My name is Larry Austin Jr., I consider myself a family man, I work for Whole Foods Market, as a store team leader here in Detroit, Michigan. We serve a really diverse community. It's a mix of people who've been rooted here their whole lives. A lot of people come in to be a part of the new growth in Detroit. There's a deep rooted pride in the city. There is a level of accountability the city will hold you to. I would say coming to Detroit my whole life... I really didn't understand Detroit like I thought I did... until I actually started working down here. I've learned so much about being in this community, I just love being here, I look at this community like family. Some people may look at us as a grocery store, but I look at it as a community meeting place. It's an awesome place... I feel like it's a real collaboration. It's been more rewarding than I ever imagined it would be. 

I think one of the strongest traits of a leader is knowing when you can lead and when to follow. I also feel like it's about humility. I think that you truly have to be invested in people because I think that once you take your eyes off the people, I think you just become a manager and not a leader. You know, that's what leadership is to me, it's really giving back. It's going by the 'each one, reach one, teach one philosophy', sharing everything I can with my community, with my team, so they can continue to grow and be leaders themselves. You know, it's really about sharing knowledge, you know, and treating people right. You know, you want people to come in and want to work for you... you don't want people to dread coming in... I mean, life has enough challenges... and I don't want to create that here. I like to think of work as a getaway. I want people to come here and be able to just enjoy family and enjoy fun and enjoy growing and enjoy serving the people.