program

Public program – Melbourne
commencing July 2026

The Area Leader role is the most influential in retail.

Balancing performance, people, and priorities across multiple stores requires more than just experience. It requires structure, clarity, and consistency.

After more than 35 years in leadership, this is where I see many leaders struggle.

Not because they lack capability, but because they haven’t been given the tools to lead at this level.

The Public Area Leader Program is a 3-month development experience designed to change that.

Area Leaders are under more pressure than ever.

They’re being asked to drive performance, support their teams, manage people challenges, and deliver results, often with fewer resources and increasing complexity.
And despite working incredibly hard, many are feeling the same frustration: “I’m not sure I’m focusing on the right things and the results don’t reflect the effort I’m putting in.”

Book a discovery call to learn more about the program

Does this sound familiar?

Your Area Leaders are likely experiencing:

Constant time pressure, moving from store to store and juggling competing priorities
Ongoing challenges in balancing labour costs with sales targets
Difficulty attracting and retaining experienced Store Managers

Increasing “people issues” landing with them due to stretched HR support
Reduced training budgets, while expectations on performance continue to rise

The reality

Area Leaders are working longer hours than ever just to keep up.
And while they’re doing everything they can, this level of pressure is not sustainable.
It leads to burnout, inconsistency in execution, and ultimately avoidable and costly turnover in a key leadership role.

The opportunity

It doesn’t have to be this way.
When Area Leaders are equipped with the right tools, strategies, and support, everything changes.
They become clearer on priorities, more confident in decision-making, and far more effective in driving performance through their teams, not by working harder, but by leading better

The Ultimate Area Leader Program

This program is designed to reset how Area Leaders think, lead, and operate—so they can step out of constant firefighting and into strategic, high-impact leadership.
Because when Area Leaders succeed, everything else follows.

What The Ultimate Area Leader Program Delivers

A practical leadership system that equips Area Leaders to lead with clarity, confidence, and consistence so they can shift from firefighting to driving performance.
This program builds the mindset, behaviours, and tools needed to lift results across stores while reducing pressure on the leader.

The outcome

Area Leaders leave with the clarity and capability to lead proactively, resulting in stronger store performance, better retention, and more consistent results across their region.

Build high-performing stores

Create aligned, accountable, and consistently performing stores across your area.
Area Leaders will learn how to:

Your Content Goes Here
Define and step into the true role of an Area Leader
Set clear expectations and lift performance standards
Build alignment across stores to drive area-wide results
Create a culture of accountability and ownership

Lead with impact, not urgency

Move from reactive store visits to intentional leadership that drives change.
Area Leaders will develop:

Smarter prioritisation and time management
High-impact store visits that improve performance
Coaching skills that shift behaviour and results
Feedback techniques that build capability, not dependency

Strengthen retention and grow future leaders

Build stronger teams and reduce avoidable turnover across your region.
Includes how to:

Understand and address why people leave
Improve retention across both permanent and casual teams
Build confident, ready-now Store Managers
Create clear 90-day success plans for new leaders

Ready to strengthen your Area Leaders Performance?

If your Area Leaders are working harder than ever but not seeing the results you expect, it may not be a capacity issue; it may be a leadership clarity issue.
This program is designed to change that.
I work directly with retail organisations to build stronger, more confident Area Leaders who can drive performance, lift store capability, and lead teams that stay and deliver.

PRICE

$2,495 + GST
(before 31st of May 2026)

$2,695 + GST
(from 1st of June 2026)

Four days of Area Leader face-to-face development

Day 1

21st of July
11am – 5pm
followed by dinner

Day 2

22nd of July
10am – 4pm

Day 3

1st of September
10am – 4pm

Day 4

2nd of September
10am – 4pm

The Ultimate Area Leader Public Program means you can still develop your area leader team by enrolling in the public program.

Share and learn from other area leaders from other retailers
A cost-effective way to provide development for your area leaders
Benchmark results after completing the program

Let’s talk

If you’re looking to lift performance across your region and give your Area Leaders the tools to succeed, I’d love to connect.

We can explore:

Your current leadership challenges
The performance outcomes you’re aiming for
Whether The Ultimate Area Leader public program is the right fit for your business

Book a discovery call and let’s have a focused conversation to understand your needs and explore how I can support your retail business.

book a discovery call

Purchase your copy of The Essential Guide for Area Leaders in Retail.

find it here

Take the Ultimate Area Leader Quiz and get your personalised leadership score

Uncover what’s driving (or limiting) store performance, and what to focus on to lift results, retention and leadership impact.

Know where to focus. Lead with clarity. Lift performance

TAKE THE QUIZ!

What my clients say

The program taught me how to engage with my peers and create a support network I could lean on.

Learning about the key motivators that improve retention and engagement has given me a greater appreciation and understanding of my team.

I can now build a sense of community and encourage and mentor my team to achieve the goals they have set for themselves. I have more confidence in my ability to lead, express my own needs, and apply the skills I’ve learned in various roles.

Danielle McRorie | Area Manager, Sketchers

I have enjoyed learning about different ways to get the best out of my team, and I have learned different ways to approach situations. Each session built on the previous one, which enabled me to implement concepts taught in each session. I have learned that there is so much more to my job than what I was doing previously. I now have various tools to make sure I am using my time efficiently and can continue to develop my skill set.

Monica Milowski | Area Manager, The Athlete’s Foot

Being a new Area Manager, I used The Ultimate Area Leader program to help me build my ‘style’ and find what I was comfortable with and what worked for me.

The Ultimate Area Leader program was the perfect balance of being hands-on, giving direct feedback on situations, and trying new things.

I can now focus on the crucial day-to-day requirements and spend less time on things that aren’t relevant. My store visits are more productive and impactful. I head into stores with a plan, execute and feel much more worthwhile and relevant as an Area Manager.

Toby Plant | Area Manager, The Athlete's Foot Vic/Tas

I had the pleasure of working with Alison as part of a 6 month ‘Retail General Managers and State Managers’ leadership program. Her passion for leadership and development is evident in all she does and her commitment to helping others become the best version of themselves is inspiring.

Not only has Alison provided the tools, strategies and techniques to develop our leadership skills and grown our business, she has shown tremendous compassion and understanding on a personal level which, in turn, paved the way to a wonderful culture shift of ‘people first, employees second’.

Our time with Alison was both beneficial and motivating and I look forward to working with her in the future.

Maria Silverii, Blue Illusion

Alison’s knowledge and experience radiated through her training. The entire group walked away from her sessions feeling confident towards our roles.

Alison provided a professional nurturing open room for everyone to be actively involved. The most informative training session I have attended in my 17 years of Retail, I walked away looking at my business from another angle.

Communication, Personality type and Control and influence were major learnings for me that I have implemented straight into my business, which has had immediate effect.

Phillip Macintyre, Regional Leader NSW & ACT

Alison supports the business on multiple levels. As HR Manager, I really value having an objective perspective on some of the challenges we’ve faced over an extremely tough period. Alison has worked with us extensively on senior leader performance. We have an open and honest working relationship that I truly value.

Alison is an empathetic, inspirational leader who has assisted us in working towards a team-first culture. I look forward to continuing this journey together next year.

Kyla Smith, Pancake Parlour

‘If you keep doing what you have always done,
you’ll keep getting the same results.’

About Alison

Through building a culture of excellence, I lead the largest division within the Flight Centre Travel Group, which delivered the companies most profit globally for eight consecutive years. My focus on continuing improvement saw my division recognised as the groups most improved division for six of those eight years.

I am an expert in retail operations and leadership, leading teams and teaching others to create an environment of trust, purpose and inspired culture, where people work cohesively towards shared goals.

Notable Career Achievements:

lead multiple brands simultaneously under Flight Centre Travel Group
was responsible for delivering results in over 200 stores, opening in excess of 100 new stores as an area leader and state leader
delivered profit from $18 million to $49 million in 8 years
winner of the Director’s award for Global Outstanding Achievement
finalist in Telstra’s Business Woman of the Year