General Manager | City Creek Center by Taubman Centers
Linda Wardell always wanted to end up in the West, and after her 17th career move, she landed in Salt Lake City. A Georgia native, Wardell began her career working at a boutique advertising agency in Atlanta, where her largest client was The Taubman Company, a leader in the shopping center industry. “I was sealing my fate at a very young age,” Wardell says.
Wardell used that agency experience to launch a successful career managing and marketing shopping centers around the country. After learning on the job for a few years, Wardell felt comfortable joining Taubman—what she recognized as the “Ivy League” of retail environments. In 2010, Taubman sent Wardell to Utah to open and manage City Creek Center, one of the nation’s largest mixed-use downtown redevelopment projects, according to its website.
Though Wardell had lived in many cities across the country, she knew that Salt Lake City was a nuanced market. “There are a lot of different types of people here,” Wardell says. “People tend to travel in their own circles, though, and those circles don’t always overlap with other circles.”
Wardell’s goal was to be a part of all the circles, collecting friends and perspectives of all types and making City Creek a place where everyone was welcome. Wardell believes her team members—most of whom are frontline workers—have taken up that charge, creating wonderful experiences for visitors. “I try to lead with lots of compassion and respect for everyone,” Wardell says. “I think all of that has worked together for the greater good of City Creek.”
This compassionate leadership style came in handy as Wardell led her team through the challenges of 2020—COVID-19, an earthquake, social justice protests and looting at City Creek. “It was heartbreaking and expensive, but it wasn’t as important as what the world was going through,” she says. “In times like those, you have to be the leader—and that’s a leader with a capital L.”
For Wardell, this meant daily checks with her team, ensuring they were taking time to absorb events, providing crisis counseling, and making space for everyone to recover by talking through what had happened. Wardell is conscious that the way she leads and shows up sets a precedent, especially when she’s the only female leader in the room.
“I know those are the most important moments I have,” she says. “When that happens, we have to pause and recognize that we’re paving the way for the women who are going to come after us. We’re setting the stage for there to be more women in that room the next time. There are more and more every day, which is so great because there have been some very lonely times, being one of the only women in the room.”
Wardell has managed complex retail partnerships in past assignments, including relationships with financial institutions and even a casino. City Creek marks the first time she has worked with an ecclesiastical partner, though, and she says she couldn’t wish for a better partner than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “They prioritize the same things culturally that are important to me and my colleagues at Taubman—integrity, respect and making sure that we’re executing at the highest levels possible,” she says. “That’s why I’ve stayed at City Creek instead of moving on to open another project. It’s truly been an incredible experience to collaborate with people at such a high level. They’re so smart and so good at what they do.”
Connect with Linda Wardell on LinkedIn.