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The Shelby Report of the West • NOVEMBER 2016
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2016 West Woman Executive of the Year Raya Is Full Speed Ahead in Business and in Life Lori Raya was named president of the Southern California Division of Albertsons—now known as Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions—in January 2015. She had been named president of Vons, previously owned by Safeway, in 2012. A fast track for someone who started out in 1987 working part-time at a Safeway store in Aurora, Colorado, to satisfy her mom’s request that she find a summer job. She swiftly moved into management, first as head clerk, then as first assistant (assistant store director) and then store director, followed by assignments in the corporate office, district manager for Vons, VP of retail operations for Safeway’s Northern California Division, group VP of deli/foodservice and bakery, then SVP of dairy, frozen and deli before moving to the nonperishable team as SVP of beverages, snacks, meals and ingredients. Raya is both competitive and collaborative; fun but fiercely dedicated to winning at whatever she does. She cares about her team members, customers of Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions, the neighborhoods where the stores operate, and her family and friends, numerous people have told us. Raya is the consummate leader, and that’s why she is The Shelby Report of the West’s Woman Executive of the Year, although those same people also agree that she would be Executive of the Year, regardless of gender. Following are excerpts of an interview with Raya conducted by Bob Reeves, VP-West for The Shelby Report. When you think about your childhood, what do you think has helped you be so successful in the grocery industry? Raya: It’s a good question. My childhood was very active. We had a very active family, a family that was very engaged in outdoor sports. At 5 years old, I was learning how to water ski.
of time with my brother as my mom took on (multiple jobs). One of the things not a lot of people know is that from the time I was 13 until I went to college, our mom worked three jobs to make sure that we could participate and attend a very good high school in Colorado, Smoky Hill High School. They had a great athletic program, and she knew for my brother and myself, the way to go to college was going to be through athletics, and she wanted to make sure that was possible. Amazing, the sacrifices our parents make for us. Amazing sacrifices. So grateful for what she did for me, and now I do everything I can to give back to her. My father recently passed away, but I would say the same thing—that he gave a lot of his time to take me to softball practices, basketball practices; was at the game cheering me on all the time. But the sacrifices my mother made put a lot of pressure on my brother, quite frankly. He was a great pitcher, an All State pitcher, and an All State tight end himself at this high school. But he ended up having to take his little sister a lot of
A young Lori with her parents, getting ready to water-ski. We lived in Colorado, but I think I’ve snow skiied once or twice in my life and wasn’t very good at it. I rode motorcycles at a very young age; rode motocross with my brother. So, I think, just based on my family’s activities and being outdoors really led me to be active and competing and wanting to be very good. I have a brother and a sister; I’m the youngest. My sister Carrie is the oldest; my brother Dean; and then myself. My sister wasn’t very athletic, but she was really the toughest one of all three. If my brother got in trouble, she was always there to defend him, and if I got in trouble, he was there to defend me. But Carrie was “Mom” in school and protected both of us. My parents were divorced when I was 13, so I spent a lot
Lori’s brother, Dean Smith.
Competing Started Early for Raya Lori Raya is the youngest of three children in her family. Sister Carrie de Herrera is the oldest; brother Dean Smith is in the middle. Smith, who is in the electronic components business in Colorado, says that he and Lori were close growing up in Aurora, Colorado. They were both athletes, and because their mom worked a lot after their parents divorced when the kids were teenagers, Dean often had to drive Lori to school and practices. “She was in sports and I was in sports as well, and she was always with
me,” Dean says. “So she was always having to compete and keep up with boys, so to speak. It didn’t bother her at all; she’s a fierce competitor and loves to win and loves to play.” He adds that she balances her high career goals with her family life. “Obviously, she’s been incredibly driven, but she’s a supportive person for her family and friends,” he says. “When she was working her way up the ladder, I think she sacrificed a lot more than most of us did because of the scheduling and the commitment it takes to get to where she is. You just
don’t have a lot of extra free time to hang out and do some of the things people do...She’s done incredibly well for herself, but she put in the work and the sacrifice needed to get there.” He adds, “We’re involved in each other’s lives to a pretty large degree. Even though we have the separation of miles, it didn’t really slow us down.” Dean’s 26-year-old daughter is an event planner who moved to Southern California and hangs out with Aunt Lori when she can. He also has a 15-year-old son.
Lori Raya places, like my practices. I spent a lot of my weekend and evening time with my brother and his buddies, which meant playing tackle football, baseball and basketball with him. He said, “if you’re going to play, you’re going to play the way we play; we’re not going to baby you. You have to step up and be tough.” I think it taught me, one, about teamwork, and then a lot about family. My brother was loyal and helpful to me, but it taught me to compete and be a part of a team. I think you can do anything you want, no matter whether you’re male or female. You can be successful in what you want. Do you use sports clichés when you’re speaking to your team members? I do… In college, I was studying to teach high school biology (I don’t have my degree, I’m a few credits short of that). I wanted to be a biology teacher both to educate and so that in my afternoon time I could coach. I did a lot of coaching while I was in college at a Catholic high school in Colorado. For me, the business I’m in now is very similar. I have a lot of employees that maybe are a new hire or someone who is a little further along in their career and wants to do more, and I think it’s about coaching, training, teaching and educating. I teach my team about what works for me. When I was in high school, I would practice a skill in basketball until I was really good at it. If it meant shooting 100 free throws until I could make 85 of those or whatever my goal was, I would stay and do that. But I wanted to make sure I learned something every day and I taught something to someone every day, whether I was a coach or a participant myself. And I find myself now, as a business leader, that there isn’t a book that says “here’s everything you do when you’re a president of a very large division and you have a lot of employees that work for you.” So I still strive every day…I won’t leave, whether I’m in a store or in the office, wherever I’m at, unless I learn something every day and I teach something to someone every day that makes them better. And I live by that to this day. Tell me about your sports background. I started very young. I was actually a sprinter when I was 9 to 12 years old. I was a quartermiler, and I competed nationally as a 14- to 15-year old in Hershey, Pennsylvania. I was part of a YMCA program in Aurora, Colorado, and I took sixth in the nation as a 14-15-year-old girl in the quarter-mile. In Colorado, and I’ll date Lori was the first girl in myself a bit here, organized Aurora County to play boys Please see page 28 baseball.