The 10 Most
Influential Women
in Supply Chain - 2022 Choose to Challenge Women: The New Trailblazers In Supply Chain
Innova ve Forefront
Innova ve ForefrontThe Need to Embrace Tech-Transforma on Approach
Irasema Calvo
Angela Qu
Energizing the “Giant Leap” in Supply Chain Management
VOL-02 | ISSUE-03 | 2022
Wo m e n o f t h e Ye a r
Solving Your Supply Chain Problems
www.insightssuccess.com
Editor’s Desk
Not Just Surviving; Thriving!
W
omen have always proved their mettle by shining even in the not-so-glamorous industries. And supply chain industry is one example of that. With women steadily advancing in the supply chain and logistics space, the industry has witnessed a change in the number of women being part of this industry. Let’s take a look at how the change has occurred. Industry 4.0 has changed the landscape of various industries, including the supply chain. Digitalization has replaced many traditional processes of the industry. It is true that with opportunities also come challenges. But, women were always prepared with their homework for all such new challenges in the supply chain industry and turned them into new possibilities. The future of supply chain operations is built on a culture of visibility and collaboration across teams. It involves managing people, dealing with a plethora of challenges, quick decision-making, and more. And women looked ready to take on such challenges and thrive. Today, they are committed to continuous evaluation and work to break down organizational silos with a methodical change management process. Additionally, the flow of the industry is heavily affected by things like trends, costs, and, most importantly, customer expectations. Women just know how to pivot as the economy demands. They continuously rethink the existing supply chain practices and technological abilities to prioritize transparency and resilience.
Whenever women were put to the test, they came up thriving. And their presence in the supply chain industry aptly exemplifies that. In this edition, The 10 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain, we have enlisted women that are changing the landscape of the supply chain industry and encouraging other women to be part of it. On the cover, we have Angela Qu. Angela is the Senior Vice President, Chief Procurement Officer & Supervisory Board Member of Lufthansa Cargo. Since she began her journey at Lufthansa Group, she maintained her successful track record to develop her team with her passion for sustainability and D&I at the workplace. She is driven by a deep-held vision to infuse supply chain management with innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. You will get to read about more such stories of women in the supply chain. Also, do not forget to read about the CxO standpoints by the industry expert and the creative articles written by the in-house editorial team, which will give you enough insight on industry-related events. Get Set Read!
Sharad Chitalkar sharad@insightssuccess.com
Cover Story
08 Angela Qu Energizing "Giant Leap" in Supply Chain Management
CxO 36
Leaders View Point
The Need for Compassionate Leadership during a Global Pandemic
Articles 26 Choose to Challenge Women: the New Trailblazers in Supply Chain
14
Irasema Calvo
42 Innovative Forefront
Solving Your Supply Chain Problems
The Need to Embrace Tech-Transformation Approach
Women of the Year
Contents
18
Alma Arzate
Leading the Way and Helping Others to Succeed
22
Claire Bretzke
Delivering Results-Driven Multitudes of Marketing
28
Jessica Burgess Strengthening the Roots in the Supply Chain Industry
32
Maria Villablanca
Navigating the Complexities of Changing Business Models in Supply Chain
38
Mariam Saad Maximizing Profitability in Supply Chain
44
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey
Leading with Perseverance and Giving Voice to Supply Chain Community
48
Wendy Herrick An Excellent Example of "Learn-it-All" Mindset
Editor-in-Chief Hitesh Dhamani Managing Editor Anish Miller
Executive Editor Sharad Chitalkar
Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes
Visualizer
Art & Design Director
Associate Designer
Co-designer
David King
Vishal Pawar
Shyam Sonawane
Revati Badkas
Senior Sales Manager
Business Development Manager
Kshitij S
Peter Collins
Marketing Manager
Sales Executives
John Matthew
David, Martin, Irfan
Technical Head
Business Development Executives
Jacob Smile
Steve, Joe, Saurabh
Technical Specialist Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst Frank Adams
Database Management Stella Andrew
Circulation Manager Robert Brown
Technology Consultant David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com FEBRUARY, 2022
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The 10 Most
Influential Women in Supply Chain - 2022
Featured Person
Company Name
Brief
Adele Sale, Global Procurement Director
AstraZeneca astrazeneca.com
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company.
Alma Arzate, Director, Global Supply Chain Logistics
Apotex apotex.com
Apotex Inc. is a global pharmaceutical company.
Angela Qu, Senior Vice President Chief Procurement Officer & Supervisory Board Member
Lufthansa Group lufthansa.com
Lufthansa Group is a leading aviation group.
Claire Bretzke, Vice President of Global Marketing
Ruby Has Fulfillment rubyhas.com
Ruby Has Fulfillment is one of the fastest growing ecommerce fulfillment and logistics providers for direct-to-consumer brands and retailers.
Jessica Burgess, Director of Business Development
Ruby Has Fulfillment rubyhas.com
Ruby Has Fulfillment is one of the fastest growing ecommerce fulfillment and logistics providers for direct-to-consumer brands and retailers.
Irasema Calvo, Sr. Supply Chain Manager
Lucira Health lucirahealth.com
As a leader in COVID-19 testing and at-home diagnostics, Lucira's mission is to change the way you manage your health.
Maria P. Villablanca, Co-Founder and CEO
Future Insights Network futureinsights.org
Future Insights Network is the next-generation community of business leaders.
Mariam Saad, Director of Procurement
TELUS telus.com
TELUS, is building a better future for all Canadians by using technology for good and giving back to our community.
Sarah B. Humphrey, Podcast Host & Founder
Let's Talk Supply Chain letstalksupplychain.com
Let's Talk Supply Chain is a podcast that features the top of the industry, diverse voices from within the community, new innovation and the disrupters making waves.
Wendy Herrick, Vice President Digital
Unilever unilever.com
Unilever portfolio ranges from nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products.
Angela Qu Senior Vice President, Chief Procurement Officer & Supervisory Board Member, Lufthansa Cargo
Lufthansa Group
C O V E R S T O R Y
The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
Angela Qu Energizing the “Giant Leap” in Supply Chain Management
The Lufthansa Group is a worldwide operating aviation corporation which includes more than 550 subsidiaries and investment companies.
C
omplications in supply chains have become a frontand-centre preoccupation for organizations of all sizes since the beginning of the pandemic. National lockdowns led to an accumulation of issues for procurement professionals. Supply chain experts proved their worth during this time through resilience, procurement know-how and perseverance to deliver in a highly unstable environment. Angela Qu exemplifies this approach; she is driven by a deep-held vision to infuse supply chain management with innovation, efficiency and sustainability. Angela is the Senior Vice President, Chief Procurement Officer & Supervisory Board Member of Lufthansa Cargo. Since she began her journey at Lufthansa Group, Angela maintained her successful track record to develop her team with her passion for sustainability and D&I at the workplace. Lufthansa Group is a leading aviation company that has spread its wings to transform procurement functions into strategic business partners. They are also enhancing their supply chain operations to develop and curate functional competence management. Insights Success caught up with Angela in our expedition to find “The 10 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain” and talked with her to understand how she has been consistently adapting to the industry for over two decades. Below are the highlights of the interview: How did you start your career in the supply chain? You would not believe it! In 1994, I joined one of the Siemens joint ventures in China. My role was to support the general manager in building up a manufacturing site from scratch. I was part of the core team to hire and train the workforce, acquire the first customers, and start-up production. Then the company offered me to build up one of two departments, Procurement or Sales. I decided to go for procurement for a very simple reason: I realized that I could not drink much alcohol when celebrating the first contract signed with our customers. That is an interesting decision! How did you further develop yourself towards your current position at the Lufthansa Group? I am fortunate that I had roles in large organizations that are industry leaders with global footprints, such as Siemens, Buehler/ Leybold Optics, and ABB. I traveled the world
and enjoyed working with people from many nationalities in many different locations. I lived in China, Germany, and Switzerland. In early 2019, I became the Chief Procurement Officer for the Lufthansa Group, based in Frankfurt. We manage the strategic sourcing activities for the Group’s external spend, which was 20 Billion euros before the COVID crisis. We have globally 300 categories and over 30000 suppliers and partners. Please tell us something more about Lufthansa Group and its mission and vision. The Lufthansa Group is an aviation group with operations worldwide, with more than 100,000 employees. We generated revenue of EUR 36 Billion in 2019 and 13.4 Billion in 2020. The Group is composed of Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and Aviation Services, including logistics, MRO, and catering. Our mission is to connect people, cultures, and economies in a sustainable way. Can you please describe in detail the values and the impact you have made on your organization? Procurement and supplier management is, above all, a people business. By seeking to be an inspirational and empathetic leader, I aim to build a joint vision with my teams and enable them to strive for excellence. I make sure I give my procurement teams a clear mandate, provide them with training, tools, methodologies, as well as data and transparency, enabling them to make informed decisions towards both suppliers and internal partners. When working with our external suppliers, my approach is always to stay professional; that means being challenging but also fair. We maintain regular dialogues with our suppliers and partners, and we are always ready to improve ourselves to reduce complexity. Overall, I aim to create high-performing teams by putting people at the heart of what we do. How did COVID impact your organization and your leadership behaviour? The COVID crisis held a mirror up to many business leaders in terms of how we responded with ethical
standards at those critical times. In March 2020, when many countries around the world closed their borders, and the term ‘lockdown’ entered our vocabulary, the Lufthansa Group was forced to ground almost its entire fleet of over 750 aircraft. By the end of Q1, passenger volumes were down 98%, and only 5% of flights were operating. The Group was burning cash at a rate of €1 million per hour and facing a significant insolvency risk by mid 2020. The Procurement teams at Lufthansa Group identified a list of operations-critical suppliers to protect our ongoing, albeit reduced, flight operations. At the same time, we had to maximize liquidity levels as long as possible until the government aid package arrived.
Driving innovation, efficiency, and sustainability along the value chain; Integrity and sustainability.
Even under extreme pressure, we did not cut corners for short-term benefits. We communicated openly with our suppliers and found mutually agreeable solutions. In particular, we supported those suppliers who were in a weaker position than us, enabling them to access their payments on time.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful? Data is the new fuel in today’s world. We leverage technology to provide our team with real-time data, cost-out forecasts, business foresight, cash flow optimization, and material flows. We leverage the analytical insight to provide our internal partners with different solutions. Externally, we have integrated our suppliers into our operational planning and a seamless accounts payable process. In short, we want to utilize technologies to enable procurement as a source of business value, ranging from automation of operations to seeking out rich seams of innovation with our external partners. What, according to you, could be the next big change in the supply chain industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change? There will be many changes in supply chain management in the near future. One of them is digitalization in the supply chain. We should be able to gather and analyze large sets of structured and unstructured data. We will need skills from
We change the world, and the world changes us.
Another goal of mine is to improve Procurement into an equal, diverse, and inclusive function. I have been passionate about this cause throughout my career, including at ABB where I started the first D&I program group-wide on this topic, which has now become a major initiative throughout the company. I am bringing the same passion to Lufthansa Group, especially as I am in the process of hiring diverse talents from other functions and other industries into procurement and supply chain management. We need to improve our capabilities to the next level by investing in our talents and creating long-term development opportunities. What would be your advice to budding women leaders who aspire to venture into the supply chain industry? I have never regretted choosing “Procurement and Supply Chain” 28 years ago. This is a profession that requires a lot of resilience, decision-making in uncertain environments, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills. If you like to work with people, are capable of handling fastchanging environments, and are willing to find joint solutions with business partners, then you will have a lot of fun. The success is very tangible and rewarding.
computer scientists, statisticians, and mathematicians to process and model data, then interpret the results into business plans and drive actions. Another big development is the increasing awareness of sustainability in the supply chain. Procurement leaders have the responsibility to make sourcing decisions that have a huge impact on CO2 footprints. Therefore, we need to work jointly on sustainable solutions, cross-functionally, crosscompany, and cross-industry. Going forward, investors will be assessing our performance in how we manage our supply chains from a sustainability perspective. At Lufthansa, we are working to ensure the supply chain is a key contributor to our sustainability goals. What are your future goals for Lufthansa Group? After 18 months of crisis management and managing disruptions in our supply chains, we are on a journey to transform ourselves into a more strategic function at Lufthansa group. Our long terms goal is to provide innovative and sustainable solutions with a customercentric approach. Procurement will become one of the main value creators in the future success of our Group companies.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, professionally and privately? As a business leader feeling at home in both Asian and western cultures, I am happy to give back many of my leadership experiences and learnings to other organizations. I feel strongly about sharing across a variety different initiatives, such as leading change, people development and diversity and inclusion, where I can be a catalyst for growth. Giving back to the supply chain community is another focus area, where I work as advisor with the Aim 10X Executive Council, to create new standard of future digital transformation. I would be happy to expand my service portfolio into other related areas and industries.
The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
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Alma Arzate Leading the Way and Helping Others to Succeed
L
ife is uncertain, and the only constants are growth and challenges. If one perceives the problems as opportunities to improve, growth is inevitable. Similarly, when it comes to the supply chain industry, challenges prove themselves to be a great way to grow professionally. Overcoming these challenges every day with the support of a diverse team of 140 supply chain professionals is Alma Arzate.
Alma is the Director of Global Supply Chain Logistics at Apotex. Driven by her goal to deliver transformational results, her global experience has been built over two
decades across the supply chain and operations. Her background and expertise are multi-faceted. However, her passion lies in bringing order from chaos, whether it be through people development, systems implementations, or processes improvements, leveraging all of her first-hand experiences gained from the Automotive, Electronics, Medical Devices, CPG, and Pharma industries. In an interview conducted with Insights Success, Alma sheds light on her professional journey to become an inspirational leader how she constantly aims to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
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The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022 Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Apotex. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today? I am originally from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Juárez is the sister city of El Paso, Texas, United States. Together with the surrounding areas, these two cities form the second largest binational metropolitan area on the Mexico-U.S. border, with a combined population of over 2.2 million people. There is a thriving maquiladora industry, with over 300 multinational companies operating in my hometown, so this is where I started my career. Supply Chain was never highlighted as a possible career pathway while I was attending the Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Juarez, where I completed my B.B.A., or the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, where I completed my M.B.A. When I learned that there was a vacancy as a Buyer, Indirect Procurement in the same company I was working for, I decided to apply. This was a couple of years after graduation. I only had Finance experience, but the hiring manager decided to take a chance on me. I really enjoyed the fast pace, how I had to be resourceful to help resolve many challenges, and being able to make tangible contributions to support the business. Once I came over to the supply chain side, I never left. There have been many challenges that I have had to overcome; just to name a few: the supply chain has been and still is a male-dominated field. I have been the only woman in the room more times than I can count. I have also been put in new positions where there was no one else before me, and I had to find my own way, sometimes even having to write my own job description! Then, as I chose to restart my career in Canada 14 years ago, this required a lot of perseverance to achieve a successful integration into a new country, culture, and workplace expectations. The lack of female role models has also been a challenge throughout my career, but luckily, I have had a lot of kind and supportive male role models and sponsors that have helped me get to where I am today. Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Supply Chain Industry. For many years, I have been focusing on whatever time I can spare to lift others. Despite my sometimes hectic professional and personal life, I am passionate about actively supporting multiple initiatives related to supply chain, education, women, and immigrant advancement. My hope is that whoever attends these events will learn from
my journey and the many obstacles I have had to overcome to find my voice and be recognized as a leader, and through ongoing dialogue, they will also be inspired to find ways to continue to persevere, achieve their own dreams, and become the best version of themselves. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the co-op program at Apotex Inc., where so far, more than 15 students from many Universities have greatly benefited by acquiring relevant supply chain experience. I aim to crush barriers for women wherever I go and try to inspire female supply chain professionals to reach forward and accomplish their dreams. On immigrant-related initiatives, I have been a keynote speaker for many organizations, supporting Canadian newcomers to ease their integration into the Canadian work environment and even hiring many of them. I would like for my mark in the supply chain industry to be helping others to succeed. This is an extremely rewarding way for me to give back to the profession, as I am helping pave the way for future leaders that will eventually rise to prominent positions within our companies. Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization. Apotex’s culture is guided by our core values of Collaboration, Courage, Perseverance, and Passion. They inform how we work and how we connect internally and externally with our customers, partners, and other stakeholders. We have an incredible team of bright, passionate, and committed individuals who are proudly dedicated to our mission of bringing a growing array of high-quality, affordable medicines to healthcare systems in 115 countries around the globe.
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
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We invest in continuous learning and development to support employees in expanding their capabilities and reaching their career aspirations. Our leadership team is fully committed to fostering and encouraging an environment for learning and development. This is complemented by robust training to ensure our employees have the latest industry knowledge and expertise to continue to excel in their roles. Connecting with our internal talent is key to ensuring our organization’s sustainable growth. We prioritize and consider Apotex employees for all available career opportunities across the organization to support their career development and drive business success. Working at Apotex also means working for a company that recognizes the obligations that come with success. That is why we are proud to provide significant support to a variety of charitable organizations and community groups in Canada and around the world and to invest in the universities where many of our employees earned their degrees.
team members the opportunities, resources, and time required to lead initiatives that will take them above and beyond the comfort zone and will help drive advancement and innovation in how we do things. I see every single person in my team as having the potential to be a leader, regardless of title, time in the organization, or if they have direct reports or not. As leaders, being credible, trustworthy, respectful, and empathetic naturally leads us to make better connections with our teams. Everything starts by having meaningful conversations. We know that when employees feel valued, empowered, and connected to their work and the organization, there is an overall boost in their engagement. I try to be as involved and available as possible, as this allows me to provide the support that my team needs. My job is to lead the way, role-model a mindset of growth and continuous improvement, and continue to encourage my team to achieve ambitious goals and deliver significant results for Apotex.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Apotex? I can see myself continuing to expand my responsibilities, leading multiple teams, giving each and every one of my
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Claire Bretzke Vice President of Global Marketing Ruby Has Fulfillment
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The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
Claire Bretzke Delivering Results-Driven Multitudes of Marketing
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hen it comes to marketing in any business, it is considered the most central communication element. If carried out with proper strategic perspective and operational role, marketing can boost business to the peak. Implementing such effective methodologies is Claire Bretzke.
As the Vice President of Global Marketing at Ruby Has Fulfillment, Claire has nurtured a collaborative culture to utilize various marketing aspects to inform and integrate with suppliers on every level. Insights Success caught up with Claire in its search to find “The 10 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain.” We talked with her to gain in-depth knowledge about extensive expertise spread across multiple aspects of marketing. Below are the highlights of the interview. Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Ruby Has Fulfillment. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today? I worked for several different ecommerce startups in marketing and design roles before joining the Ruby Has
Using our expertise to host webinars, develop helpful content, get news coverage, and build partnerships with other leading companies in the industry, has helped us grow at an astonishing rate over the last few years.
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team and these startups weren’t always successful. It takes a lot of insight, courage, persistence, and a certain amount of luck to grow a business, especially through multiple recessions and a pandemic. I am here because of my experience in ecommerce, but also because of the people I met along the way who believed in me and helped me become the person I am today. Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision. Ruby Has Fulfillment is the vision of its founder, Rafael Zakinov. He started the business with one warehouse in New York, and we’re now expanding internationally. But as we grow, we’re working hard not to lose what makes us unique, which is our collaborative approach to working with our ecommerce brands and giving them what they need to grow. Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Logistics & Supply Chain niche through your expertise in the market? I would say I’ve made a difference by using the marketing channels I have to reach new clients in unconventional ways. Logistics and supply chain companies have been around for centuries, but they haven’t always put a lot of thought into their brand. We’ve established Ruby Has as a thought leader in the industry by creating content that potential clients want to watch, read, and click on. Using our expertise to host webinars, develop helpful content, get news coverage and build partnerships with other leading companies in the industry has helped us grow at an astonishing rate over the last few years.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization. I mentioned the collaborative approach that Ruby Has Fulfillment has taken in working with our clients, and I think that shows the type of organization we are. It’s not our way or the highway; it’s identifying solutions in ways that make the most sense for your business. We are all in this to help our clients grow.
be able to say that Ruby Has is a technological leader and that we are committed to investing in technology. If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the Inventory Storage & Management industry? I would like to see Inventory Storage & Management companies put more of an emphasis on listening to their clients, engaging with them, and encouraging them to engage with their end customers to learn from them. In an effort to streamline pick and pack services, there has been a one-size-fits-all approach in the past, but rising ecommerce brands didn’t get where they are by acting like everyone else. We can learn as much from them as they learn from us. What, according to you, could be the next big change in the Supply Chain industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change? The way I see it, Ruby Has, and other fulfillment companies like ours are making it easy for brands to open new sales channels, so they’re no longer dependent on one channel, whether that’s brick and mortar stores, wholesale, Amazon, other retail marketplaces or direct-to-consumer. I don’t know what the next big thing will be, but I’m sure Ruby Has will be one of the first to bring it to our clients.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Ruby Has Fulfillment? I love helping brands grow. My goal for Ruby Has is to continue to grow its presence as a global brand that is known for caring for our clients and making ecommerce fulfillment easier. That goes for U.S. companies selling overseas, as well as overseas brands hoping to break into the U.S. market. What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Supply Chain sector? I would say there is plenty of room for new ideas and new people in this industry. It is rapidly growing, and there will always be a need for moving things around. The methods may change but that’s what makes it exciting.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful? Ruby Has is committed to investing in technology, robotics, and automation as long as it makes sense for our clients. If it isn’t going to help our clients grow, we don’t do it. It’s as simple as that. It makes my job as marketing VP easier to FEBRUARY 2022 | 24 | www.insightssuccess.com
Women:
:
Choose to Challenge
The New TRAILBLAZERS in SUPPLY CHAIN T
he 2021 International Women’s Day theme is “Choose to Challenge.” Challenging for bringing change in the world by being aware of the opportunities to create a gender-balanced society in all the sectors. The supply chain industry has been traditionally male-dominated, and it is challenging for women, especially in leadership positions. But trailblazing women leaders are revolutionary in their approach and choose to take up the challenge of being in the supply chain industry and impacting the industry with their courage, passion, guts, and leadership skills. Women are fearless and believe in their potential, setting exemplary standards for other women leaders and setting the standards for future generations. It takes a lot of knowledge, awareness, bravery, and ability to deal with complex challenges in the supply chain industry to be a trailblazing women leader. Therefore, becoming a trailblazing women leader in the supply chain industry is a laudable feat. Such women leaders become an inspirational example for other women leaders and future generations. Women leaders are making their presence count and are ready to take on the challenge and proving themselves that they can work productively to make a difference with their skills and abilities. Due to the value women bring to the table, many companies also include women in leadership positions to make better and inclusive decisions. Trailblazing women leaders play a vital role in ensuring diversity, equality, and inclusion in the supply chain industry and are more judicious in ensuring good overall operations and productivity from all the employees.
Women leaders doing good in the supply chain industry naturally significantly impact other women leaders, and it is more inspiring for them to follow such leaders. The women leaders in the supply chain industry should be open to changes in the industry. They should be ready to change themselves with the transformative shifts by innovating various tactics making sound judgments with pre-existing solid knowledge. Trailblazing women leaders in the supply chain industry prepare themselves well enough to handle the challenges in the supply chain industry and make the best situational decisions. They should resolve the difficulties with fortitude and work hard with all their team members. They should learn from their seniors and pass on what they have learned to others. No two days are the same in the supply chain industry. Those women who want to enter the supply chain industry should be adaptable and flexible with the continuously changing dynamics in the supply chain industry. They should have the great approach of learning and grasping things quickly, all the constant changes happening in the industry, and accordingly developing the ability to handle all the situations with diligence and making their best contribution by becoming a trailblazing leader in the industry. They should be strategic and have a lot of firefighting ability every day to make the greatest impact in the industry and prove themselves as illustrious leaders in the x.
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Jessica Burgess Director of Business Development Ruby Has Fulfillment
The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
Jessica Burgess
Strengthening the Roots in the Supply Chain Industry
C
oordinating overall logistics with an intent to minimize cost and maximize the efficiency of the supply chain, Jessica Burgess redefines the way of thinking about sales, business development, and revenue growth. As the Director of Business Development at Ruby Has Fulfilment, she empowers her team to become the best they can be and drives to create a positive culture grounded in a companywide vision of success. Insights Success caught up with Jessica in its search to find “The 10 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain.” We got into a conversation with her to understand how she utilizes consultative and solution-based selling while delivering and sustaining revenue and profit gains within multiple markets.
We are constantly adding new technology and new partners to stay ahead of the needs of our clients.
Below are the highlights of the interview. Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Ruby Has Fulfillment. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today? I began in this industry nearly a decade ago and worked my way up from a representative to the Director of Business Development. One of the biggest hurdles throughout this journey occurred several years ago. I had to step out of my comfort zone and move myself and my 2-year-old son 8 hours away from our friends and family. Balancing motherhood, a career, and personal life is never an easy task, but doing it without any support is something else entirely. During this trying year, I truly learned what I was capable of (and gained an incredible appreciation for my mother). Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision. At Ruby Has, our mission is to be true partners to our clients. To deliver an unparalleled service to brands as they scale and to maintain real relationships with our clients. No brand is a number to us, everyone has a name, and we excel because of those relationships. Our vision is to maintain these best practices while we continue to grow and expand both domestically and internationally. Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Logistics & Supply Chain niche through your expertise in the market? Logistics and supply chain is very similar to any other business field in that it is male-dominated. Simply being a woman leader in this space is impactful, but I would say my biggest impact has been on those who have, or currently do,
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report to me. The experience and knowledge that I gained on my way up the proverbial ladder have proven to be critical to my ability to lead and mold a successful team. My ultimate professional goal is not tied to numbers or quotas but rather to cultivate a happy, motivated team of experts who are equipped to go out and kill it every day.
companies delay making this transition until it is too late. Barcode everything and plan your packaging accordingly from the beginning. That is the message I would like to get to anyone even considering going into the ecommerce space because it will greatly impact their inventory management capabilities.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization. Ruby Has is a company that values its employees. I strive to place a similar emphasis on a healthy culture amongst my team. We reward hard work and a job well done, and we also correct and mentor with empathy and compassion. People first is the motto of Ruby Has and it applies to both our clients and our staff.
What, according to you, could be the next big change in the Supply Chain industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change? I think online shopping and direct-to-consumer sales are both here to stay, so the next big changes will be improvements in transportation, both globally and domestically, that ease some of the problems we’ve seen and increase shipping capacity. There will always be something changing; it’s the nature of the business. Ruby Has is here to help facilitate change and growth for our clients.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful? Cutting-edge technology is a requirement for any fulfillment company that expects to be reliable at scale. Our combination of automation, robotics, and actual boots on the ground is key to our success. The technology behind our strategic robotics systems allows us to get orders picked and packed at a rate that no team of workers could accomplish; however, those workers allow us to offer more flexibility than most companies our size. We have orchestrated the perfect balance and have entire teams responsible for staying current on the next advancement in the space. If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the Inventory Storage & Management industry? I would like to see increased education for entrepreneurs who are just getting started. So frequently, we see brands that have grown quickly but whose packaging and labeling haven’t grown along with their business. Nearly all fulfillment companies that are technologically advanced require barcodes, but brands are often caught off guard when they hear this. Even medium to enterprise-size
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Ruby Has Fulfillment? I am positive that Ruby Has Fulfillment will continue to evolve along with the ecommerce industry. We are constantly adding new technology and new partners to stay ahead of the needs of our clients. I envision myself being right here, assisting in that growth by bringing new clients through the door and growing a team of professionals who are motivated to do the same. What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Supply Chain sector? Do it! Even if you have to start at the bottom and work your way up, you should dive in headfirst. This is an industry that is growing at an unbelievable rate, and it isn’t going anywhere. Imagine if you could have gotten into the auto industry early on or the cell phone industry back when they were the size of handbags! Every year, more and more people buy more and more of their items online, and there has never been a better chance to get in on the excitement.
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Maria Villablanca Co-Founder & CEO Future Insights Network
The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
Maria Villablanca Navigating the Complexities of Changing Business Models in Supply Chain
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he intricacies in the supply chain are increasing with each passing day; even though technological advancement and data bring additional value to the process, the skill gap keeps expanding. Organizations need diverse talent to manage the supply chain to push performance and profitability further. Having insights and information about the supply chain can provide organizations a refreshing perspective which is what Maria Villablanca delivers with her venture Future Insights Network. As the Co-founder and CEO, as well as the host of a successful podcast, Maria creates a workplace culture that inspires and motivates. She is an effective, energetic, and visionary leader who believes that “good enough” is never good enough. With her leadership at the forefront, Future Insights Network is driving manufacturing and supply chain innovation through; thought leadership, virtual workshops, live, collaborative events.
Insights Success caught up with Maria in our endeavor to find “The 10 Most influential Women in Supply Chain, 2022” We talked with her to have a deep understanding of how she is driving a transformational change by connecting supply chain leaders. Below are the highlights of the interview. Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Future Insights Network. What challenges you had to overcome to reach where you are today? I have had a long trajectory spanning multiple continents, languages, industries, and roles over my nearly 30-year career. This path has allowed me to embrace change, diversity, transformation and has provided me with an opportunity to develop agility and adaptability. My greatest teachers throughout my career have been my failures, and I am very grateful for them.
Our purpose is to inspire and enable transformational change in the world’s leading companies.
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Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision. The Future Insights Network exists to provide our network of over 80,000 senior supply chain leaders with content, connections, and a community to help them solve their burning questions. Today, more than ever, this is important in helping to build agile, resilient, and sustainable supply chains. Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Logistics & Supply Chain niche through your expertise in the market? We try to bring stories and case studies with clear and actionable advice to the industry. There is too much hype, noise, and buzz out there, and we hope that we can deliver some clarity amidst the complexity and disruption of today. We do this via the Transform Talks with Maria Villablanca podcast and our events. Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization. We strive to create a culture of agility, flexibility, learning, and diversity. As a woman-led, woman-owned business, we aim to give voices to underrepresented groups in our industry and further the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Equally, I think it’s important to ensure we create a culture where all our team feels comfortable in bringing new ideas to the table. Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful? The pandemic meant shifting our business from one where we delivered physical events to a purely digital offering. This meant learning new skills and implementing new technology, including AI, into our business. Without it, we would not have been able to weather the last 18 months successfully. Not only has this technology allowed us to grow during the pandemic, with almost triple-digit revenue and community growth, but we have been able to widen our nets to grow into new markets that were previously unavailable in their physical form.
1) to drive more diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and bring more people with different backgrounds to the industry but also 2) drive sustainable change. The pandemic has fast-tracked digital transformation. It would be great to see us develop new and more sustainable business models too. What, according to you, could be the next big change in the Supply Chain industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change? The next big change will be around digital transformation technologies and sustainability. Both will have an impact on how we define the supply chain and how businesses operate. Every single role in Supply Chain will change. I hope for the better. Our role in this new world is to continue to bring stories of positive change to the industry. Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Future Insights Network? In the long run, I hope to continue growing the business, the community, and the network to include a wider group of Supply Chain executives from the moment they start their careers in this industry until the moment they retire. I hope to continue bringing them content, connections, and a place where they can dialogue and debate the latest trends and issues. What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Supply Chain sector? Do it! There has never been a more exciting time to join the industry. I believe Supply Chain professionals can change the world!
If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the Inventory Storage & Management industry? Ideally, I would want to see two changes,
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About the Leader Ellen founded the non-profit organization, Women In Trucking Association Inc. to encourage and support women in the trucking industry. The mission is to make women aware of career opportunities and to mentor and assist them as they become more successful in their roles. Ellen's most recent position was Manager of Recruiting and Retention Programs at Schneider National, Inc. Her role included identifying issues that caused driver turnover and then promoting corporate initiatives to retain and engage drivers. FEBRUARY 2022 | 36 | www.insightssuccess.com
Leaders View Point
The Need for Compassionate Leadership during a Global Pandemic F ive years ago, you wouldn’t have seen a colleague holding a child or petting a cat during a meeting. During the pandemic, we all relied on video conferencing calls in our businesses and suddenly our work life melded into our home life. People working remotely increased from five percent to over sixty percent in response to the virus protocols. With children home from school, parents who were fortunate enough to have a job that allowed telecommuting added childcare to their daily work duties. Unfortunately, more women had jobs that couldn’t be done remotely, such as health care or in the service industries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics more women lost their jobs last year than men which also meant that women took on a greater share of the housekeeping and childcare at home. This is why the child peering into the Zoom call is becoming more common. As employers, we are learning that remote workers are not spending the day napping or watching Netflix. In fact, a survey of Fortune 500 executives found that productivity increased when employees worked from home. The commuting time disappeared, and in-person meetings were no longer common. That same study by Chandni Kazi and Claire Hastwell at “Great Places to Work,” stressed the need for strong leadership and a positive company culture as the most important factor in employee productivity. Good leaders were compassionate about their team as individuals, and not just regarding what they can contribute to the company. Being a supportive leader means smiling at the toddler on his mother’s lap during a team meeting. A compassionate leader might even use a funny cat filter to make the child laugh. As a manager, we must recognize that an employee working from home is still, well, at home! It took years for the corporate environment to be less rigid in defining office hours and allow for a more flexible workday. This extends to our virtual staff members who
must accommodate a child’s doctor visits or a parent’s nursing home needs.
A compassionate leader sees an employee as a person first, a worker second. It also means that we encourage our team to make it a priority to take care of themselves and their families. Mental health has been adversely affected by the pandemic and includes domestic violence and child abuse. The uncertainty is taking its toll on every one of us and has added to our daily stress levels.
At the Women In Trucking Association, we have always had a virtual work environment. Our team is scattered across seven states and is connected by technology. We have a results-oriented work environment, which means we don’t track hours or days and we have unlimited vacation and paid time off. One of our employees was pregnant and had a baby earlier this year and we were able to accommodate her work schedule to coincide with childcare duties for the newborn and her three other children. Another team member adopted a foster son and our flexible work environment allowed her to transition him into her home as a new family member. As long as a team member’s work is measured by what is completed, there is really no reason to monitor her hours or any of her work time. If you hire the right person who is self-motivated, you won’t need a clock to track productivity. Could someone take advantage of this type of work environment? Absolutely, but if they will steal time from you then they’re stealing other resources as well. During the past two years the world has learned to adapt to a new way of interacting and the work environment has truly changed to accommodate these changes. Add a labor crisis to a pandemic and you will learn to be a more compassionate leader. Learn to understand how you can provide your team with the best experience and they will be more loyal and productive as well.
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Marian Saad Director of IT, Technology Services, Professional Services Procurement TELUS
The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
Mariam Saad
Maximizing Profitability in Supply Chains
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he transition in the supply chain industry is near. To realize this change, it’s essential to understand the end-to-end supply base mapping and focus on sustainable efforts. Implementing several aspects in the workplace will align with the massive shift caused by the pandemic concerning global consumer mindsets towards environmental issues. Preparing for this change is Mariam Saad, a multi-lingual leader with 20 years of highly skilled experience in procurement, operations, and sales, across multiple global and national organizations in telecommunications, mining, and information technology.As the Director of IT, Technology Services, and Professional Services Procurement for TELUS, Mariam leads towards an extensive transformational initiative as the company seeks to grow and mature its capabilities. She is recognized for effectively leading and managing concurrent initiatives while consistently achieving strong results. TELUS is building a better future for all Canadians by using its technology for good and giving back to its communities. Its social purpose is at the heart of everything it does as a world-leading technology company, and TELUS continues to set itself apart to make the future friendly together. The Initiation Mariam graduated with an International Business Commerce Degree from Concordia University in Montreal, with a Minor Degree in Marketing. Following the Degree from Concordia, she then pursued a 1.5-year Leadership Certificate at the Executive McGill MBA Program.
Having worked across multiple industries, including Information Technologies, Natural Resources, and Telecommunication, she developed extensive experience in IT sales and procurement operations. Throughout her career, she focused on revenue generation, cost savings, delivery, and value creation. She took the opportunity to utilize th experience and expertise with each successive role to sharpen her focus on value generation.
Throughout Mariam's career, she faced numerous diversity and inclusiveness challenges. In her early sales career, she was the only woman amongst a team of 10 men. As a result, she constantly felt that she had to work twice as hard to prove herself. Moreover, she faced additional adversity coming from an immigrant ethnic background, which she had to overcome throughout her journey. She says, "Whether working in IT or the mining industry, there were very few women, and almost none existed as you moved up the ladder."Mariam expresses that support for women was incredibly lacking during the first few years of her career. There were no forums where women could connect, receive support or share experiences. She had many female colleagues that constantly reached out to her to share their challenges. Instead of seeing this as an obstacle, she thought about taking charge and making a difference. To that end, Mariam co-founded the first women network at her previous company and opened the first chapter in Montreal. Mariam received an overwhelming response, and people worldwide became involved asking to join the Montreal chapter. As a result, she negotiated a budget to launch 10 other local chapters worldwide. Today, Mariam enjoys mentoring young women and new immigrants to help them integrate into or succeed in their workplace.
When you're with TELUS, you're part of a network of giving.
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The Impactful Expertise Mariam expressed that sharing and collaboration are integral parts of learning and growth. At TELUS, she strives for continuous improvement and value creation, ensuring that she is constantly learning and educating herself, her team, and the business on the latest technologies. She is also sought after to speak at events such as Supply Chain Digital or round tables with Procurement Leaders, Supplier Diversity events, or within IT Summits to discuss the latest issues and trends in the IT and Digital space. She surrounds herself with a great network of colleagues, and team members, enabling learning and professional growth; she believes that giving back to her team, TELUS, network, and suppliers is a privilege and a responsibility to give back what others have done for her. Most recently, Mariam had the opportunity to speak at many events sharing her thought-leadership about the effects of the pandemic and its role in accelerating digital transformation and about Cloud transformation, evolving strategy between private, public, single, and multi-cloud vendors. Mariam is proud to be a thoughtful contributor to these critical discussions. Value-Driven Methodology Mariam states that TELUS has key pillars from a cultural evolution focused on innovation, growth, change, teamwork, and risk. TELUS drives a collaborative work environment that fosters growth and development in individual and team culture and innovative perspectives. This environment encourages team members to look for new opportunities while approaching risk-taking with an opportunistic and experimental mindset. Everyday innovation is focused on nurturing the mindset, behaviours, and environment required to inspire the courage to drive innovation to a cultural standard across all levels and value chains at TELUS. Innovative Technological Solutions With respect to leveraging technology to drive business objectives, Mariam highlted that TELUS is committed to making the future friendly by connecting Canadians through technological solutions that create value within communities and connecting with technology partners to advance the digital transformation journey.
world with communication capabilities. TELUS fosters the exchange of digitized information to help all parties operate more efficiently. Connected solutions for farm management, optimized profitability, increased efficiency, and insights. Healthcare: TELUS is streamlining health records and data, building powerful digital healthcare tools for hospitals, doctors, pharmacists, and more, to help support healthcare providers. TELUS heavily invests in virtual care to access all Canadians to receive quality care anytime and anywhere. TELUS has invested over $2.5Billion in healthcare in the last decades; it has $12Million Canadians covered by TELUS Health Benefit management solutions. Partnerships: TELUS's ecosystem of partners is crucial to Mariam. The company has built strategic partnerships, allowing it to build some of the world's fastest, highest quality networks to lead in the Healthcare Technology and Customer First approach. Over the Horizon Mariam loves her work and envisions herself constantly learning and growing in her space, helping shape and change the supply chain industry to advance it and solve real problems. She is proud to assist "feeding the world" by improving TELUS' food quality and safety by leveraging technological innovation and human compassion. She is excited to be a part of the healthcare initiative that will impact the world positively. She sees herself mentoring supply chain professionals, fostering a diversity and inclusiveness culture, and soon leading a procurement or supply chain organization. Bequeathing Budding Entrepreneurs Mariam advises up-and-coming entrepreneurs to prepare themselves for a wonderful ride. She says, "You are going to witness some of the greatest evolution in this space. We are entering the fourth industrial revolution that will challenge current ways of working and the need for some of the most pressing issues in the world. It is where entrepreneurs can use their experience and expertise to witness or drive some of the greatest changes in the supply chain space seen in several decades.”
Agriculture: TELUS is on a mission to tackle some of the most significant social challenges of the generation using technology for good and empowering growth in agriculture and feeding the world by connecting the underserved rural FEBRUARY 2022 | 40 | www.insightssuccess.com
The Need to Embrace Tech-Transformation Approach
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Innovative Forefront
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here is a wide world out there full of opportunities that test us in every part of the journey. But along with success, what follows opportunities is challenges. So, what makes this journey tolerable for companies and especially for business leaders? It is the transformation brought by technology that has changed the life of everyone and made things easier for us. The industries welcome this transformation, and even the leaders are embracing it. The implementation of innovation and technology in the workplace has created many opportunities, due to which companies and leaders were able to bring much-needed changes in their respective sectors. This shows that everything is possible - only with the right intent, knowledge, and the approach of always learning.
Circle of Transformation As they say, if you stay in one place for a long time, you become that place. That is why you need to keep updating, innovating, and re-innovating yourself continuously. Today, the drive to turn innovative in their approach has become a necessity for leaders. This journey goes through a lot of challenges, failures, and ultimately successes. But it is the experience that matters the most. Evolving according to the situations and rising in all the challenges will define you. And today, there is a dire need for businesses and leaders to leverage technological advancements to thrive in their domains.
Recently, the pandemic emphasized the need to embrace digitalization as many businesses had to go digital. The bottom line is business leaders will always have to be prepared for such unprecedented times, and technology is one of the factors that will keep you ahead of the curve. Leading Strongly A leader with diverse talent is the first choice for many companies, and it is about a matter of time that it becomes a criterion for today’s business leader. Today, many leaders are focused on building their successful business careers in the technological field. The great news is that we are building a generation of business leaders who are bringing a change to make this world a better place to live. Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, etc. are some prominent names who have brought a drastic transformation in the business world. Conclusion There are many possibilities brought by technological advancements that are yet to be explored. Finally, we can conclude by saying that by combining technology, innovation, and business acumen, business leaders will cross their paths with transformations they want to bring in this world.
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Sarah Barnes-Humphrey Leading with Perseverance and Giving Voice to Supply Chain Community
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey CEO Let’s Talk Supply Chain (LTSC)
The 10 Most Influen al Women in Supply Chain, 2022
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ince the start of the pandemic, the supply chain industry has been facing issues such as an onslaught of shortages, disruptions, and delays. But competent leaders in this industry are continuing to navigate challenges in the supply chain industry by using their knowledge and experience. Female leaders in the supply chain industry continue to emerge and make an impact in the industry with good momentum and adopting best practices. By building robust supply chains and reforming the supply chain sector, women leaders in this sector are fueling innovation in this industry. They are creating a brighter path for the success of the supply chain community. It is important for the supply chain community to communicate their message to a larger audience about their services. Through Let’s Talk Supply Chain, Sarah Barnes-Humphrey is building a platform that gives a voice to the supply chain community, sees the visual impact of diversity and inclusion, and finally creates safe spaces for everyone to feel heard. Sarah has spent the past 20 years in the logistics and supply chain industry learning everything she can. Perseverance led Sarah to become one of the top women leaders in the Supply Chain Industry. She doesn’t believe in giving up. She runs “Let’s Talk Supply Chain (LTSC),” and it is the hottest supply chain podcast on the market. She is obsessed with the supply chain and believes that “Collaboration is the future of business”, and we can all win together. Introducing Stories of Women in Supply Chain In its Let’s Talk Supply Chain Women in Supply Chain series, LTSC introduces the female leaders who are dominating the supply chain now and unleashing better, smarter outcomes. LTSC shares the obstacles these woman leaders have conquered, giant leaps of faith, and the beginnings that ultimately brought them where they are today, leading businesses across the global supply chain. Focusing on the Work that Needs to Be Done Sarah worked for the family business for 20 years, took courses online while she got hands-on experience in logistics working in operations, sales and then ultimately ended her career there as Director of Sales and Marketing. Being the oldest, she overcame jealousy from employees because she was the “Boss’ daughter”, she had trust issues as everyone she met had an agenda or wanted something from her as the “Boss’ daughter”. The ultimate challenge came from the day her father closed the doors of the business. She felt for all company’s employees and
customers. She felt so much loss, including the fact that she wanted to run the company one day, ever since she was 16, and that day was the worst day of her life. Sarah had already started the podcast and had clients counting on her, so every day thereafter, she just kept everything going. She learned social media, graphics design, website design, and editing and woke up every day by focusing on the work that needed to be done. Communicating Value Proposition of Supply Chain Brands LTSC features brands within that sector of the supply chain on the podcast, and now it is lending its platform for brands to have their own shows with a built-in audience. Sarah believes that it is very important for brands in the supply chain sector to tell their story and really communicate their value proposition for those they can help. Supply chain professionals know what is out there, and LTSC brings that to the market. Being a certified Women-Owned Supply Chain community facilitator, LTSC values diverse perspectives. Being openminded, leaning in to understand, always learning, and trusting each other to want what needs to be done for everyone’s success is how it drives the organization forward and stays innovative.
We use tech whenever and wherever it makes sense, always looking for new ways that we can support the brands in our industry to tell the best story and give the best information to our audience and our listeners.
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Being Focused on Diversity, Inclusion, and Collaboration LTSC’s Non-Profit – The Blended Pledge is working hard to see the visual impact on stages in audiences at industry conferences and in digital content, so it is very focused on Diversity and Inclusion. Through its second podcast, called the Blended Podcast, it brings 5 people from different walks of life together to talk openly and authentically about various DEI topics. LTSC is also focused on Collaboration being the future of business, bringing the players in the industry together to bring more transparency, visibility, and cohesive chain. Being Part of Change by Building Learning Platform Sarah states that organizations will be looking at where they want to have risks in their supply chain in the future. They will base their future strategies on competing on supply chains against their competitors, not just product marketing. LTSC is preparing to be part of that change by building the platform for voices to be heard so they all can learn from each other's mistakes, challenges, and successes. Sarah envisions building more, creating more, and being change agents in the industry. Staying Motivated, Flexible, and Pursuing Goals Sarah advises budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Supply Chain Industry to buckle up because she says that it is quite the ride. She suggests them to choose something that they really enjoy because she believes that success in this industry doesn’t happen overnight, and they need to overcome doubts, unwanted advice, naysayers etc. She advises them to believe and love what they are doing that will keep them motivated. Sarah herself has started and stopped many ventures from getting where she is today. She suggests budding entrepreneurs, “Stay motivated, don’t quit, take small steps toward your goal every single day and stay flexible/open minded.”
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Wendy Herrick
VP, Customer Excellence for North America Unilever
The 10 Most influential women in supply chain, 2022
Wendy Herrick An Excellent Example of "Learn-it-All" Mindset
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he trait of substantial business leaders is that they are enthusiastic about learning, growing, and enhancing their skills and abilities in all situations. They always have a learning mindset, and they transform challenges into opportunities with their positive attitude. Such attitude helps them make a significant difference in the business they are leading. Wendy Herrick is one such business leader who is always eager to learn, grow and is substantially contributing to the supply chain industry.
Wendy was recently appointed as the VP of Customer Excellence for North America at Unilever after having 3 successful years as Head of Digital Supply Chain. Wendy has had many life-changing opportunities at Unilever, all of which have played a role in shaping the leader she is today. These opportunities have influenced how she looks at challenges and obstacles. She sees challenges as beautiful opportunities in disguise. She says, "The best way to master your head (thoughts) and your heart (emotions) is through challenging situations that enable you to learn, grow and strengthen your leadership acumen.” Let's have a look at her exhilarating journey as a leader. Having a 'Learn it All' Mindset Wendy had several jobs in high school and college, which were all consumer-facing, so the learning started very early on. She was taught that the customer is always right and learned that being a manager/leader of people was a hard job but also most rewarding. Wendy's journey as a business leader started right out of college at Unilever International in Bristol, England. Since then, she has had the opportunity to work in both finance and supply chain roles and live in many different countries across the
globe. She believes in evolving from having a 'know it all' mindset to 'learn it all' mindset. Making the World a Better Place for Future Generations As one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, Unilever is driven by its purpose to make sustainable living commonplace, with an ambition to be the global leader in sustainable business, showing that our purposeled, future-fit business model delivers superior performance.. This is engrained in Unilever's culture and expressed through its 400 brands that touch the lives of over 2.5 billion consumers every day. Unilever aims to be a force for good – for people and the planet – and invites others to join it in making the world a better place for future generations to come. In its Climate Transition Action Plan it has outlined how it will achieve its commitment to zero emissions from its operations by 2030. Additionally, via its Climate Promise, it has invited suppliers to demonstrate their shared values and commitment to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint as Unilever works to achieve its stretching goal of net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2039. Leading with Self-awareness Wendy has lived and worked in many countries across the globe and taken on many stretching leadership roles. This has taught her the importance of being self-aware and motivating, inspiring, and leading the company's most valuable asset – its people. She believes this continuous learning and development of self, coupled with a servant leadership style, has enabled her to make an impact across the business.
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“Unilever aims to be a force for good – for people and the planet – and invite others to join it in making the world a better place for future generations to come.” Being a Purpose-Driven Company Wendy proudly mentions that Unilever's values of integrity, respect, responsibility, and pioneering are the simplest statement of who they all are at Unilever. These shared values live in everything Unilever does. As Wendy mentioned earlier, Unilever is a purposedriven company. Purpose starts at the top with Alan Jope and permeates throughout the organization. Every employee has a personal purpose statement that guides them on their work/life journey. Wendy's purpose "to inspire people to live, love, laugh and leave a legacy" has guided her throughout her career. Making Sustainable Living Commonplace Unilever's supply chain is at the heart of the business of making sustainable living commonplace, which fits well with Wendy's personal purpose. Imagine being a part of this headline "Unilever changes the negative trajectory of our climate crisis - The world is safe for generations to come." That's a legacy Wendy wants to be part of !
Responding to Consumer Demands Sustainably and Cost-Effectively Wendy has experienced first hand how in today's world consumers have become accustomed to receiving any desired good within a few days, or even hours. Supply chains are having to reinvent themselves. Unilever is working towards "making today what it sold yesterday", in order to be able to respond to customer and consumer demands in the most sustainable and cost-effective way. The disruption the global pandemic brought confirmed Unilever's belief that agility is critical. Mark Engel, Unilever's Chief Supply Chain officer, has driven strategies where "Agility trumps forecasting''. Unilever has also had to make some key investments to enable end to end synchronization through digital transformation programs. Through its Digital Twins, it drives cognitive automation, leading to smarter, faster decisions. And of course, the company must invest in its most important asset, its people, by upskilling its talent and building digital fluency across the organization. Unilever is consistently improving its Supply Chain agility to build capacity intelligently in its eco-system and focus on changing consumer needs and channel shifts. Finally, Unilever must ensure it nurtures an ecosystem of partners so that it innovates and builds resilient solutions to win in the marketplace and achieve its vision of making sustainable living commonplace. Most Succinct Advice to Aspirant Entrepreneurs in Supply Chain In conclusion, Wendy imparts some excellent pieces of advice to emerging entrepreneurs: · Supply Chain sits at the heart of the business – the place to be · Approach everything you do with Passion and Purpose. · Understand the shadow you cast—Self Awareness. · Embrace Diversity and Value Inclusion. · Seize Opportunities that help you achieve your life's ambitions. - Above all, always hold true to your Core Values.
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