u/joserr8288

I just completed my second day as an SMT (Store Manager Trainee) with ALDI, and I wanted to reach out to people who have been in the role, completed the training program, or are currently Store Managers with the company. I’m genuinely looking for advice on how to be successful. I understand I’m only two days in and have a lot to learn. Right now, I’m trying to absorb as much as possible, understand ALDI’s way of doing things, and build good habits from the beginning.
For those who have been successful with ALDI:

What should I focus on the most during my training?

What separates a strong SMT from someone who struggles?

What do you wish you had known when you first started?

What mistakes should I try to avoid early on?

How did you earn the respect of your associates while still learning the operation yourself?

What helped you eventually feel ready to run your own store?

Is there anything I should be doing outside of what my training plan specifically asks of me?

One thing I do want to mention: I’m looking for genuine, constructive advice. I know Reddit can sometimes turn posts like this into sarcasm, “just quit now” comments, or a place to vent about everything someone dislikes about their employer. I respect that everyone has their own experiences, but that isn’t what I’m looking for here. The job market is rough right now, and I’m grateful to have been given this opportunity. I want to be here. I’m coming into this role with a positive mindset, and I want to give ALDI and this position a legitimate chance rather than allowing someone else’s negative experience to determine mine. That doesn’t mean I only want to hear positive things either. If there are difficult parts of the job, things I need to prepare myself for, or constructive criticism that will help me become a better SMT and eventually a better Store Manager, I absolutely want to hear it. I just want it from the perspective of: “Here’s what you need to know to succeed,” rather than “I hate my job, so you will too.”
I’m two days into this journey. I know I have a long way to go, but I’m ready to learn. Any advice from experienced ALDI SMTs, ASMs, Store Managers, or DMs would be greatly appreciated.

My wife 36f and I 37m have been married for 16 years. Yes we got married extremely young. Over the last 16 years we have had our ups and downs with mostly me being the reason we have our downs. Over that time I have lied about our finances, been fired from several jobs whether my fault or not is besides the point. Lied about my schooling even after I was withdrawn from the school etc. there have been many opportunities where she has attempted to leave me but we always tried to work things out. This time turned out to be a little different. This past weekend was a week we really needed for ourselves as it was also the weekend we were celebrating my oldest son’s birthday. I have also been working extremely long hours for the past month that this was a much needed break from work and be with my family. I also had that Friday off which made it into a 4 day weekend. Friday arrives and we do everything as usual with running errands and prepping for the weekend. As the day went on I decided to drink my beers that have been sitting in the fridge for a while and was able to sit back and relax. As the night went on I began to drink more and more where at the end of the night I don’t know how I fell asleep. I ended up waking up in my babies playroom where we have a bed set up for my youngest son which my wife waking me up with the angriest look on her face. My first thought was that I threw up all over the place and she had to clean up all night which would explain sleeping in the other room. Come to find out that after I fell asleep in our room she decided to go through my phone and found that I was looking at porn and onlyfans. Nothing was bought or any subscriptions just mostly browsing. Turns out that she woke me up in the middle of the night to kick me out of the room. I don’t have any memory of this and I don’t look at porn during my spare time. I didn’t deny to her that I did but actually take responsibility for my actions and tried to apologize and told her that I have no memory of looking at anything. She wasn’t buying it and automatically assumed the worse by thinking this is an ongoing issue that only now did I get caught. I tried to explain to her that I don’t look at porn and even tried showing her my history of my browser. The only thing that came up was looking at that website for that morning around the same time I would’ve been taking my shower. My browser also was showing recently closed tabs which had the same thing as my browser history. None of these had time stamps with the only thing I was trying to make a case was that none of my previous history doesn’t show anything inappropriate. It is now the end of Memorial Day weekend and I have been kicked out of my bedroom since then. We visited my grandfather on Saturday who’s very ill but extremely happy that he saw us and celebrated my son’s birthday with both sides of our families all while trying to act like nothing is wrong. She refuses to talk unless it’s necessary. I am lost and things don’t look like they are getting better what can I do. I love her so much and I don’t want to lose her.

My wife 36f and I 37m have been married for 16 years. Yes we got married extremely young. Over the last 16 years we have had our ups and downs with mostly me being the reason we have our downs. Over that time I have lied about our finances, been fired from several jobs whether my fault or not is besides the point. Lied about my schooling even after I was withdrawn from the school etc. there have been many opportunities where she has attempted to leave me but we always tried to work things out. This time turned out to be a little different. This past weekend was a week we really needed for ourselves as it was also the weekend we were celebrating my oldest son’s birthday. I have also been working extremely long hours for the past month that this was a much needed break from work and be with my family. I also had that Friday off which made it into a 4 day weekend. Friday arrives and we do everything as usual with running errands and prepping for the weekend. As the day went on I decided to drink my beers that have been sitting in the fridge for a while and was able to sit back and relax. As the night went on I began to drink more and more where at the end of the night I don’t know how I fell asleep. I ended up waking up in my babies playroom where we have a bed set up for my youngest son which my wife waking me up with the angriest look on her face. My first thought was that I threw up all over the place and she had to clean up all night which would explain sleeping in the other room. Come to find out that after I fell asleep in our room she decided to go through my phone and found that I was looking at porn and onlyfans. Nothing was bought or any subscriptions just mostly browsing. Turns out that she woke me up in the middle of the night to kick me out of the room. I don’t have any memory of this and I don’t look at porn during my spare time. I didn’t deny to her that I did but actually take responsibility for my actions and tried to apologize and told her that I have no memory of looking at anything. She wasn’t buying it and automatically assumed the worse by thinking this is an ongoing issue that only now did I get caught. I tried to explain to her that I don’t look at porn and even tried showing her my history of my browser. The only thing that came up was looking at that website for that morning around the same time I would’ve been taking my shower. My browser also was showing recently closed tabs which had the same thing as my browser history. None of these had time stamps with the only thing I was trying to make a case was that none of my previous history doesn’t show anything inappropriate. It is now the end of Memorial Day weekend and I have been kicked out of my bedroom since then. We visited my grandfather on Saturday who’s very ill but extremely happy that he saw us and celebrated my son’s birthday with both sides of our families all while trying to act like nothing is wrong. She refuses to talk unless it’s necessary. I am lost and things don’t look like they are getting better what can I do. I love her so much and I don’t want to lose her.