What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In 2022, I was invited to start the legal department of Dollar General’s first international expansion into Mexico, Mi Súper Dollar General, which has been one of my greatest experiences, both personally and professionally. This included developing contracts, building the onboarding vendor process in conjunction with DG US legal team and defining documents approval process. For example, our team successfully onboarded approximately 400 merchandise vendors for our first store opening in early March 2023.

As a new retailer in Mexico, the grand openings of Mi Súper Dollar General’s four current stores in Nuevo León, México is the most significant work my team has executed to date. With our fifth and sixth stores planning to open during this summer 2024 and additional stores currently under construction, our team is laser focused on obtaining agreements and permits needed to successfully open our stores and serve Mi Súper Dollar General customers.

Additionally, another essential function has been collaborating with the company’s external real estate counsel to develop our lease format, define our internal process to select and onboard developers and landlords with the proper compliance and legal guidance, and obtain and review the due diligence regarding each site. As we continue to grow our store presence, the company is currently evaluating more than 40 different potential areas to open new stores and serve more communities. Once each store is open, my team also focuses on developing our operation’s team authority inspections training to ensure we are prioritising timely responses to all authority requests and avoid any possible suspensions or fines.

Overall, I believe having a collaborative, strategic mindset allows me to effectively work with a broad range of teams and support them in achieving their objectives with the proper legal guidance.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?   

As store expansion remains one of Mi Súper Dollar General’s top goals, we have found that real estate legal advice is one of the company’s highest expenses. As a solution, I created a business case to hire an internal attorney with real estate experience to reduce external counsel fees which resulted in faster responses times to the business and broader legal scope in house without compromising the scope and quality of work.

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why? 

The company’s mission of Serving Others continues to inspire me. At Mi Súper Dollar General, we are committed to serving the undeserved and work each day to make a positive impact on our employees, customers and communities. This translates throughout our company culture where everyone is empowered to reach their goals. I have personally found that when you intentionally listen to others and support those in need, you will find your own happiness as well.