Mentee Spotlight: Sarah Shebesta

Sarah Shebesta works as the commercialization manager at Shearer’s Snacks, leading projects to launch new items through their stage-gate process. “It’s a great role because we get to work directly with the customers and then work closely with the internal teams and plant teams to bring great ideas to life,” she explains. Sarah feels that her experience in the Mentor Circle has helped to expand the way she thinks on a variety of topics and to gain new tools and tactics to increase her own knowledge. She adds, “I really enjoyed reviewing the articles (podcasts and books) recommended by the group and then hearing everyone’s take on the topic. Sometimes it was reassurance that I wasn’t the only one seeing it that way, and sometimes it was an opportunity to see things from a new perspective and broaden my understanding.”

In her free time, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, particularly cheering them on from the sidelines of a soccer field. She also participates in the Ohio Hope Ride each year, biking more than 300 miles in four days to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

The Mentor Circle program is fortunate that Sarah has offered to lead a mentor group in 2019!

Record Breaking Attendance at 2018 WISE Annual Meeting

The 2018 WISE Annual Meeting drew nearly 400 attendees on November 11 at the Hyatt Regency Rosemont, IL. WISE members, partner companies, and university students and advisors filled the Grand Ballroom to kick off their PLMA trade show participation.

“The WISE Annual Meeting demonstrates to our members, partner companies, and guests how the WISE board of directors, speakers and volunteers work together to provide a meaningful program with the goal to impact gender diversity and to advance women in the store brand industry,” said Peggy Davies, WISE Board Chair. “We are honored that hundreds of people choose to join us during a weekend with so many time demands.”

Attendees were challenged to face their fears and initiate steps forward to completing a goal by featured speaker Judi Holler in her presentation Fear Is My Homeboy®: How To Get Brave and Start Taking Action. Judi demonstrated how her background in stand-up comedy challenged her to be more courageous in her personal and professional life.

An annual highlight of the meeting, WISE and Storebrands magazine recognized the 2018 Top Women in Storebrands. This year, nine outstanding women leaders in store brands received an award and were recognized by their peers in short, personal videos. Nancy Cota, Albertsons Companies and Kim Giryluk, Lassonde Pappas received LifeTime Achievement awards for their contributions to industry.

The WISE Board would like to thank each sponsor, attendee and volunteer for their support in making the Annual Meeting bigger and better each year. We hope to see all of you back in 2019!

Last Chance to Register for December Webinar: Breaking Through Gender Bias

Join us Wednesday December 12 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm CST for an informative and lively discussion with Andie Kramer and Al Harris, authors of the bestselling book Breaking Through Bias: Communication Techniques for Women to Succeed at Work (2016). Andie and Al are a married couple, former law partners, and champions of gender equality in the workplace. This discussion will draw on their extensive professional and business experience and the benefit of their combined female and male perspectives to provide you with realistic, detailed, and readily usable advice. They approach the topic of gender and career success with a blend of compassion, candor, and practicality.  Click here to register.  

Learning Objectives:

New Appointments to WISE Board of Directors

WISE was pleased to announce at the WISE Annual Meeting the nominations of four new members to its Board of Directors.

“The WISE Board is delighted to welcome these new members who represent the best of the best in the store brand industry. In addition to complementing the strengths of our current Board, each new member brings a wealth of leadership experience, industry expertise, and new perspectives to the WISE mission,” says Peggy Davies, Chair, Board of Directors for WISE. “Our new board members are committed to the expansion of diversity in store brands and are eager to lead WISE initiatives that advance careers through strategic professional development programs.”

Joining the WISE Board today

Nancy Cota, Vice President of Own Brands, product management, innovation, and brand management – Albertsons Companies

Susan Hunsaker, Senior Director Client Growth and Strategy – Daymon

Jac Ross, VP, Private Brands Innovation – Retail Business Services, an Ahold Delhaize USA Company

Luci Sheehan, Principal – Strategic Sales & Marketing Initiatives LLC

Continuing service with the WISE Board of Directors

Peggy Davies, VP Association Relations – PLMA, WISE Board Chair

Laura Fezouati, Sr. Director of Consumer Marketing – C.H. Guenther & Son, WISE Board-1^st Vice Chair

Kathy Elkey, Vice President of Sales – TreeHouse Foods, Inc.

Judy Clark, Senior Vice President, Sales – Bay Valley Foods, LLC, A TreeHouse Foods, Inc. Company, WISE Talent Development Committee Chair

Lori Miller Burns, Director of Marketing Relations and Communications – Arylessence, Inc., co-chair WISE Marketing Communications committee

Jen Linke, Vice President of Brand Management – Federated Group, accepts the role of Second Vice-Chair for her upcoming renewed WISE board term.

Outgoing board members

WISE would like to thank outgoing board members – Audrey Jakel Hlavin, Ann Tuohey, and Greg Baskin – for their many years of dedication and energy to the WISE mission.

“WISE is looking forward to another successful year of supporting our partners and members in the areas of diversity insights and resources, enhanced professional development education, strategic networks, and collaboration to diversify and energize store brands,” added Davies.

 

Christine Bellamo Awarded WISE Volunteer of the Year

Christine Bellamo, National Sales Manager for Dairy and Frozen for Daymon, received the WISE Volunteer of the Year Award on November 11 at the WISE Annual Meeting. The award is presented to a volunteer who has given an outstanding amount of time to the organization, and has worked tirelessly to promote the WISE mission.

“Christine is so deserving of the Volunteer of the Year Award!” exclaimed Events Committee Co-Chair Kara Miencier, Paramount Roasters. “Every single year at the Annual Meeting, she is one of the first to arrive and start helping, and this year was no different. She just gets things done, and does it with grace and a positive attitude. She’s invaluable to our committee.”

Christine Bellamo is the National Sales Manager – Dairy & Frozen for Daymon.  Chris joined Daymon in June of 2009 after spending 18 years at The Dannon Company in various Sales & Marketing leadership roles.  Chris’s primary responsibilities at Daymon are focused on managing client relationships and expanding their business base in the Food, Drug, Mass and Specialty channels of trade. Her primary focus is on the development of the strategies and tactics to drive own brand category share utilizing best-in-class insights, global trend spotting, brand intelligence, and category expertise for the clients she services.

Chris started volunteering for the WISE Event Committee the 1^st year that WISE began. “I got involved with WISE because I was very motivated by the strategy that Peggy Davies shared during the 1^st WISE luncheon held at PLMA,” said Chris. “I felt that the WISE organization would provide me with skills in the areas of leadership development and with inspirational support and advice to transform our industry.”

Chris doesn’t plan to stop volunteering anytime soon.  “Volunteering for WISE has increased my self-confidence and provided me with a sense of purpose!” she declared. “Volunteering helped me to reduce stress, find friends, learn new skills, and even advance my career.”  She added that volunteering has broadened her support network and exposed her to people with common interests, resources, and fun and fulfilling activities.

When asked about winning the  WISE Volunteer of theYear Award, Chris said that it was an honor and an absolute privilege to be recognized among such successful business women. “Personally, it means that I am on the right path,” she said.  “That following my heart does work, that doing what I love, what I am passionate about … works. Professionally, it means I can connect with more people on a bigger scale, help more people, create positive change on a bigger scale, grow WISE.”

In keeping with the Brave Annual Meeting theme, Chris advises fellow women in private label careers to learn to look at ‘fear’ as a stepping stone towards success rather than a reason to give up. “[It] will help you far more in the long run,” she added.

Chris balances her accomplished professional life with several outside passions, which she pursues with the same degree of depth and vigor that she does in her day-to-day responsibilities.  Chris enjoys reading, traveling, entertaining and spending quality time with her family, most especially her husband and best friend of 30 years.