Cora Mauzy On Keeping The Faith And Leading With Respect

In a world full of turmoil, despair and darkness, you need to carry the light. Season three of the Get Attitude podcast is where we will ignite your mind, your heart and your attitude. And welcome to the Get Attitude podcast, the Gap. I am your host, Glenn Bill, international best selling author, keynote speaker, and all things attitude student. And we are bringing to you a super, super fantastic guest. I saw this guest featured on our news at WRTV here in Indianapolis. And she is a store leader from Kroger. And her attitude that transferred through this energy and through this piece was about her winning something called the top women in grocery, the Twig Awards. And so what we're going to do is have Jason just play that very quickly so you can get a feel for what you're getting ready to hear on today's podcast.

You're doing good. All right, what's happening?

You staying warm at this Indianapolis Kroger on South Madison Avenue.

Doing all right. You finding some goodness?

You don't have to look far for Cora Mozzie.

She's got a strong voice. You can't miss her.

How's everything in bakery appeared again.

But early in her career, many did. She felt passed up while working to make a name for herself.

That's me. Captain in the army.

Through her perseverance, a lot has changed these last 20 years.

I help make the invisible visible. That that's my thing. That's what I do in this role. Making the invisible visible because this is my family. To be a part of a team that cares for each other because she cares. I can't do it without these people. We couldn't do it without you.

More than a job, more than a title.

Cindy Lou who. And that's really what this award is really all about. When you get to a certain level in life, don't build a taller fence, build a longer table to bring more people on. And that when you're making the invisible visible, that's the purpose of that. This is our 992 Huddle. It's all about you at 992.

All right, so ladies and gentlemen, we want to welcome the lady behind that clip. I know when you heard that, you were like, man, I want to hear from her. Cora, welcome to the Get Attitude podcast.

Thank you so much, Glenn. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, this was so inspirational. And I just am like, gosh, if every store, if every small business of every retail center, if every restauran had that attitude when people walked in, what a better place this would be. Where do you think that came From. For you. And how do you define attitude?

That's a great question. Well, first again, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate that. And I love. I love life. I just love life. Born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi. Five brothers, no sisters, and just, you know, doing what we do growing up. And one thing that I love doing is making people smile. I've always done that all my life, and that never left me. So just trying to make someone else's life better.

That's good. And then tell me, how do you define attitude? Right. This isn't like a trick question, but if you had to say, here's how I define attitude, what's that mean to you?

Attitude is everything.

I love it.

Attitude is everything. It determines how far you go in life, how long you stay in a bad situation, and how quickly you can get to the next level in life or whatever it is you're wanting to aspire to be. Attitude determines your altitude.

I love it. And so when you talk about staying in a bad situation, there are people that are listening to us right now that may go. I don't think we've ever heard that one before. Yeah, I am in a bad way. And I think there's no question that your attitude can push you out of it. Can you share with us maybe one time in your life that you said, man, I'm in a bad way, and that attitude hit you over the head and you made a change? What's that story? And what was that?

Well, there's so many different stories. There are so many different stories, but there is one common denominator for whenever life hits you or hits me upside the head, as you say, you have to make a decision. Are you going to stay there? Are you going to make the best of the situation? Are you going to surround yourself with people who are winning to help get you where you need to go? Love it. And one thing that has always been a part of me, and that's a part of my parents raising me in a. In a Christian home. It's my faith. My faith is what has grounded me for nearly 60 years in how to handle life, handle people, handle the good, the winning, the wonderful things in life, and then how to handle those things that aren't so pleasant and just knowing that you're not going to live there forever. So it's really my faith that has grounded me all these years.

And so who would you say is your first attitude coach?

My first attitude coach was my mom.

And what was good? I want to hear about my dad. Yeah, well, yeah. Tell me a little bit more about what they did.

Yeah.

And what attitude lessons they gave you.

Well, actually, just watching them all my life, they. They didn't. They weren't on purpose trying to say, oh, I'm trying to teach you how to do this, that they just lived the life, and they demonstrated ethics, morals, how to treat people with respect and how to overcome obstacles. And watching my mom all my life, her key to everything was prayer. I didn't see it. I didn't get it growing up, but believe me, I get it now. And so I passed that baton to my kids and in our family with my husband of 28 years, that's. That's how we build our life together.

That's cool. So what profession was your dad and mom in? Was your mom a homemaker or.

My mom was. She was not only a homemaker of six kids, but she also owned her own beauty salon. Wow. So she was a cosmetologist. We call it a beautician growing up. So she owned her own beauty salon. So she did hair at home. Okay. And so I was a part of that environment. And my dad worked at a plant until he retired. Wow. And they both had, like, sixth and eighth grade education. And so you're not limited by, you know, your educational goals or how far you go in. In life by education. It's really how you treat people and how you live your life that you can really make an impact on others.

Well, I knew I instantaneously liked you because we have something in common. You had six in your family. There was five of us. Four boys and one girl.

Oh. How about that?

So if you're anything like my sister, I'm in for it. During this interview. Tell me about what it was like, number. Like, where did you fall in line? And what was it like growing up with five brothers? And did your parents almost raise you like a boy, like they did with my sister Molly, who might be listening?

Well, I was number five of six.

I was number five, too.

Okay. Number five of six. And yes, I was a tomboy all my life. I still am in so many ways. And, yeah, you. You learn quickly how to fend for yourself, how to be on time for dinner, or you don't get it or you miss out, and just how to prioritize things and just how to. To get along and respect each other.

And so what did your five brothers teach you about attitude? And you can think about one of them. All of them, three of them. What were some of the best attitude lessons you got from those crazy Brothers.

Of yours, I don't know if they were best attitudes, but number one, you couldn't have a boyfriend because you had a brother on every corner that was protecting you from all areas of your life. And you're like, oh my goodness. So they taught me the importance of family and protection, how to protect each other.

That's cool.

I had various levels of protection with brothers and so that was one thing that they instilled in me.

And do any of them, are they in any of them in interesting vocations or anything that you're particularly proud of or think that is interesting?

Well, they all have unique personalities and bring something unique to the table. But I do have my one brother in Atlanta and he is an author.

Awesome.

And he's very fashion. He is a dapper individual and really he's very loving and kind and people just gravitate to him because of his kindness and his love for people.

Very good.

Yeah.

And what's he right about?

Just fiction.

Oh, so he's a fiction writer.

Ah. Interesting relationships and things of that nature.

Tell me what it was like growing up in Greenville, Mississippi.

Love my hometown. Love my. The friends and family that I grew up with. Just down to earth people, good hearted people who will give you their shirt off their back if. If you needed it and would go to bat for you if they had to. And if you needed anything, they were there for you.

Now when you go back, has it become hyp developed? Like what? You know, I think of Greenville, Mississippi, I'm seeing family owned grocery stores are there now Kroger's in Greenville.

There are Kroger. There were two Kroger stores in Greenville. Thank you very much. And yes, it's up and coming. There's. There's a lot of different businesses, family owned as well as chain stores and, and malls and things of that nature. Great restaurants. It's a great place. Blues festivals every year.

Wow.

We were just there last year, my husband and I, and for the first time that was on the bucket list. So yeah, a lot of great things going on in Greenville.

And is that near a university down there or Jackson.

Jackson State University. There's a Mississippi Valley State University. There are a number of universities.

Jackson State now or were you a Jackson State grad?

I was a Mississippi State Bulldog grad.

Love that. And coach. The football coach was a guy I followed, Mike Leach, who just passed, did some unbelievable things. So what was your attitude lesson from college? What did you learn at Mississippi State?

I learned a number of things at Mississippi State. I kind of Found myself at Mississippi State because I was the first in my family to attend college and to graduate college, and it was a predominantly white college. And I just wanted to live life. I wanted to experience so many different things because I'd never really left home before. And this was my opportunity to get out of Greenville, get out of the house. And.

Well, you weren't too far.

Not too far, but I was far enough.

Okay.

Yeah, I show up every day.

But your brothers could.

Your brothers could if they wanted to. But I learned how to adjust and adapt, to find my own voice and to make an impact just by being me.

Very cool. So when you talk about adjusting and adapting, what did you adjust to and what was your quote, unquote strategy? For those people that are sitting listening to this, they may be going, I need to probably adjust and do some adapting. What was your attitude towards that? What was the training or your thought process? And if you know, anything specific, would be great to know. Here's what I saw. This is what I faced, and here's how I pivoted or adapted and overcame.

Well, for me, I never saw race as a barrier, although I knew many times I was one of a few African American women or individuals in a classroom, in a. In an environment, whether it was whatever, an event or whatnot, because there just weren't that many.

Yes.

Present. I never let that bother me at all because I. I would view individuals as how they treated me. If I treated you with respect and you treated me with respect, we're friends. We're good to go. Right. And so I've had that personality and that. That outlook on life with whomever I met at any given time, even until today. So. And because that has been a positive thing in my life, you build on things that work for you. And treating people with respect has always worked for me. And so I navigated toward that. I build on that. And to this day, I still am largely where I am and who I am. Because of how you treat people.

Yeah. And you treat people pretty darn awesome. I wish you were on the north side so I could walk in. And I always tell people that own bars and restaurants, it's the owner. That's why I don't go. Because the food. Food is food. Beer is beer. My favorite place to go is Binkley's restaurant because the owner hugs me every time I walk in.

Absolutely.

It's all about the hug.

It's all about the people connection.

And so one thing I love to. Because I believe that attitude is passed down through the generations Were your grandparents a part of your life growing up in Mississippi? And did you have a special relationship with maybe one of them? And tell us a little bit about the history. This is one of my favorite questions to ask all my guests. Just so you know, it's just not you.

Okay.

About grandma or grandpa. So tell me about them and what they did and what was their attitude lesson they taught you if you were fortunate enough to have them in your life.

I was fortunate enough to have my grandparents on my father's side in my life for a few years, and we would visit them in the country, and they had, you know, hogs and pigs, and they didn't have at the time. They eventually did have running water.

Oh, my gosh.

You know, the toilet system in the whole nine yard. So that was my first experience to an outhouse. It was my first experience.

You were a farm girl?

Well, when I visited grandma, Grandpa.

Yeah.

And so that was a great experience. I loved being around them. And like I said, it was for a brief time, but it was. It was. It was very special to me because I love my dad so much, and that was his parents. So I was joined at the hip with my dad.

Oh, cool.

And so. And his personality and attitude had a lot to do with. With me and how I interact with other people, because everyone loved my dad.

That's.

And my mom.

And he. He was. Oh, he worked, you said, at a.

At a plant. At a plant in Greenville.

Okay. So he was just normal guy.

And he also. I mean, his. His trade was carpentry.

Okay.

So he was a carpenter by trade. He actually built my mom's beauty salon.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. So he was very, very skilled and quite talented.

Now, did he coach all those boys and did he coach you?

Coach them in athletics? No.

You look athletic. Did you play sports?

I wanted to. I didn't officially. In high school or anything like that. Mom wouldn't allow me. She wouldn't allow me. She wanted me to just, you know, study, and she was afraid I'd become too bulk and too boyish. But when I got to college, I played flag football and volleyball and all these other. All these sports. Everything. It was like living the life. But. And then, of course, you know, when I finished college, I went into the army.

Right.

And so that was a lot of my physical ability. Yeah, that pushed me. That pushed me.

So let's talk about what happened to you where you said, I think I want to go work for Uncle Sam. And. And so, yeah, give me that story. How the heck did you end up in the Army.

Well, I admired my dad. My dad was a Korean veteran of Korean War, and my second oldest brother spent time in the Army. And I knew in the sixth grade because my cousin Bonita Green from Greenville, she retired from the Air Force. So I admired her, and I loved her uniform. And I was like, wow, this is my ticket out of Greenville.

Wow.

But mom wanted me to go to college first, and so I fought that. And I was like, okay, we'll go to college. And then I found out about the ROTC program. So I joined the Army ROTC program and became a commissioned officer when I graduated. And that's one of the most precious times of my life. I really loved being in the military, and today being a veteran, and that is something that I'm extremely proud of.

Well, you should be. And thank you for your service. We love our veterans, and we've had many veterans on the podcast. I don't know if you've looked into it, but Sean Parnell and Rob Jones, just to name a few, who are just unbelievable. Their story's unbelievable. But I appreciate your service.

Thank you.

So let's talk about maybe how your attitude changed from when you were in college to becoming.

An officer.

An officer. Like, what's the attitude lesson of being an officer? And. And where did you go? Oh, okay. This was different. So maybe the one or two best things that the army taught you.

The army taught me a number of things. How to take care of others. How to put others first. You never eat before your entire troop, platoon, or battery is done eating. You are always last. You make sure they are all taken care of first.

Wow.

So the military did teach me how to manage myself, how to manage and manage my time, and how to protect others. To put yourself first in protection of them.

Wow.

So I do that without thinking now. I always put my. My store team first. I always go to bat for them. I always uplift them.

Yes.

And that's probably where the comment or the hashtag that I have now, making the invisible visible.

I love that. Yeah.

Because when you're in a leadership role, Glenn, you have a huge responsibility that is so beyond yourself. If you're doing it right, it really has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with those that are in your. That are in line of being that you're responsible for.

Sure.

And so that's one thing the military definitely taught me, how to take care of others and put them first.

And so was there a person in the military that affected you, might have been a fellow soldier? Might have been a leader, might have been somebody you led. And what was their story and why did that impact you so much?

Well, one of my commanders, Captain Andy Boyle, he was a big man. A big man. But he was a very kind and compassionate man. And he was my captain for our unit. And he was consistent. He saw people as individuals. He didn't just see us as soldiers or just a lieutenant, but he took the time to listen and to help and assist and guide. And so that is something that, that stuck with me. And I said if, if he can do that. And it just seemed effortless for him to do that.

Yes.

And he was very effective at it. So that was one thing that I learned from him.

Cool.

And his leadership style.

And so you got out of the Army. Did you go right into corporate America or what was your first job out of the. Well, how long did you serve, by the way?

I served three years active and four years inactive.

Oh, wow. Wow. Seven years then. And then what happened with you after that?

Life, Everything. I was ready to see what else was going on in the world. So, I mean, I. I worked in pharmaceutical sales for a while.

Wow.

And I love sales. Sales is what I do because of the people interaction.

Yeah.

And getting people to see things from a different perspective and the follow up component of that. And you know, leadership is something that, you know, I know it's a title, but it's also. It's a gift. I look at it as a gift.

Yes.

And yeah, that is what I do.

There's an old saying that leadership is not a position, it's a disposition and it is a good one. That came from John Addison. He was one of the founders of. I don't know if it wasn't Amway, but it was an insurance company. I forget what it was, but I always thought that was so good. You know, how you compose yourself in times of great stress and decision making for you. Is there one question that you ask yourself over and over again or how do you navigate through those times in your life? Or did you navigate through those times?

Still navigate.

Right.

It's an everyday, every week type of scenario. And that. That's a great question. And again, that one common denominator that has grounded me and has kept me humble is my personal relationship with God.

I love it.

It is the truth. So from high school to college to the army to corporate America, you know, the situations and the stress and the, the crazy happens. It looks different every day. But the one thing that has, like I said, that has kept me grounded is When I get alone and quiet and just ask God for his guidance and ask him, what is it that you want me to learn from this situation?

Oh, that's a great one. Great, great critical question that we call it. If you get my ABCs of attitude book, you'll understand critical questions and what that means with. With that said, is there a certain Bible verse that you love and what is that? Or a Bible story that you go, oh, Glenn, this is what people need to know and share, so please share that with us. We'd love to hear that.

I have a couple of favorite.

Good. You bring them. We want to know.

One of them is be still and know that I am God.

Yeah, I love that. Right?

That's my. That's my. One of my most favorite ones. And if I be for you, who can be against you?

Right.

I live by those verses. And the last one is. Oh, I can't think of it at the moment, but those are the two that are. Yeah, yeah. If. If I be for you, who can be against you, Be still and know that I am God.

Well, I would say that when. When it comes to attitude, those would be extremely good ones.

Yeah.

You know, for sure. Now, do you go to a church here locally?

My husband and I, we. When our kids were younger and we lived in Brownsburg, we attended Connection Point Church, and we loved that church. And then when we moved to Columbus, we started attending another church. But now that the kids are grown and gone, on weekends, when we. When we're off together, we. We drive to Brownsburg. To Brownsburg and attend. But we also watch it on Sundays.

Yeah, well, that's one thing that Covid did. They opened up all the churches. I can go to church anywhere in.

The country, anywhere at any time.

I mean, it's. It's kind of impactful.

Right.

You know, to say the least.

Right.

When you. You've mentioned leaderships, you're a leader. You're a leader, considered a leader at Kroger, I would guess, in your company, do you have rule 1, 2, and 3 about leadership as far as establishment style goes? And do you. Do you teach leadership to other employees at Kroger? And what are you teaching there? Like, what's the 1, 2, 3 for our gappers out there of leadership for you? And you maybe have already said it.

But, you know, I try to live it.

Right.

I try to live it every day to be transparent, to be honest. And the thing that I live by in leadership is being fair and consistent. If you nail those two things, being fair and consistent, you will be effective for the long run versus a splash in the pan.

And what do you do when somebody challenges your leadership, leadership authority, or says you're not being fair or consistent even though you think you are? How do you handle that?

Have you been in Kroger lately?

No, but I know part of leadership is being criticized.

Yes.

Right. And being attacked and being misunderstood and being mischaracterized.

And if you can't handle all of those things that you just mentioned, you need to rethink your position on leadership.

Right.

So you've nailed that. And so you do. You have to have tough skills, skin and broad shoulders. But again, if you're fair and consistent, you're gonna. You're still gonna have those. Those individuals that would challenge you left and right every single day. And I lived that. Yes, I lived it, But I was always ready for it because it never rattled me, because I anticipated it. Now, if it surprised me, that would be one thing. But I go into every situation thinking, what is the worst possible thing that could happen today? And how will I handle it if it. If and when it happens?

Oh, that's great. Yeah.

So they never.

I love it. And then tell me about your attitude on teamwork, and do you have an example or a story about when maybe you walked in anytime in your life where you said, boy, these people are not together, but now they're together? I mean, when I saw your employees say what they said about you on that clip, I was like, she knows something about how to get people together and lead a team. So give me your thoughts on the attitude to teamwork and what it takes to build a team, too.

Teamwork is everything, Glenn. Teamwork is everything. And if you are a leader and you wish to be effective in your leadership, you have to understand your style. You have to understand your audience. You have to know, and you know this well, you have to know that it's not a one size fit all. You have to make it your business to get to know your people. Because if you want the job done, unless you plan to do it 100% on your own, which is not possible.

Right.

It has to get done through your team. So it starts with respect, it starts with listening, and it starts with being transparent. When they see that you are real and that you really, genuinely care. And they've seen this through you through various situations, not just when it's nice and sunny and everything's rosy, but when everything's hitting the fan and you maintain your. Your stance, you're still fair and you're Consistent and you're respectful, but yet you are now digging deep and you have to give that vision and you have to say, hey, you know, we got to get this done. This is what's needed. I need you to help me help us get to this goal. So when you're communicating clearly and effectively and I try to do that, I'm not always perfect at it and getting it right. But when you surround yourself with people who want to win as well, you're going to get there. You're going to get to the finish line together and they, and they see that, they feel that and they know that.

Love it. Yeah. That is so cool.

And that is all about my team at 992.

I love it. Now, 992 is the one that was on the, on the TV, right?

Store team.

I love it.

I love it. It's all about you.

But you're on a special project now. Does that mean that you don't get to be with them anymore?

It does. That's what it means. I am no longer the store leader there, but we're still very much connected through other social media.

Right.

Aspects. And I do drop in every now and then. And they're still doing well. I miss them very much. But this special project is. The special assignment is really nice as well. My store was the pilot store about six or so months ago to have this third party group come in and live in my store for three months and just go through everything to determine where were we losing so much money? Where are we losing in shrink. In the perishable department.

Yes.

And so they gathered the data after, I don't know, two or three months or so. And then they came up with this plan to go to certain stores that are experiencing high shrink. Meaning high waste.

Yes.

Which could be controlled by utilizing the best practices and ordering and things like that. Good practices. So now on the, on the backside of that, I'm now one of the coaches. I'm a coach, right. That, that I'm assigned to four different stores who have opportunities that can be turned around to a positive by following these certain best practices to reduce shrink in their store. So that's what I'm doing now.

That's cool.

Yeah, it's kind of nice.

Do you enjoy it?

I do, I do. I'm excited. I didn't interview for the position. That's another God thing.

There you go.

They, they tapped, said, hey, Cora, we want you to, we want you up. I think that.

And so you told us who had the biggest influence on Your attitude while you were in the service, when you got into private life, was there a coach? Was there a leader? Was there a co worker that you took note of and said, wow, I could learn from them. I mean, who was your attitude coach after the Army? And who do you follow or. Or, you know, what authors or what books or what guru do you like to. Who do you like to listen to to get you right?

To get me right. I like that. Well, I listen to a number of inspirational podcasts, and there are a number of preachers that I follow. T.D. jakes is one. He's something I love listening to, T.D.

Jakes.

And one that I grew up with with my mom. My mom grew up with this gentleman, and I have watched him all my life. And I actually got to my husband and I actually had a chance to visit him when he was on tour once. And that's Dr. Charles Stanley.

Oh, yeah, he's on every weekend here in Indianapolis.

Atlanta.

Yeah.

So I follow Charles Stanley, Dr. Charles Stanley, and. And T.D. jakes.

That's awesome. Awesome. Well, yeah, we would encourage all of our gappers to follow those too, because I follow them too, and we have a lot of great pastors here in Indianapolis who. Who I love and listen to, and so that's great. Well, Corey, you've given us all kinds of things to think about. You've given us some real remedies on leadership and teamwork, and we appreciate you giving of your time for our gappers.

Thank you.

For the folks that are out there that are walking the beach or driving the car, that are listening to this. We always love for our guest to give a message of hope to those people that may be standing at the beginning of the bridge, that haven't bridged the gap, that haven't walked across it. We'd love to know, and I loved your two Bible verses that you quoted. So powerful. And I think that will help us. But what's your message of hope for those who are listening to us today? And then we'll let you out of our Get Attitude podcast studio.

I think it's really important that no matter who you are, no matter what stage you are in your life, you're never too old, and it's never too late to ask God to lead you and guide you in the direction that he wants you to be. And I say that because once you have a personal relationship with God and you trust his guidance and you understand who you are and whose you are, there's nothing that can shake you. There's nothing so hard or so difficult in your life that if you get along with him and be still and know that he is God, that he won't come through for you every single time. And this works not only in your personal life, in your marriage, with your kids, your family, it works in business as well. And I'm living proof of that. So that is definitely what I would would leave with anyone who's wondering, how can I get to the next level and not have to do it on my own? Trust God in it.

I love it. And we'll say amen with that. That almost sounded like a prayer to me, so. Well, Cora, I want to thank you for your time and your insight, and we appreciate having you on the Get Attitude podcast.

Thank you so much for having me, Glenn.

My pleasure.

I appreciate it.

Okay, thanks.