30
Women of Influence in the Food Industry 13TH EDITION
KRISTIN BROADLEY CENTERVILLE PIE CO.
JEANNE BURNS C&S WHOLESALE GROCERS
10
Seven
Years with company: Current position: Education:
Associate’s in Culinary Arts
Professional and volunteer affiliations: Special Olympics, Downs
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals? Hobbies:
Fishing, golf and meeting people.
Current position:
National Account Director
Education:
BBA in Finance, University of Hawaii Manoa
Professional and
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Education:
My retailers use social media in a best-in-class way. Following them on social media helps me speak their language.
Saying yes to work events/invites can often feel like an obligation, but there’s no better way to network. I love sports. I play soccer and take classes in Krav Maga.
Bachelor’s of Commerce, University of Toronto; MBA, Columbia Business School
Professional and volunteer affiliations:
I am active with Brand Innovators, a group of brand marketing and media professionals that share best practices and case studies in the industry.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
The biggest risk I’ve taken in my career was leaving a corporate company role to freelance and run my food blog website. This was in 2009 before influencer marketing became what it is today. Through running my site and building my network of bloggers, I learned about content creation and social media marketing. As I started to work with brands, I continued to build both knowledge and contacts that I still use today. Through this network, I was referred to a role (building a social media department) that led to my starting online grocery marketing.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Embrace opportunities to learn and to challenge yourself. Career progression isn’t always linear. Jobs I’ve had didn’t even exist when I first entered the workforce. Drive your career, but be patient. Raise your hand to accept stretch opportunities that can take you out of your comfort zone and look for ways to mentor up.
Hobbies:
I am a foodie and love to try new foods and restaurants. I also enjoy traveling and photography. As a mom of a five-year-old, my favorite thing to do right now is to explore Chicago with him and my husband.
The advances in technology–in digital marketing,
Three
Current position:
Director of Trade Relations & Industry Affairs
Education:
BS in Marketing and Philosophy, Fairfield University; MBA in Marketing, Saint Louis University
Professional and volunteer affiliations: NACS Supplier Membership & Communications Committee; Board member, Washington University Medical Center Housestaff Auxiliary; Junior League of St. Louis.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
I think you should have defining moments throughout your career. I am actively seeking those moments every day. I believe defining moments arise from the choices we make in the companies we work for and the relationships we build. I am proud to work for a company that supports personal growth and the development of female leaders. The defining moments of my career have been influenced by the opportunities I have worked hard for and have been fostered by the mentorship and leadership I have
I believe knowledge sharing is essential for us to grow together in the industry and find innovative ways to evolve professionally. Social media has given us a direct line of communication to learn from each other, strengthen our relationships and provide mentorship and support in a way we can all benefit from greatly.
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
Find something you are insanely passionate about and throw yourself in headfirst. Be brave as you follow your path. Open yourself up for new opportunities and experiences even if there is a level of discomfort. That is how you know you’re experiencing growth.
Hobbies:
Spending time with my family, volunteering, gardening and traveling.
Traveling, camping and cooking.
DIANE COLGAN TOPS MARKETS Years with company: Nine
Current position:
SVP of Marketing & Decision Support
Education:
BA in Economics, University of Wisconsin; MBA, Southern Methodist University
School of Business
Professional and volunteer affiliations:
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
The moment I realized the importance of adding value to help achieve a goal. Everyone has a value, whether it’s certain experiences, critical expertise or a unique skill set. The opportunity that we all have is to share and apply that value on a daily basis and to stretch and to go beyond what we’ve done in the past. When every team member is adding value, the team is more effective and is able to accomplish key goals.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
The challenge of my job is also what makes it very exciting–it is the dynamic landscape of the consumers that we serve, our retail partners, and the global environment. No day is the same as the previous day, which I find very energizing and exciting.
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Social media has enhanced my role as it helps us understand the usage of emerging nutritious products which is critical to us as we constantly evaluate the latest and greatest trends and determine how we can provide a unique offering to consumers.
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
Learn from others. Use every encounter that you have with someone as an opportunity to learn something new, and then think how you could apply that knowledge.
Hobbies:
I enjoy being active, whether it’s playing tennis, hiking, mountain biking or just working out. I also enjoy traveling, especially to warm locales during cold Chicago winters.
BS in Business Administration, College of Charleston (South Carolina); Competitive Retailing Executive Program, Wharton
Professional and volunteer affiliations:
Mentor, Menttium; executive sponsor, Women of Color; Network of Executive Women.
Board member, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Western New York chapter, for past six years; United Way Women’s Leadership Council and Volunteer for past 15 years; Williamsville, New York, Central School District Wellness board for past three years.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
I was let go from a job early in my career due to a company merger that then opened the door for a wonderful career in food retailing.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Communication. Most mistakes can be traced back to lack of communication.
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Both really. Social media provides for immediate access to a large number of people–which can be good or bad.
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
Pick something you would really like to do. Jump in with both feet, and see where it takes you. Be open, exude energy, learn as much as you can and always try to do a little better every day.
Hobbies:
Enjoying time with my husband and two sons, hiking, reading and tennis.
KATHLEEN COLLINS BH COFFEE CO. (DBA BARRIE HOUSE COFFEE)
What is the most challenging part of your job?
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Hobbies:
Education:
found among my colleagues.
The beer industry is always evolving, as are the channels in which beer is sold. I am tasked with making sure Anheuser-Busch keeps a strong pulse on the ever-evolving needs of our retailer community and strengthening our commitment to industry excellence and relationship building. It is an exciting challenge that I am proud to lead.
Show you care about the quality of work you do and the relationships you build. When you say you are going to do something….do it. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes when moving forward in a project. It provides insight into their thinking, and you become a better person for it.
20 Current position: VP of Strategy
ALICIA CLEARY ANHEUSER-BUSCH Years with company:
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
AMERICAN NUTRITION – PEPSICO
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
Keeping up with the times is very important. Social media is part of changing times; embrace it!
At the start of my career, I was an administrative assistant at Nabisco with two small daughters and needed to make a life change. I knew I couldn’t support my children by myself in my current position, so I went to my manager and asked to be promoted. I was fortunate to have a manager who had faith in me, and I was promoted one week later. Throughout the years, I received many additional promotions, taking knowledge from each one. Every day I work to prove to myself and to my company why I earned each position. I now pay back my good fortune by
online grocery and adapted by consumers–is both exciting and challenging. Though I’ve been in online grocery marketing since 2011, the space continues to rapidly change. Keeping up with innovations while maintaining balance is something I work on every day.
From making business contacts via LinkedIn to gaining immediate consumer feedback through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, social media has been extremely helpful in my role. I lead our digital marketing strategy, and social media has allowed me to quickly learn from 1:1 consumer marketing. I know which content engages with our audience and can rapidly create more videos and photos that drives traffic to our site.
The most challenging part of my position is creating strong customer/manufacturer bonds, multi-tasking and staying ahead of deadlines.
Senior Customer Business Manager
Years with company:
Director of Customer Acquisition
Skiing, cooking, Peloton and travel.
Current position:
Years with company:
Current position:
Hobbies:
training the next generation. I am very thankful for the opportunities I have had in the food industry.
Two
JANICE CHOPRA NORTH
One
Believe in yourself, take on new challenges and develop relationships with colleagues within your business or industry because the best things are accomplished through partnerships.
Years with company:
ANDREA CHAN-DILIBERTO PEAPOD
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
CHERYL CARREIRA ACOSTA SALES & MARKETING
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Hobbies:
Managing very time-sensitive issues in an array of areas.
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
FMI Government Relations Committee; member of Vermont and Massachusetts Bar Associations; board member, New Hampshire Grocers Association and C&S Charities.
There’s never enough time. Prioritizing and saying “no” to questions that are not business critical.
Moving from Hawaii to Minnesota for my current role.
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Social media makes every issue much more immediate than ever, so it becomes a challenge as to the timing. However, similarly, it enables the industry to learn real-time news.
Professional and volunteer
affiliations:
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Alzheimer’s Association
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
BA, Boston College; JD, New England School of Law
When I moved to C&S from my previous position, I was moving from a job
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
volunteer affiliations:
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Education:
ADRIA CAMPBELL DEAN FOODS 10
Sr. Corporate Counsel, Operations Law and Director of Real Estate
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
What is the most challenging part of your
Years with company:
with a much more narrow scope. C&S gave me the opportunity to transition into the grocery field with a much broader scope and enable me to work in areas that I had yet to discover. It’s been an exciting challenge.
Current position:
For the most part it is good. Most people give us good feedback. You can let everyone know your special items and special events.
Get to know your employees; they make or break you. Care for them and take care of them.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
Opening the pie shop in March 2009 and creating jobs for disabled and people in our community.
Years with company:
Training and healthcare for employees.
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Owner
Syndrome, HACC
job?
April 2018
Years with company: VP of Sales and Customer Service
company led both by third- and fourth-generation family members as well as many talented associates. I have decades of sales and operational knowledge but from a different side of the business. Retail vs. manufacturing. Best decision of my life.
Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Business Management; master’s in Human Resources
Balancing travel and family. Also, being a female in a predominantly male manufacturing world.
Two
Current position:
tions:
Education:
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Professional and volunteer affilia-
How has social media helped or hindered your job?
Network of Executive Women; The Jimmy Fund at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Do you have a defining moment of your career?
Yes. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer and needed to move back home because of the expense of her treatments and she needed to be around my husband and me for support. I had agreed the year before to work with a group to improve the P&L of a department as a special project for Ahold. At the same time my daughter was moving home. Ahold informed me that the project was being moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and that I would have to move there. I was devastated and asked to go back to being a director of operations because I couldn’t leave my family. I was informed that many of the director jobs were being eliminated and that I did not have an option. I was always a career-oriented person and had to decide whether to give up everything I worked so hard for or my family. I chose to take a severance package and leave. I was scared that at my age I wouldn’t be able to find a job that I would love again, as I really loved working for Ahold and I had so many friends there. I was left so empty inside, but I knew deep down that I had to be there for my daughter. I also have a deep belief that everything happens for a reason. I used social media to put my name out there and had multiple job offers. I accepted a position at Barrie House Coffee because they are a family-owned
Social media has helped my job immensely through networking and has allowed me to share content and participate in multimedia platforms.
Do you have any advice for upcoming professionals?
Challenges in your career are going to happen as are mistakes. Focus on your strengths and use your weaknesses to improve yourself. Remember your goal and destination and all will be yours if you are determined.
Hobbies:
Fishing, farming and cooking.
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3/23/18 2:59 PM