24 The Griffin Report of the Northeast • September 2017
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Food Industry Rising Leaders Do you have a defining moment of your career?
Jorge Azevedo Kraft Heinz Co.
Years in the company: 4
Current position:
Head of U.S. Sales Finance and Execution
Education:
BA-International Relations, and BA-Economics, BYU; MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
What are you most proud of in your career achievements?
I’m most proud of being part of the industry-changing actions we’re taking at KHC and having the opportunity to lead some of them. We have brought innovative thinking into several aspects of our business, be it in assortment management, go-to-market execution, redeployment of costs into working dollars and significant steps in gaining efficiencies.
Yes, the most valuable phase in my career has been the time I spent in field sales for Heinz. It was a great opportunity to learn the business dynamics in detail and connect the dots with everything we try to implement strategically at KHC. The worst thing that can happen to a business leader is to be disconnected from the reality of the business she or he intends to run.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
We manage a very complex business across retail in the U.S., and I wear multiple hats: financial planning and analysis, revenue management, category leadership, in-store execution, shopper marketing, and shopper insights. We have a broad portfolio and deep penetration with retailers; managing this complexity in such a dynamic environment is at the same time the most challenging and the most fun part of my job.
Advice for up-and-coming professionals?
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Current position:
M&M’s Innovation Marketing Manager
Education:
BS-Food Science; MBAManagement
What are you most proud of in your career
Indoor rowing is my new hobby. I have switched a lot of my exercise focus to it and have a great time training and watching my national and international rankings; I’m very competitive. What I like to spend most of my free time doing is playing with my kids and enjoying my wife’s company. So that’s essentially how I split my free time: family and exercise.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
Jeff Badolato
Imperial Distributors Years with the company: 2
Current position:
Sales Operations Manager
Education/professional/ volunteer affiliations:
BS-Business Administration, New England College; The United Way and my local food pantry.
What are you most proud of in your career achievements?
Finding the synergies between my team members’ personal career goals and my company’s organizational needs. The most personally fulfilling aspect of my job is developing talent and leadership capacity within my team, and it is always rewarding to be able to recognize a high-
Taking an opportunity at my last company to relocate and work in a new market (New York and New Jersey). Being comfortable within the New England market, it was a risk for me to enter a new space and take on a new set of challenges in an unfamiliar territory—and also required me to move away from family, friends and girlfriend (now wife). While difficult at the time, I now look at that decision as a milestone in my career. The experience of working in a new district and with a new team altered the way that I approach challenges, accelerated my growth and development, and provided me with a broader and more diverse perspective on the needs of our customers.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Keeping pace with the trends impacting the everevolving CPG landscape.
achievements?
I am proud to work with talented cross-functional teams to have launched delicious products consumers love: M&M’s Crispy Chocolate Candies, M&M’s Flavor Vote and M&M’s Caramel Chocolate Candies.
Jamie Baulier Years with the company:
Hobbies:
performing team member’s growth by promoting them to take on a new role within the organization.
While my current role is primarily focused on managing the day-to-day operations within my district, I also work hard to contextualize this work within the broader challenges and opportunities facing our industry and identify new strategies to better meet the needs of our retail partners.
Advice for up-and-coming professionals?
Seize every opportunity to broaden your experience, never pass up a chance to learn something new and stay curious. Taking on new opportunities and projects not only demonstrates a willingness to break out of your comfort zone, but will also help to inform your future career path. Additionally, developing strong relationships with peers, team members and (especially) mentors is critical in order to both meet short-term goals and accelerate longterm personal and professional growth.
Hobbies:
Playing bass guitar in a Boston-based rock band, backpacking trips with my wife, snowboarding and exploring New England on a classic Yamaha race bike.
I include myself in that group. I still have a long
achievements?
Mars Chocolate North America
path ahead of me before I get to where I want to be. But what I always tell our incoming trainees and MBAs is focus on learning the business, on adding value to the company, and on being someone people can always count on. No leader will ever be respected without understanding the fundamentals of the business he or she is leading. Progress only comes from delivering results, and the ultimate measure of results are those that push the company forward in true value added. Any organization values the employees who can be counted on, those we can trust and that will deliver consistent results. I see a lot of people who focus on being the person the company depends on, and that is always a shortsighted approach that stalls career growth.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
Mars provided me with the opportunity to move from product development to marketing early in my career. Working in an innovation role is the perfect blend of marketing and R&D, and enables me to look at problems through both a creative and technical lens. The defining moment of my marketing career was the recent launch of M&M’s Caramel
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My ability to grow sales well over goals set and my ability to wear different hats. I have a great understanding of the c-store industry.
Chocolate Candies, which has been the biggest innovation launch for M&M’s.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is determining which new product to launch next.
Advice for up-and-coming professionals?
My advice is to be open to new roles outside of your expertise. Your prior learnings and experiences allow you to contribute a unique perspective to any role you’re in and build empathy for other functions.
Hobbies:
My hobbies include baking, experimenting with new gluten-free recipes, and playing the violin.
Anna Bettencourt
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
Current position:
When I realized my parttime job could be a career and it could be fun, and it has been. I have met a lot of great people and learned a lot from my time in the c-store industry. I started part-time with VERC when I was only 20 years old.
Education:
What is the most challenging part of your job?
VERC Enterprises Years with the company: 19
Category Specialist
BS-Business Management, Curry College
What are you most proud of in your career
Advice for up-and-coming professionals?
My advice would be to listen more than you talk.
Hobbies:
Exercising, meditating, hiking and spending a lot of time with friends and family.
The most challenging part of my job is staying ahead of the curve and different trends.
8/23/17 2:14 PM