b'Singleton recalls when she took a leadership role at Kay and there was a long road ahead to get the banner to growth.Gina and I were talking one day about it, and she said, All you have to do is get a little bit better every day. And a little step every day toward improvement is going to get us there, says Singleton. That encouragement of her saying, Look, youve got this and Ive got you. Were in it together, that kind of partnership, its been the consistent drumbeat of our relationship along the years.She has a CALM IN THE STORMBy the time 2020 rolled around, heart and a Drosos had settled into her role, determination forguiding the company along its transformation plan, but the start advancing womenof the COVID-19 pandemic de-railed those plans.in business andDrosos says shell never for-a belief that youget the decision-making process behind closing all Signets stores, should be able made before government regula-to be a mom and tions required them to shut down.On the one hand, it was a very an executive. easy decision because I wanted toJamie Singleton,protect, first and foremost, the safety of our people, she recalls. Signet JewelersOn the other hand, its uncharted territory to close all of your retail stores when that represents more than 80 percent of your sales. She remembers feeling the pressure of having so many people depending on her to make the right call.I dont know if every CEO feels this way [but] I wake up ev-ery morning, and I think, almost 30,000 families are depending on me to make good decisions because their family vacation or the home theyve just built or the opportunity to send their children to college depend on me making good decisions that support their livelihoods. Amid the chaos, Drosos says the companys purpose, which is to inspire love, guided her and her teams decisions.That love extends to its customers, team, products, and the environment, she says.Using our purpose as a guide and our consumer focus helped us to drill down [on] what were the most important things we needed to do to continue to drive our business [during the pan-demic], says Drosos.Its employees were vital, and so the company implemented pay raises and offered career development opportunities.One of the most important elements for success was her team, who shared their diverse opinions and expertise, she says. I think that is the job of the CEOto draw out different NATIONAL JEWELER 45'