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Women of Influence in the Food Industry
Mentors and how they have assisted you in your career:
JULIE LIBBY Hannaford Supermarkets
Years with company: 10 Current position: Director of
Fresh Merchandising
Education, degrees and professional/volunteer organizations: B.S. in Business Administration. M.B.A., Founding Board of Directors member for Libra Future Fund, a non-profit organization that was created to capitalize upon the energy and creativity that Maine’s young people embody and to combat youth out-migration by supporting initiatives that increase the number of Maine-based professional opportunities.
The Griffin Report of Food Marketing
February 2014
Several mentors at Hannaford have been influential in my career. Three of the most important things they have taught me are: Focus your energy on being the best at what you’re doing right now Be genuine to who you are and never jeopardize your integrity Build strong relationships with mentors and sponsors who will give you constructive feedback and support that will truly help push you forward
What are you most proud of in your career achievements? Do you have a defining moment of your career to date? My career path within the organization has allowed me to be involved in many aspects of the business, including supply chain, retail operations, category and merchandising. Having the opportunity to work within each of these areas gives me the opportunity to see the business through more filters and provides me with a deeper understanding of our overall operations.
Most challenging part of your job: Making trade-offs. There are a lot of great ideas and initiatives that you want to pursue, but if you don’t make thoughtful decisions and select areas of focus, the sum of your efforts won’t be as great as they would be if you chose the select few to do really well.
Advice for upcoming younger executives: Find a mentor
and foster a meaningful relationship. Bring solutions to your supervisor instead of problems. Find ways to continue to grow – both personally and within the workplace. Strive for a work/life “balance.” Be genuine to who you are and purposeful about what you want your reputation to be and act on it accordingly. Value your associates – lead them, don’t just manage them.
Hobbies: I love the outdoors, enjoy reading, and I am an avid Boston sports fan. Most of all, I enjoy my family time with my husband and two small children.
Denny’s
Years with company: 6 Current position: Senior Di-
rector, Product Innovation
Education, degrees and professional/volunteer organizations: Bachelor of Science, Food Science – University of Kentucky
Mentors and how they have assisted you in your career: Barbara Timm-Brock challenged my technical skills and made me better. Jeff Spotz taught me supply chain
Crispy Green Inc. Years with company: 9 Current position: CEO &
Founder
Education, degrees and professional/volunteer organizations: B.S. & M.S. in Chemistry, Member of Institute of Food Technologists, Soroptimist International of America (NGO), volunteer of NJ Community Food Bank
Mentors and how they have assisted you in your career: Coming from a pharmaceutical R&D background with no
What are you most proud of in your career achievements? Do you have a defining moment of your career to date? I’m very proud that I was able to turn my passion into a business and made it work. Along the way, I learned a great deal about myself. Building a business from ground-up is not an easy feat, doing it without prior experience and outside funding requires a bit of madness
and chutzpah which I didn’t know I have.
Most challenging part of your job: The most challenging part of my job at the moment is to deal with the increasingly competitive environment and pricing pressure without compromising our own principles and product integrity. An equally challenging task is to educate our consumers not to judge the product and its quality simply by where it’s from. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.
Advice for upcoming younger executives: Follow your passion, seize every opportunity and don’t be afraid to take some chances and make some changes once a while.
Hobbies: International travel, culture exchange, photography, glass blowing and sculpting.
www.foodindustrywomen.com I N
SHARON LYKINS
ANGELA LIU
food industry experience, to start a food company from a ground up took some courage and passion as well as naiveté. Fortunately, I have had good mentors along the way. Alan Levitan, former chief executive officer of Kings Supermarkets, has been the most valuable counsel on my side since the early days of the company. Through him, I learned a great deal about the food business, gained tremendous insight on how the retail channel works, which is vital to the success of our business, as well as important connections within the industry. Beyond that, Alan has been a good friend and a trusted advisor.
management. I learned about taking responsibility when plans don’t go perfectly from Chris Elliott. Tom Johnson gave me the opportunity to identify and set strategy. Now, I’m gaining a deeper understanding of leadership from Frances Allen. While several people have influenced my career in different ways, Stan Dorsey has been my mentor and friend my entire career. I’ve worked for Stan three times. He was always willing to set a goal, then let me figure out how to achieve it. These stretch assignments honed not only my technical skills, but taught me how to navigate the corporate structure to achieve the strategic objectives of the companies where I’ve worked.
What are you most proud of in your career achievements? Do you have a defining moment of your career to date? I don’t believe that I’ve had a career-defining moment yet. I’ve been fortunate to lead and be part of teams that have been able to put together successful programs and processes. My time at Den-
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ployee events. I coordinate teams and participate in 5K charity road races. I’m also involved with volunteering at The Friendly Kitchen in Concord, N.H., and Making Strides for Breast Cancer, as well as US FIRST Robotics over the past four years.
ny’s has been particularly rewarding. At Denny’s, I’ve been able to pull together all of the skills I’ve learned throughout my career as we’ve worked to revitalize the menu. The results have been good and continue to show tangible improvement. I’m proud of the results we’ve achieved.
Mentors and how they have assisted you in your career:
Most challenging part of your job: The most challenging part of my job is balancing the expectations of each stakeholder group (senior management, franchisees, vendors, staff, etc.).
Advice for upcoming younger executives: Think of as many reasons as you can that might make a project fail then try to build solutions into the plan. Your work will speak for itself, but have a cheerleader in your corner that makes sure your work is noticed.
Hobbies: Tennis with the family, reading and cooking.
CHRISTINE LYLE
Associated Grocers of New England, Inc. Years with company: 24 Current position: Assistant Controller
Education, degrees and professional/volunteer organizations: I have a BA in Accounting from Southern New Hampshire University and am pursuing my MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. I’m very active in AG’s Activities Committee, helping to coordinate em-
Two people who have mentored me from the beginning of my career at AG are Steve Murphy, SVP/CFO, and Cindy Caldwell, controller. They have challenged me, encouraged me and expected more from me than I thought I was capable of doing. Because of their faith in me, I have been able to grow within the company.
What are you most proud of in your career achievements? Do you have a defining moment of your career to date? My most defining moment in my career was when I was promoted to assistant controller. My AGNE career began as an accounts payable clerk. Over the years I’ve had many opportunities and challenges which have allowed
me to grow personally and professionally and achieve positions with greater responsibilities.
Most challenging part of your job: The most challenging part of my position is to maintain a good work/life balance. Balancing family, extracurricular activities and the responsibilities of my position can create challenges.
Advice for upcoming younger executives: My advice to upcoming executives is to be passionate about what you do while not losing your sense of humor and being open to new ideas. Working hard to meet your goals will give you the greatest amount of personal satisfaction.
Hobbies: I have a wide range of hobbies, from stamping cards to outdoor activities. But what I like to do most is to challenge myself to do new things, such as glass blowing and learning to make candy.