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 1st year that WISE began. “I got involved with WISE because I was very motivated by the strategy that Peggy Davies shared during the 1st 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.
