Meet TWISB Lifetime Achievement Award Winner | Paula Klassen
Paula Klassen, Vice President, Food Safety and Quality; TreeHouse Foods
“I’m in the longest summer job ever!” says Top Women in Storebrands Lifetime Achievement Award winner Paula Klassen when asked how she got started in her career. After grad school was finished, she considered becoming a high school teacher. With her degrees in Environmental Biology and Education, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) subjects and getting more girls involved have always been a passion. But, she wasn’t sure that academia was the right path. That’s when she got a little nudge from fate. A good friend who worked in the lab at ED Smith said they were short on summer help and asked Paula if she wanted to take a job for the summer. “I said sure I’ll come in and help as long as I can. I didn’t even meet my boss.” That was 31 years ago.
That summer job in the lab started Paula down an impressive career path at TreeHouse Foods. While the private label industry wasn’t initially on her radar, she loves being a part of the vibrant industry. “Traditionally, the perception was that store brands were sub-standard. I love being a part of correcting that perception,” says Paula. “We are very premium. It’s exciting seeing the growth of private label and when something we produce is a preferred brand for a customer.”
As Vice President, Food Safety and Quality, at TreeHouse, Paula has the opportunity to marry her excitement for private label excellence and for being a role model for women in science-based careers. “Over my 31-year career, I don’t think I’ve ever reported to a woman. That’s pretty telling.” She has seen a shift in the gender balance within Food Safety and Quality. On her own team, the balance is the opposite with primarily women in food safety leadership positions reporting to her. “I’m seeing women being more comfortable and confident in these type of roles. Before, I was an exception in my role. That’s not the case anymore.”
Though Paula might not think she’s an exception in her role as a female, her colleagues believe she is as a performer. In her nomination form, she is described as a leader, a coach and a mentor across functional teams. “I didn’t know I was nominated,” says Paula. “When my boss called me a month ago and told me they had nominated me, that was pretty flattering. I had only been reporting to him and in this VP role for about three months.” Paula gives a lot of credit to the people around her in supporting her career achievements. “I had a lot of great partners and collaborators, not just in Food Safety, but also in other functions like Operations, Engineering, HR, Finance and IT. They continue to teach me every day.” she muses.
While Paula found her career path in a bit of a roundabout way, she encourages other women to seek out the challenges in Food Safety and Quality. It’s a balance of pragmatic thinking, problem solving and adding resources into systems that challenge her and keep her in this type of role. When asked what makes one successful as a leader in the role, Paula offers some sage advice. “Have a ‘yes’ attitude,” she says enthusiastically. “Show that you want to learn more and you want to be involved. Don’t be afraid to insert yourself and don’t decline offers to be more involved,” she adds. Paula also believes that emotional intelligence is key to building teams and trust. “A lot of successful leading is listening and understanding people’s perspective. Empathy can go a long way,” Paula affirms. Winning and earning trust she believes has been pivotal to a transition within her company where quality is not as much seen as a function that is policing processes, but rather as being a partner in a successful organization. And, finally she acknowledges that for women, finding a work-life balance can be a bit more of a struggle. “Having raised a family and still having a teenager at home, sometimes you need help and have to ask for it,” she states. “I was lucky to have outside support and that was important in filling my professional goals and still staying grounded in my home life.”
With 31 years in the private label brands under her belt, Paula is still excited about the trajectory of the in the industry. “I love the ongoing shift of private label dominating in store over national brands and there’s still so much opportunity to grow,” she states. She’s fascinated with the snacking trend right now and how companies can meet the definition of “healthy snacks” for consumers. She is also flexing her STEM muscle in figuring out how to better leverage technology options to error proof safety. She’s searching for more ways to leverage digitization for front line employees and aspires to going paperless on the factory and warehouse floors. She also believes this generation of frontline employees is more comfortable than ever with tools like Ipads and cell phones that will facilitate data collection and allow teams to be more predictive.
When summing up how she views her career and the award she just received, she is very humble about the recognition. “A Lifetime Achievement Award seems like a pretty big deal for what seems to have gone by so quickly,” she confesses. “I’m super honored and grateful for the recognition. Like I said, longest (and best) summer job ever!”