We had the good fortune of connecting with Florence Ochoa and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Florence, how do you think about risk?
The pandemic made my husband and I rethink work life balance and led me to make the biggest risk. In 2020 I was previously at a higher education job and my husband ran 4 retail game stores by himself. Most of 2020, the stress of his work took a different toll than in previous years. A lot of the operational gaps that were necessary for a growing chain of businesses, I knew I could fulfill that role. It took about a year for me to set up the retail stores in such a place where I could leave the “stable day job” and join him 100% of the time at our hobby game stores. For another two years after that, it’s been formalizing procedures, developing management, and navigating a volatile collectibles market in hopes that the first big risk I took converted to providing for our family.
Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
To be honest, being a game store owner was not an obvious choice or an option I thought of as a kid “when I grow up, I want to be…” My career started at Walgreens. I went through the management trainee program and worked my way up to corporate. It was during my time at Walgreens, I had great bosses that taught me how to manage people in an effective way, how to create systems or playbooks for replicable processes, and how to sell stuff with great merchandising. I had a career pivot after I met my now husband, and worked as a marketing manager for Parking & Transportation Services at the local state university. I used effective communication strategies on all integrated marketing communication channels, especially to equip the department with the best customer service tools. So by the time I decided to make the leap to game store owner, I already had years of experience in retail, customer service, and effective communication. I knew my defined lane within our companies and where to insert myself.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Tucson, we have lots of good eats and things to do. So first, I would tell them to come in the fall/winter time because it’s when Tucson has the best weather. The places I would take them to are: Mt Lemmon, Sonoran Desert Museum, Reid Park Zoo, Tucson Botanical Gardens, The Museum of Miniatures, and Ignite Neon Museum. As for cuisine and places to eat: Transit Tea, eegee’s, El Charro, Charro Steak, Noodleholics, Tossed, Raijin, and Rollies.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout is to my husband, Dustin Ochoa, who has fulfilled the word “partner” in more ways than one. Before I joined Amazing Discoveries, 100%, he was the biggest cheerleader and knew we could overcome any obstacles by more than just the power of love. I was terrified of how joining the family business would impact our relationship. If you think marriage is work, try cohabitating, coparenting, and becoming business partners. It’s totally transformative and requires clear communication and patience with yourself and each other. He has been the biggest driver of making sure all of those needs are met.
Website: www.amazingmtg.com
Instagram: amazingmtg
Image Credits
Headshot by Kevin Asher, store photos by Jason Findley