May 4, 2025 • 33 mins
Anne Feder, Senior Vice President of Client Growth and Product with eGrocery, shares her journey from psychology grad to grocery tech leader and how she balances career ambitions with motherhood of three children.
• Managing client services from implementation to day-to-day operations for eGrocery's white-label SaaS platform
• Starting in mortgage banking during a recession before moving through automotive, pharmaceutical, CPG and eventually grocery tech
• Taking a three-year career break to be a stay-at-home mom before gradually returning to the workforce
• Finding passion in grocery during the pandemic by seeing how e-commerce technology helped essential workers serve communities safely
• Setting firm boundaries and asking for help to balance professional responsibilities with family priorities
• Addressing women's leadership challenges including data bias and the tendency to over-internalize negative feedback
• Emphasizing the importance of representation through organizations like Women Grocers of America
• Advocating for e-commerce as essential for independent grocers: "It's like putting on your tennis shoes to play basketball"
• Seeing opportunity for independent grocers to reclaim market share through community connection and technological innovation
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Host: Kristin Popp
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Grocery From Her Seat.
The WGA podcast, offering aunique perspective as seen
through the eyes of remarkablewomen who shape and lead in the
independent grocery industry.
Your host, Kristen Popp,president of WGA, will bring you
exclusive stories and insightsfrom the women serving our
industry, From presidents toCEOs, to entrepreneurs and
(00:22):
students.
This podcast is your source ofinformation.
Now listen, take notes andwelcome Kristen Popp.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I am your host, Kristen Popp, and today I have
the opportunity to chat withAnne Fetter, Senior Vice
President of Client Growth andProduct with eGrocery.
Welcome to Grocery from yourSeat, Anne, and thank you so
much for sharing your time withus today.
So I touched on your title, butcan you kind of dive into
within your organization whatthat actually means, kind of
what your day-to-day andresponsibilities are?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, absolutely so.
At eGrocery I am responsibleessentially for any interaction
any of our retailers or theirshoppers might have with
eGrocery.
My team leads client services,which is everything from the
implementation, you know, theonboarding of the technical side
of our business to theday-to-day operations and then
(01:14):
certainly the promotion andgrowth of our platform for our
retailers as a white label SaaSprovider for them, the product
part of my job.
I am very closely listening tothe voice of our retailers and
their shoppers, that true voiceof customer, to influence what
it is we do for the developmentand enhancement of our product.
We keep a pretty balanced setof activities within our
platform we try and do.
60 percent of our time isdedicated to strategic, 40
percent is market demand andthen we have a small portion of
(01:37):
our schedule broken out forretailer specific requests and
then anything that's like abreak fix or a maintenance need
up, systems upgrade.
So we work really closely withour customers to make sure that
not only our vision and strategyfor our organization meets what
we want to do as a business,but also that what we're doing
makes sense for our end user,and I think that's what's really
led to a lot of the successwe've had here is keeping that
(01:59):
front and center as we gothrough our development roadmap
planning.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, in e-commerce, especially coming out of the
pandemic, you know, it heightensso much during that time and
then it's continued forconvenience or whatever that
customer has top of mind orgoing on in their personal life.
And as you relatively recentlyjoined the grocery industry, can
you share that with us and howyou've arrived where you are
today?
Speaker 3 (02:23):
I actually think I have kind of an interesting
journey, starting out, just youknow, in college my degree is in
psychology, so my intention wasalways to do something where I
could make a difference forpeople in their day-to-day lives
that really matters to me andfacilitating the processes that
get people there, becausethere's so much information that
you need to be successful.
When I came out of college I'ma millennial I walked into a
recession, took the only job Icould get in Detroit, which was
(02:45):
working as a mortgage loanofficer at Quicken Loans, and
let me tell you, little22-year-old Ann had no business
trying to tell people how tofinance their homes, but it was
a really cool learningexperience.
I talked to so many peopleacross the country trying to get
mortgages and learning thesales side of the business in
(03:06):
terms of how do I convincesomebody to trust me, how do I
give them an elevator pitch, howdo I ARP, how do I ARC, how do
I follow up on a leadsuccessfully.
I did all of those things and Iwill tell you I was not a good
mortgage banker, but I had somany at-bats because of how good
of a lead flow that company hasand their training that they
have that.
It was really one of the mostbeneficial things I think I
(03:28):
could have done coming out ofschool if it wasn't an
internship or something likethat, and then from there, you
know, I just continued to growmy network.
I got kind of lucky to meet somecool people in the Detroit area
that were just very intomeetups at the time or I think
they used to call them tweet-upsback in the day and so I
started doing these networkingorganization things, and, as I
(03:49):
kind of made my way through thebeginnings of my career, which
was financial, I met people whoworked in marketing, and when I
met people who worked inmarketing, I started doing
experiential marketing for alocal firm that worked for Ford,
and then I just started meetingmore and more people.
I worked for Ford, and then Ijust started meeting more and
more people, and as I kind ofwent through that role which
experiential marketing is cool,but I'm not really about doing
(04:09):
these installments, you know,across the country I did like
the technical deployment side ofit, though, which was how do
you administer these things?
How do you create drive routes?
One of the tours I did wastaking the F-150 when they first
put it on an aluminum bodyacross the country.
So how do I find the customer?
How do I get the truck to them?
How do I make sure someonemakes it through a Nebraska
(04:31):
snowstorm, all of those thingsthat went along with it.
And through that opportunity Imoved to another project with
Ford that was incrediblytechnically heavy, that had a
global survey portion of it, ithad a back-end portal, it had a
front-end customer-facingexperience.
But it also tied in mybackground in psychology, which
was the program really focusedaround making your experience as
a dealership employee the best,because if you had really
(04:54):
satisfied employees, you'd havereally satisfied customers and
those customers would keepcoming back over and over again.
So it kind of blended mynatural love of technology,
which I've always been theperson in my family that's like
can you help me set up my newphone or connect my printer?
That's always been who I am.
And then I got this really coolopportunity to work with a
program that took technology toreach everybody, nationally and
(05:15):
then eventually globally over inEurope and Asia Pacific and
everything, and blend the twotogether.
And then from there I just keptfinding opportunities that
pushed my boundaries.
I'd master something and I'deither look internally to grow
my role or I'd find my nextopportunity, and I did that
repeatedly across industry.
So I've worked in automotive asa Detroit native, I think most
(05:36):
people here have and then Iworked in pharmaceutical and
then I worked in CPG with Keurig, green Mountain, coca-cola,
frito-lay, pepsico.
I took a brief stop at MarsAgency well before they sold to
Publicis recently.
I was doing shopper marketingthere and then I found my way
over to a little company calledDialogue Direct and Dialogue
(05:57):
Direct is much larger now butfor them I did a whole host of I
call it omni-channel marketingsolutions.
But it was standing up theentire tech stack, using
platforms like NetSuite orTeradata to do lead flow
manipulation, call centerservicing, special order
fulfillment out of warehouses,all kinds of things across many
different verticals insurance,cpg again, automotive again but
(06:19):
this really blending thesereally big, complex problems and
solutions into one system.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And that's actually how.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I met our CEO, pat Hughes.
He ended up leaving rightbefore I had my first baby and
when I had my oldest daughter,samantha, I didn't come back.
I decided to be a stay-at-homemom for a while.
So it kind of took a pause, youknow, and I was nervous about
that.
I've been so career-driven andfocused for so long.
And then, you know, I just hadthis sweet little baby and I
couldn't bring myself to leaveher.
So I stayed home for threeyears and then, slowly as ever,
(06:48):
I had my second, my little guyTeddy.
I started doing consulting workand eventually Pat had an
opportunity that he thought I'dbe a great fit for, and that was
e-grocery.
And when I came into e-groceryI kind of dipped my toes in the
water part time and worked myway out back into a full time
solution where I've optimizedand grown Team Grow, which is
(07:08):
our consultative group ofproject managers, and I've taken
on product as well, and I had athird baby in the mix of all of
that.
So yeah, it's kind of been ajourney.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Just so many things to call out there.
I mean it's very inspiring tohear you tell your story and
your path and how you've gotten.
It's very inspiring to hear youtell your story and your path
and how you've gotten.
I love how you start off withlittle 20 or two year old, had
no business selling mortgages,but really learn the ins and
outs of everything, it seemslike in every role that you've
had up to where you are today.
(07:38):
So what a what an experience.
Very inspiring to hear that youtook a break and kudos to you
for that.
I commend that.
It is when you're career driven, to step away again outside of
your comfort zone, and what doesthat mean and what does that
look like.
But I applaud you for that.
Pat, your CEO reaches out toyou, gives you this opportunity.
Is there anything?
(07:58):
Was it him that drove you intogrocery?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Honestly, I liked working with Pat was probably
the first step where I wanted tostart working again, but I
wasn't sure how I was going togo about doing it.
And in talking to Pat, you know, and having worked with him
previously, I had comfort andconfidence that I would get a
level of support starting backin a corporate position.
I was very open with him about,you know, what I was looking to
(08:20):
do in terms of not being fulltime yet, and they really
supported me.
I don't know that I wasinterested in grocery
specifically.
I'm always interested insomething which is like a pro
and a con of who I am as aperson.
That kind of had to hone in.
So coming into grocery wasn'tnecessarily my goal.
I just like learning new thingsand I think people hear me talk
about e-grocery now and they'relike, wow, she's really
(08:41):
passionate about e-grocery.
Well, it's not that I'mpassionate just about e-grocery.
I've worked with a lot oftechnology and we do something
really, really well that servesa what I think is kind of an
underserved market in theindependent grocer space in a
way that is beneficial to ourretailers.
And there's so much goodbusiness to be done in this
world.
When you do good by people, youknow like you don't need to be
(09:04):
unscrupulous or unfairly pricedor anything like that to really
create a great relationshipwhere everybody's growing and
everybody's achieving that andwe have this really beautiful
marriage of business and clientservice where everybody seems to
get the benefit out of it.
So I kind of learned to lovegrocery.
You know, I started in 2020with the pandemic and you're
(09:26):
taking a look around and I'vegot these two little kids at the
time I had a four and a twoyear old and I'm going out
trying to do the groceryshopping, you know, in those big
two week spreads, like theythey had told us all to do at
the time, and you're justwatching the world go around.
And when I got involved ingrocery at the time, I was like
wow, like what I'm doing isreally helping people.
These grocery employees are ableto still sell groceries, still
(09:48):
have a job, still serve as acustomer.
People can get what they needbecause it is an essential
industry, but they're reducingthe risk and exposure to
everybody.
They're optimizing things.
They're genuinely making itbetter through this technology
and that's the part that I'mpassionate about helping people
and serving people in a way thatis really, really meaningful
and essential to their everydaylives.
(10:09):
You can't replace anindependent grocer, you cannot
replace the people that work ingrocery stores, and I'm so glad
to service those people.
It's doing something much moremeaningful, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
No, 100%, and I think well, kind of full circle right
With your degree in psychologyand you're coming back to how
can you really help others andhelp people in whatever capacity
they need that.
But you talk about theindependent grocery thing coming
out of the pandemic.
It did give us a little bitmore identifiable value in what
we do, but I think it issomewhat taken for granted
sometimes too.
(10:40):
The independent grocer, thelocal, the heart of the
community, everything that we'rethere.
So I appreciate somewhat whatyou're saying and your passion
absolutely shines through and itall ties together in what led
you to where you are today and Ithink that's an all inclusive
passion around the technology,the service that you're
providing, the end user thatyou're helping in some capacity.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
You know, not starting in grocery and being
newer to the industry, your CEOgave you, has given you some
insights on how to help navigate.
But is there anybody else thathas helped you navigate the
industry or help you understandthings that maybe you weren't as
fully aware of or didn't havethat knowledge on?
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah, I mean, I mean.
So what's saying with any ofthe grocery world?
You know, john Schelsky is ourCEO here and he didn't start in
grocery either, but he had awonderful background in
consulting and he is somebodywho has such a wonderful
attention to detail.
Without his ability to dive inand understand things at the
level that he does first, andthen to share that information
(11:41):
and train that with me, like I,I would be struggling.
There are times where I'm stillI call him and I just, you know
, sanity check things.
He's a wonderful help.
And then soon, networking eventsand getting to know different
vendor retailers.
We're always looking to buildpartnerships, ok, but they're
not necessarily like a directpartnerships in terms of, like,
(12:02):
I'm going to integrate with youand we're going to resell this
or whatever.
It's just partnerships andknowing people.
So in getting to know the othervendors in the industry, I've
gotten to know more and moreabout how this all works.
And that was, you know, I think, when I did NGA the first year
two years ago and I wasinterviewed by Lasia.
She said you know, what do youlike most about getting to NGA
(12:22):
as your first time here?
And I said you know, it's thechance to get to see everybody
face to face and say thank you.
And it really is that because Iknow a lot about technology.
I didn't know a lot about howthis would all directly impact
our grocers downstream, butthrough technology I've gotten
to know data vendors, especiallybecause I work heavily in data
(12:44):
with what we do at e-commerce.
I've gotten to know people atVR Data, truno, rds, a few
people at NCR just across thecountry, knowing them and
knowing how these solutions work, great data all that kind of
stuff has been great.
And then getting to knowretailers.
We're always looking to growand always looking for an
opportunity, but beyond that,when I get to meet a group of
(13:05):
retailers and hear their storyand about how they came to where
they are whether it's a largeorganization or even just a
single source or a couple ofstores there's a lot to learn in
having those conversations andpeople are really willing to
share that information if you'rewilling to listen.
And so I've really focused ontalking to those people and
learning from what they've doneand what their struggles are to
(13:28):
figure out what the rightsolution is for them.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Looking at your career as a whole to date, what
are some of the key achievementsor milestones that you are most
proud of?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I'm proud of how much you know I've done at eGrocery
to streamline and onboard, orstreamline our onboarding
services.
Really, you know, when I beganour process was much longer.
I'm proud of my team certainlyas well.
I don't think there's a betterteam in the industry that does
client services and that'scertainly taken a lot of effort
to build up.
There's a number of awards I'vewon over the years.
(13:59):
When I was with Ford I was awinner of a gold award for
service provider of the year.
You know I don't I'm alwayslooking for the next thing to do
that Sometimes I don't pause toreflect, so I'm having a hard
time answering that question.
I don't know.
I'm also proud of myself fortaking a pause when I was a stay
at home mom.
That was scary, from this bigcareer trajectory to just being
(14:21):
with this little baby and theydon't give you a lot of positive
reinforcement when they're tinyright All you get is that their
weight went up right.
So I went from like from you cansee your account growing and
you know your clients are happyto.
You know, is this child meetingtheir developmental milestones?
It was a big change and Istruggled with it.
In the beginning.
(14:41):
I just wanted to make sure thatI did good by her, and then I
got used to it and coming backwith another one too.
I think every time you make oneof those shifts having the
courage to say I've done what Ican here, where's my opportunity
for growth?
And taking the leap into thenext position that takes a lot
of courage and I think I'm mostproud of myself for being brave
enough to do that.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
A hundred of myself for being brave enough to do
that 100%.
It takes a lot of courage, butI think you've definitely shown
that it benefits for you,although it probably doesn't
make it any less intimidatingalong the way.
Right, can we talk about yourrole as a mother, a wife, a
professional?
And I say, how do you findbalance?
Loosely, because I don't thinkthere is any.
Just me personally.
I think you have to find whatworks for you, but how do you
(15:26):
maintain all of those roles?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
That is a evolving answer.
I think that was one of thefirst things I said to you when
we met the first time.
I was like I feel so apologeticsometimes because I'm at
capacity and I just don't feellike I can do all the things
that I want to do, and it's just.
I look at you, kristen, andthis is not a total brown noser
moment, but you do a lot rightand I know you have children and
(15:48):
a family of your own and I'mjust.
How do you get everywhere youneed to be and serve all the
different roles that you have?
And I think we all strugglewith that to your point.
Sometimes it's as simple assetting a firm boundary.
You know, if I know that mykids have their spring concert,
I put that on my calendar andit's blocked out and I tell my
teams and I say you guys, from 4to 8 pm on you know, april,
(16:11):
whatever I am not available andI am full gear, loving every
minute of these kids singing offkey and doing their dances
Right With work.
What I think is actually reallynice about working in technology
is my schedule can be somewhatflexible.
Is actually really nice aboutworking in technology is my
schedule can be somewhatflexible.
I have to be available asneeded, certainly, but I can
schedule meetings essentiallyglobally because we work with
global teams, both at eGroceryand across our partners that
(16:34):
meet my needs basically.
So if I have to step away at4.30 to start dinner, I know
that I can pick back up at 7o'clock.
If I need to take a later startto the day, I know I can work
into the evening, and thosethings can be tricky too,
because sometimes it feels likeyour day never ends.
But it's really just findingthose boundaries and I think
(16:54):
that's almost an exercise inconfidence.
If you lack confidence to knowthat you've done your best or
you are doing your best, I thinkthat's when imposter syndrome
creeps in and you start to worrylike am I doing enough?
Am I competitive enough?
Am I going to keep this role,all those things.
But when you're confident, youcan say I truly have done what I
(17:14):
can for this day and I'm goingto pick it up tomorrow.
The other part is asking forhelp and that's something I have
to say I've worked very closelywith my husband on, because I
am a fiercely independent person.
So I've really had to say likewe have three games this weekend
and a parent teacher conference.
(17:34):
How are we going to tackle thisand then be willing to wait for
their response to balance theload of parenthood?
Certainly you know as a wife,between my husband and I we
schedule time.
You know I was so resistant tothat in the beginning to say
like we have to schedule ourdate nights or we've got to look
ahead, but if you're not makinga priority it doesn't make it
(17:54):
onto the calendar.
So we've really had to work atthat.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I remember our conversation that we had when
you and I first met and you didask me that question how do you
balance it all?
How do you do it all?
And it looks different for eachof us and we have to find what
works for us individually and beconfident and comfortable that
that's okay.
What mine looks like and whatyours looks like are different.
That's not bad.
(18:18):
It's what works for each of usindependently.
And asking for help, I mean yeah, I can't shout that out loud
enough I think sometimes there'sno superhero power right.
Asking for help is okay.
You want to be intentional withyour time.
That's the way I look at it.
So, like you said, when you goto those concerts and the
(18:41):
off-key singing and the dancing,I wouldn't miss it for the
world, and my kids know that Iam there for them and I always
will be.
But they also know and thoseare real conversations I also
have a career and when I'm there, I have to be there.
You and I may have similaritiesand we can talk about ideas and
things that we do and we maytake nuggets of information, but
at the end of the day, you dowhat works best for you.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
To your point, like when I'm at work.
I'm at work, you know when I'm,especially when I'm traveling.
You know mom, mom can't bethere, but you know I hear my
daughter play and she's veryinto her American Girl doll
right now and hair accessories,and so her friends were over for
her birthday party not too longago and they were playing hair
salon, but it wasn't like theywere just doing hair.
One of them was the accountant,one of them was booking
(19:21):
appointments.
Of them was the accountant, oneof them was booking
appointments.
The other one was checkingcustomer satisfaction, so like
you hear, these are threedifferent girls, you know and
they're going through it andyou're like that's really cool
to hear.
And my kids pick up on thesethings.
You know Sam and Ted, my twoolder ones.
They have a Play Fancy Nancytelephone like old school rotary
dial and they'll put it on thetable between them sometimes and
(19:42):
they'll pretend that they'rehaving meetings.
So it's also a really goodexample, as hard as it can be.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
They must be watching mom often.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah Well, my husband and I both work from home, so I
think they have two pretty goodrole models to look at.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
There you go.
That's really cool to hear howthey've taken that and applied
it and how they can role playwith that.
We talk about work-life balanceand what that looks like, but
what other challenges inleadership maybe specifically
with females do you see intoday's environment?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
You know, I would say that there's two things
basically data bias and how itpresents to women.
I think a big part of thereason why I personally don't
land a message the way I want toall the time, as I'm doing
presentations, is because I'mnot speaking the language of men
as it's traditionally spoken,with numbers and that sort of
thing, and so I'm activelyworking to understand what that
(20:29):
looks like from a woman'sperspective and how to translate
that.
So I'm communicating to allaudiences because at the end of
the day, man, woman, it doesn'tmatter, it's got to make sense.
So I'm working on that.
But I think there's a realdifference in the way that it's
kind of feels like a stereotypeto say it, but like it's
intuitive, versus very black andwhite analytical numbers.
(20:52):
You know, I know things becauseI just feel like I know them,
whereas other people need to seethe hard math behind it.
So I'm trying to bridge thatgap, to make sure that I can
explain myself entirely From awoman in management perspective
and this is with differentpeople that I know in the
industry too is, I think thatwomen struggle more, like if one
person says to you that youdidn't do a good job or that the
way you manage them wasineffective.
(21:12):
Women hear that and theyinternalize it and they're like,
oh my gosh, I'm awful.
This person thinks I was amicromanager.
This person didn't enjoyworking with me.
And there has to be a thickerskin for management, because
there is a difference betweentaking a constructive piece of
feedback, hearing it anddeciding what you're going to do
with it, and there's anotherpiece of just hearing general
(21:32):
feedback and saying that thatdefines you because one person
said it and it's something thatwe all have to work on.
At some point you get to decidein your career the feedback
that's worth taking and thefeedback that would just miss
the mark, and how are you goingto move forward from there?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That is such an excellent point on letting
something define you, sometimesletting it shut us down Great
call-outs there.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Just shifting a little bit, Anne.
In your opinion, you'verecently become involved
somewhat with the Women Grocersof America and that organization
, but what role do you feelorganizations like that or
similar ones have in theindustry and how will that
impact our future Sure?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
You know, I think I actually just had one of the
parents on my daughter's soccerteam was able to attend an event
where they're talking about theOlympics and the shaping of
women's sports, ok, and what itmeans to see women in those
positions, and one of thecomments that came out of it was
if you can't see it, you can'tbe it.
You know like you can't imagineyourself there.
So when you're with a grouplike the WGA and you get to see
(22:39):
a woman and Christian, you'rethe president.
So it's going to again soundlike brown nosing, but when I
see someone like you, whodoesn't feel that different from
me, it gives me a hope that Ican achieve those same things.
But also as a leader outside ofthat, for the much larger group
is inspiring.
And so I think when you seethose people, when they're
willing to share theirinformation in a way that's not
(23:01):
like it's not tied to the nutsand bolts of us doing business,
it's just intended to inform andelevate us all, because I think
I really do believe when we all, when someone succeeds, we all
succeed, right, like thatmatters.
So it's really, reallyimportant to speak with people
who aren't going to look at youand you know, kristen, when I
looked at you I said how do youbalance all of this?
You didn't say, oh poor Ann,she's got so much going on.
(23:24):
You said, no, this is a realissue and let me tell you it's
got cycles to it.
You know, we're here, we'rethere, we're everywhere and we
all just do what's best for us.
And I think that's so importantto hear from people in
positions of authority that aresimilar in background, so that
you feel the confidence toachieve similar things.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
If you can't see it, you can't be it, and so also get
very excited about gettingstudents at universities
involved in things that we do,because the future of our
industry relies on it.
Right, if we can't bring inindividuals to help us form the
next, where do we go?
And to be able to bring astudent into a room you know
with individuals like yourselfand other CEOs and presidents
(24:07):
and vice presidents, and youknow directors, and let them see
these are women in the industry.
This is what you can be and weare all very similar.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
When you're in an open group where you can talk
freely, like you can in the WGA.
It gives you the insight toknow that you know whether it's
me, I'm just a mom from Michiganat the end of the day, like
that's what matters most.
So like it's great that I knowtechnology, but if I'm not there
to for school pickup, that's aproblem.
You know, it's very humanizing.
It makes makes it really, Ithink, comfortable for people to
(24:40):
start envisioning themselves inthose roles.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Funny story too, to to bring reality into who we are
and we live.
Our day is similar, as I'm themom that sent my kids to school
on the day that they didn't haveschool.
You know things happen andsometimes you miss something on
the calendar.
You know things happen andsometimes you miss something on
the calendar.
And when I'm at my desk andgetting a message or a phone
(25:05):
call from my nanny saying do thekids have school today, I have
to check.
Let me get back to you.
And the answer is no.
How about if you take them backhome and spend the day with
them?
That'd be great.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's fantastic, I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
We talk about others that are aspiring to join the
industry or continue theircareer forward.
What is some advice that youwould share that we haven't
already touched on?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Even when you don't get your dream opportunity,
there's an opportunity.
I think that's one of thethings you know.
Like, my career was kind ofhaphazard in the beginning.
Like I said, it was a recession.
I just needed a job, I neededto be able to pay my student
loans and move on.
So I just took whatever came myway until I finally had the
experience to kind of dictatethe direction that I took.
So any opportunity is anopportunity and if you're doing
(25:45):
something at the start that youknow doesn't fill your cup fully
, take from it what you can.
You know, and a network iscertainly always something that
you need.
I never want to have a burnedbridge anywhere.
I want to know somebody andknow we're not all best friends,
but I do want to feelcomfortable with all the people
that I meet, that I did good bythem in my best.
(26:05):
So that way, should I meet themagain or should I have a need
in the future, I'm able to callthem or speak with them
confidently, ask for referrals,recommendations or hey, what
would you suggest?
Have you heard of anybodyhiring?
That's really, really important.
The other thing I would say issimilar to how I started out
with my psych degree.
I had a business managementminor, mind you, but I had a
(26:27):
psych degree to start.
But then, you know, I went intobanking.
I was pulling people's creditreports and running loan debt
calculators.
All of that Didn't see thosethings going together but at the
end of the day I did my bestand I learned a lot from it.
So just not being afraid to jumpinto something that seems
totally outside of yourwheelhouse and taking that leap
(26:48):
of faith and seeing where ittakes you and then not letting
it deter you from eventuallygetting back on course or
choosing your destiny.
The last thing that I think isreally impactful in what I've
done in my career is not beingafraid to ask questions.
First started out, I was soworried that everybody in the
room knew more than me and then,as I went down the line and
kind of met more and more people, I figured out that the odds
(27:11):
are, if I don't understandsomething, someone else in the
room probably doesn't either,and it's better for me to
vocalize that question.
Get true understanding so thatI can apply the knowledge that I
need or something, or fill agap that I need to learn and
move forward with true expertiseso that I can really grow in
that role.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Absolutely great advice.
I think everybody should hearthat because I think every piece
of advice that you gave thereis solid and can help
tremendously in somebody'scareer path forward.
So, as we look at the industryas a whole, what trends do you
see now that we should bekeeping an eye on?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
For grocery specifically.
It's a weird time in grocery.
You know the things that I see.
There's a lot of buzz around AI.
I think for independent grocersit's not necessarily a bad thing
(28:10):
, but I think it's so importantto keep the pulse of who we are
as a industry front of mind andthat's that you know your
customers in a way that I dothink that e-commerce,
specifically, is a must do.
I know there's concerns aroundoperational labor support and
those sort of things, but it'skind of like if you want to want
to be in the game, it's likeputting on your tennis shoes to
play a game of basketball.
You got to do it, you know.
But beyond that, I mean,there's a ton of growth here in
grocery.
(28:31):
I think our independent grocerscan specifically fill a niche
role in their communities,whether it's because of the
donations that they provide tolocal organizations, the
groceries you provide locally,the ease of access, the
understanding of your communityneeds and the product mixes that
your community wants is very,very important.
It's really easy to find theretailer that has what you want.
(28:51):
So being ever present in anonline environment to be
competitive is a must.
And kind of going back to whatI said about someone starting
out like, even as a retailer,even as a seasoned retailer, you
should be asking questionsabout how this is going to be
done, why it's going to be done,and then really pausing to
understand what the benefit andthe costs are to your
organization.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, no, I think we wish we all did have that
crystal ball, but you touched onsome very important topics and
key things that I think we'reall trying to keep an eye on and
understand how that impacts usin our businesses individually.
What excites you the most aboutthe future of the industry?
Speaker 3 (29:24):
You know the opportunity for growth.
Certainly, there is a hugeupside for our independent
grocers to take back marketshare from some of the big
competitors in the market.
I think people are going to seethat value in the coming years
and I think there's going to bea lot of growth for our
independents.
I also think there's somereally cool partnerships that
are happening out there in themarket whether they're at
eGrocery or others that aregoing to optimize supply chains,
(29:48):
getting things to people in amore timely manner and having
specific items in stock at theright time.
I do think that's one thingthat AI is going to do really
well is the data lake work andsurfacing all that information
and trends you know, and justthe continued competition, I
think, among competitors drivesinnovation, and I do think that,
(30:09):
specific to my portion of this,with e-commerce, it's very,
very competitive.
Some organizations have beenbought up, Some are still out
there trying to figure outwhat's next, but as we shrink
our pool of options in terms ofcompanies that provide this but
also grow due to acquisitions,because all of a sudden you have
this ability to scale, theinnovation is just going to be
(30:30):
very, very cool over the nextfive to 10 years.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Thank you for those insights, Anna.
If you were writing a book orcreating a podcast about the
industry today, what would thetitle be?
Speaker 3 (30:39):
The title of it, I'm not sure the subject matter
would probably be satirical.
You hear so many differentconversations from potential
partners or new things in theindustry, and sometimes they're
just funny.
Again, going back to psychology, we're all human.
I had a psych professor myfreshman year that said the
human experience isn't unique.
But what makes it unique is weall think we're alone in
experiencing it, whether it's anidea we're being sold about the
(31:01):
latest greatest piece of techor just funny conversations.
Because I'm sure you've hadmany in the past where you walk
into a meeting and it's justkind of the same song and dance
about something that's supposedto be new, but it's really the
same over the ages.
So I would probably go withsomething satirical in that
manner.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
There's many times where I start off with remember
when we thought X, y or Z wouldbe a good idea, and thank you so
very much for sharing your timeand your thoughts with us today
.
I appreciate you, your storyand your contribution to the
industry.
Thank you for your valuableinsights and I look forward to
continue watching you make adifference in all you do.
Well, thank you so much,kristen.
(31:43):
I appreciate the opportunity tospeak with you today and to our
listeners, thank you so verymuch for tuning in to today's
episode.
We hope you enjoyed thediscussion as much as we did.
If you find value, be sure tosubscribe to never miss an
episode and leave a review onyour favorite listening platform
to help others discover Groceryfrom Her Seat.
Till next time, keep making adifference in all you do.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
On behalf of the Women Grocers of America, we
thank you for listening to ourpodcast today and ask that you
subscribe, leave a five-starreview and share with a friend.
If you have a suggestion for aguest from the industry, mention
them in the comments.
Episodes are released everyother week and they are
sponsored by NGA, hosted byKristen Popp, president of WGA,
and published by Rachel Milowith SWA Marketing.
Welcome to Grocery From Her Seat.
The WGA podcast, offering aunique perspective as seen
through the eyes of remarkablewomen who shape and lead in the
independent grocery industry.
Your host, Kristen Popp,president of WGA, will bring you
exclusive stories and insightsfrom the women serving our
industry, From presidents toCEOs, to entrepreneurs and
(00:22):
students.
This podcast is your source ofinformation.
Now listen, take notes andwelcome Kristen Popp.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I am your host, Kristen Popp, and today I have
the opportunity to chat withAnne Fetter, Senior Vice
President of Client Growth andProduct with eGrocery.
Welcome to Grocery from yourSeat, Anne, and thank you so
much for sharing your time withus today.
So I touched on your title, butcan you kind of dive into
within your organization whatthat actually means, kind of
what your day-to-day andresponsibilities are?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, absolutely so.
At eGrocery I am responsibleessentially for any interaction
any of our retailers or theirshoppers might have with
eGrocery.
My team leads client services,which is everything from the
implementation, you know, theonboarding of the technical side
of our business to theday-to-day operations and then
(01:14):
certainly the promotion andgrowth of our platform for our
retailers as a white label SaaSprovider for them, the product
part of my job.
I am very closely listening tothe voice of our retailers and
their shoppers, that true voiceof customer, to influence what
it is we do for the developmentand enhancement of our product.
We keep a pretty balanced setof activities within our
platform we try and do.
60 percent of our time isdedicated to strategic, 40
percent is market demand andthen we have a small portion of
(01:37):
our schedule broken out forretailer specific requests and
then anything that's like abreak fix or a maintenance need
up, systems upgrade.
So we work really closely withour customers to make sure that
not only our vision and strategyfor our organization meets what
we want to do as a business,but also that what we're doing
makes sense for our end user,and I think that's what's really
led to a lot of the successwe've had here is keeping that
(01:59):
front and center as we gothrough our development roadmap
planning.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, in e-commerce, especially coming out of the
pandemic, you know, it heightensso much during that time and
then it's continued forconvenience or whatever that
customer has top of mind orgoing on in their personal life.
And as you relatively recentlyjoined the grocery industry, can
you share that with us and howyou've arrived where you are
today?
Speaker 3 (02:23):
I actually think I have kind of an interesting
journey, starting out, just youknow, in college my degree is in
psychology, so my intention wasalways to do something where I
could make a difference forpeople in their day-to-day lives
that really matters to me andfacilitating the processes that
get people there, becausethere's so much information that
you need to be successful.
When I came out of college I'ma millennial I walked into a
recession, took the only job Icould get in Detroit, which was
(02:45):
working as a mortgage loanofficer at Quicken Loans, and
let me tell you, little22-year-old Ann had no business
trying to tell people how tofinance their homes, but it was
a really cool learningexperience.
I talked to so many peopleacross the country trying to get
mortgages and learning thesales side of the business in
(03:06):
terms of how do I convincesomebody to trust me, how do I
give them an elevator pitch, howdo I ARP, how do I ARC, how do
I follow up on a leadsuccessfully.
I did all of those things and Iwill tell you I was not a good
mortgage banker, but I had somany at-bats because of how good
of a lead flow that company hasand their training that they
have that.
It was really one of the mostbeneficial things I think I
(03:28):
could have done coming out ofschool if it wasn't an
internship or something likethat, and then from there, you
know, I just continued to growmy network.
I got kind of lucky to meet somecool people in the Detroit area
that were just very intomeetups at the time or I think
they used to call them tweet-upsback in the day and so I
started doing these networkingorganization things, and, as I
(03:49):
kind of made my way through thebeginnings of my career, which
was financial, I met people whoworked in marketing, and when I
met people who worked inmarketing, I started doing
experiential marketing for alocal firm that worked for Ford,
and then I just started meetingmore and more people.
I worked for Ford, and then Ijust started meeting more and
more people, and as I kind ofwent through that role which
experiential marketing is cool,but I'm not really about doing
(04:09):
these installments, you know,across the country I did like
the technical deployment side ofit, though, which was how do
you administer these things?
How do you create drive routes?
One of the tours I did wastaking the F-150 when they first
put it on an aluminum bodyacross the country.
So how do I find the customer?
How do I get the truck to them?
How do I make sure someonemakes it through a Nebraska
(04:31):
snowstorm, all of those thingsthat went along with it.
And through that opportunity Imoved to another project with
Ford that was incrediblytechnically heavy, that had a
global survey portion of it, ithad a back-end portal, it had a
front-end customer-facingexperience.
But it also tied in mybackground in psychology, which
was the program really focusedaround making your experience as
a dealership employee the best,because if you had really
(04:54):
satisfied employees, you'd havereally satisfied customers and
those customers would keepcoming back over and over again.
So it kind of blended mynatural love of technology,
which I've always been theperson in my family that's like
can you help me set up my newphone or connect my printer?
That's always been who I am.
And then I got this really coolopportunity to work with a
program that took technology toreach everybody, nationally and
(05:15):
then eventually globally over inEurope and Asia Pacific and
everything, and blend the twotogether.
And then from there I just keptfinding opportunities that
pushed my boundaries.
I'd master something and I'deither look internally to grow
my role or I'd find my nextopportunity, and I did that
repeatedly across industry.
So I've worked in automotive asa Detroit native, I think most
(05:36):
people here have and then Iworked in pharmaceutical and
then I worked in CPG with Keurig, green Mountain, coca-cola,
frito-lay, pepsico.
I took a brief stop at MarsAgency well before they sold to
Publicis recently.
I was doing shopper marketingthere and then I found my way
over to a little company calledDialogue Direct and Dialogue
(05:57):
Direct is much larger now butfor them I did a whole host of I
call it omni-channel marketingsolutions.
But it was standing up theentire tech stack, using
platforms like NetSuite orTeradata to do lead flow
manipulation, call centerservicing, special order
fulfillment out of warehouses,all kinds of things across many
different verticals insurance,cpg again, automotive again but
(06:19):
this really blending thesereally big, complex problems and
solutions into one system.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And that's actually how.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I met our CEO, pat Hughes.
He ended up leaving rightbefore I had my first baby and
when I had my oldest daughter,samantha, I didn't come back.
I decided to be a stay-at-homemom for a while.
So it kind of took a pause, youknow, and I was nervous about
that.
I've been so career-driven andfocused for so long.
And then, you know, I just hadthis sweet little baby and I
couldn't bring myself to leaveher.
So I stayed home for threeyears and then, slowly as ever,
(06:48):
I had my second, my little guyTeddy.
I started doing consulting workand eventually Pat had an
opportunity that he thought I'dbe a great fit for, and that was
e-grocery.
And when I came into e-groceryI kind of dipped my toes in the
water part time and worked myway out back into a full time
solution where I've optimizedand grown Team Grow, which is
(07:08):
our consultative group ofproject managers, and I've taken
on product as well, and I had athird baby in the mix of all of
that.
So yeah, it's kind of been ajourney.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Just so many things to call out there.
I mean it's very inspiring tohear you tell your story and
your path and how you've gotten.
It's very inspiring to hear youtell your story and your path
and how you've gotten.
I love how you start off withlittle 20 or two year old, had
no business selling mortgages,but really learn the ins and
outs of everything, it seemslike in every role that you've
had up to where you are today.
(07:38):
So what a what an experience.
Very inspiring to hear that youtook a break and kudos to you
for that.
I commend that.
It is when you're career driven, to step away again outside of
your comfort zone, and what doesthat mean and what does that
look like.
But I applaud you for that.
Pat, your CEO reaches out toyou, gives you this opportunity.
Is there anything?
(07:58):
Was it him that drove you intogrocery?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Honestly, I liked working with Pat was probably
the first step where I wanted tostart working again, but I
wasn't sure how I was going togo about doing it.
And in talking to Pat, you know, and having worked with him
previously, I had comfort andconfidence that I would get a
level of support starting backin a corporate position.
I was very open with him about,you know, what I was looking to
(08:20):
do in terms of not being fulltime yet, and they really
supported me.
I don't know that I wasinterested in grocery
specifically.
I'm always interested insomething which is like a pro
and a con of who I am as aperson.
That kind of had to hone in.
So coming into grocery wasn'tnecessarily my goal.
I just like learning new thingsand I think people hear me talk
about e-grocery now and they'relike, wow, she's really
(08:41):
passionate about e-grocery.
Well, it's not that I'mpassionate just about e-grocery.
I've worked with a lot oftechnology and we do something
really, really well that servesa what I think is kind of an
underserved market in theindependent grocer space in a
way that is beneficial to ourretailers.
And there's so much goodbusiness to be done in this
world.
When you do good by people, youknow like you don't need to be
(09:04):
unscrupulous or unfairly pricedor anything like that to really
create a great relationshipwhere everybody's growing and
everybody's achieving that andwe have this really beautiful
marriage of business and clientservice where everybody seems to
get the benefit out of it.
So I kind of learned to lovegrocery.
You know, I started in 2020with the pandemic and you're
(09:26):
taking a look around and I'vegot these two little kids at the
time I had a four and a twoyear old and I'm going out
trying to do the groceryshopping, you know, in those big
two week spreads, like theythey had told us all to do at
the time, and you're justwatching the world go around.
And when I got involved ingrocery at the time, I was like
wow, like what I'm doing isreally helping people.
These grocery employees are ableto still sell groceries, still
(09:48):
have a job, still serve as acustomer.
People can get what they needbecause it is an essential
industry, but they're reducingthe risk and exposure to
everybody.
They're optimizing things.
They're genuinely making itbetter through this technology
and that's the part that I'mpassionate about helping people
and serving people in a way thatis really, really meaningful
and essential to their everydaylives.
(10:09):
You can't replace anindependent grocer, you cannot
replace the people that work ingrocery stores, and I'm so glad
to service those people.
It's doing something much moremeaningful, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
No, 100%, and I think well, kind of full circle right
With your degree in psychologyand you're coming back to how
can you really help others andhelp people in whatever capacity
they need that.
But you talk about theindependent grocery thing coming
out of the pandemic.
It did give us a little bitmore identifiable value in what
we do, but I think it issomewhat taken for granted
sometimes too.
(10:40):
The independent grocer, thelocal, the heart of the
community, everything that we'rethere.
So I appreciate somewhat whatyou're saying and your passion
absolutely shines through and itall ties together in what led
you to where you are today and Ithink that's an all inclusive
passion around the technology,the service that you're
providing, the end user thatyou're helping in some capacity.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
You know, not starting in grocery and being
newer to the industry, your CEOgave you, has given you some
insights on how to help navigate.
But is there anybody else thathas helped you navigate the
industry or help you understandthings that maybe you weren't as
fully aware of or didn't havethat knowledge on?
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Yeah, I mean, I mean.
So what's saying with any ofthe grocery world?
You know, john Schelsky is ourCEO here and he didn't start in
grocery either, but he had awonderful background in
consulting and he is somebodywho has such a wonderful
attention to detail.
Without his ability to dive inand understand things at the
level that he does first, andthen to share that information
(11:41):
and train that with me, like I,I would be struggling.
There are times where I'm stillI call him and I just, you know
, sanity check things.
He's a wonderful help.
And then soon, networking eventsand getting to know different
vendor retailers.
We're always looking to buildpartnerships, ok, but they're
not necessarily like a directpartnerships in terms of, like,
(12:02):
I'm going to integrate with youand we're going to resell this
or whatever.
It's just partnerships andknowing people.
So in getting to know the othervendors in the industry, I've
gotten to know more and moreabout how this all works.
And that was, you know, I think, when I did NGA the first year
two years ago and I wasinterviewed by Lasia.
She said you know, what do youlike most about getting to NGA
(12:22):
as your first time here?
And I said you know, it's thechance to get to see everybody
face to face and say thank you.
And it really is that because Iknow a lot about technology.
I didn't know a lot about howthis would all directly impact
our grocers downstream, butthrough technology I've gotten
to know data vendors, especiallybecause I work heavily in data
(12:44):
with what we do at e-commerce.
I've gotten to know people atVR Data, truno, rds, a few
people at NCR just across thecountry, knowing them and
knowing how these solutions work, great data all that kind of
stuff has been great.
And then getting to knowretailers.
We're always looking to growand always looking for an
opportunity, but beyond that,when I get to meet a group of
(13:05):
retailers and hear their storyand about how they came to where
they are whether it's a largeorganization or even just a
single source or a couple ofstores there's a lot to learn in
having those conversations andpeople are really willing to
share that information if you'rewilling to listen.
And so I've really focused ontalking to those people and
learning from what they've doneand what their struggles are to
(13:28):
figure out what the rightsolution is for them.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Looking at your career as a whole to date, what
are some of the key achievementsor milestones that you are most
proud of?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I'm proud of how much you know I've done at eGrocery
to streamline and onboard, orstreamline our onboarding
services.
Really, you know, when I beganour process was much longer.
I'm proud of my team certainlyas well.
I don't think there's a betterteam in the industry that does
client services and that'scertainly taken a lot of effort
to build up.
There's a number of awards I'vewon over the years.
(13:59):
When I was with Ford I was awinner of a gold award for
service provider of the year.
You know I don't I'm alwayslooking for the next thing to do
that Sometimes I don't pause toreflect, so I'm having a hard
time answering that question.
I don't know.
I'm also proud of myself fortaking a pause when I was a stay
at home mom.
That was scary, from this bigcareer trajectory to just being
(14:21):
with this little baby and theydon't give you a lot of positive
reinforcement when they're tinyright All you get is that their
weight went up right.
So I went from like from you cansee your account growing and
you know your clients are happyto.
You know, is this child meetingtheir developmental milestones?
It was a big change and Istruggled with it.
In the beginning.
(14:41):
I just wanted to make sure thatI did good by her, and then I
got used to it and coming backwith another one too.
I think every time you make oneof those shifts having the
courage to say I've done what Ican here, where's my opportunity
for growth?
And taking the leap into thenext position that takes a lot
of courage and I think I'm mostproud of myself for being brave
enough to do that.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
A hundred of myself for being brave enough to do
that 100%.
It takes a lot of courage, butI think you've definitely shown
that it benefits for you,although it probably doesn't
make it any less intimidatingalong the way.
Right, can we talk about yourrole as a mother, a wife, a
professional?
And I say, how do you findbalance?
Loosely, because I don't thinkthere is any.
Just me personally.
I think you have to find whatworks for you, but how do you
(15:26):
maintain all of those roles?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
That is a evolving answer.
I think that was one of thefirst things I said to you when
we met the first time.
I was like I feel so apologeticsometimes because I'm at
capacity and I just don't feellike I can do all the things
that I want to do, and it's just.
I look at you, kristen, andthis is not a total brown noser
moment, but you do a lot rightand I know you have children and
(15:48):
a family of your own and I'mjust.
How do you get everywhere youneed to be and serve all the
different roles that you have?
And I think we all strugglewith that to your point.
Sometimes it's as simple assetting a firm boundary.
You know, if I know that mykids have their spring concert,
I put that on my calendar andit's blocked out and I tell my
teams and I say you guys, from 4to 8 pm on you know, april,
(16:11):
whatever I am not available andI am full gear, loving every
minute of these kids singing offkey and doing their dances
Right With work.
What I think is actually reallynice about working in technology
is my schedule can be somewhatflexible.
Is actually really nice aboutworking in technology is my
schedule can be somewhatflexible.
I have to be available asneeded, certainly, but I can
schedule meetings essentiallyglobally because we work with
global teams, both at eGroceryand across our partners that
(16:34):
meet my needs basically.
So if I have to step away at4.30 to start dinner, I know
that I can pick back up at 7o'clock.
If I need to take a later startto the day, I know I can work
into the evening, and thosethings can be tricky too,
because sometimes it feels likeyour day never ends.
But it's really just findingthose boundaries and I think
(16:54):
that's almost an exercise inconfidence.
If you lack confidence to knowthat you've done your best or
you are doing your best, I thinkthat's when imposter syndrome
creeps in and you start to worrylike am I doing enough?
Am I competitive enough?
Am I going to keep this role,all those things.
But when you're confident, youcan say I truly have done what I
(17:14):
can for this day and I'm goingto pick it up tomorrow.
The other part is asking forhelp and that's something I have
to say I've worked very closelywith my husband on, because I
am a fiercely independent person.
So I've really had to say likewe have three games this weekend
and a parent teacher conference.
(17:34):
How are we going to tackle thisand then be willing to wait for
their response to balance theload of parenthood?
Certainly you know as a wife,between my husband and I we
schedule time.
You know I was so resistant tothat in the beginning to say
like we have to schedule ourdate nights or we've got to look
ahead, but if you're not makinga priority it doesn't make it
(17:54):
onto the calendar.
So we've really had to work atthat.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I remember our conversation that we had when
you and I first met and you didask me that question how do you
balance it all?
How do you do it all?
And it looks different for eachof us and we have to find what
works for us individually and beconfident and comfortable that
that's okay.
What mine looks like and whatyours looks like are different.
That's not bad.
(18:18):
It's what works for each of usindependently.
And asking for help, I mean yeah, I can't shout that out loud
enough I think sometimes there'sno superhero power right.
Asking for help is okay.
You want to be intentional withyour time.
That's the way I look at it.
So, like you said, when you goto those concerts and the
(18:41):
off-key singing and the dancing,I wouldn't miss it for the
world, and my kids know that Iam there for them and I always
will be.
But they also know and thoseare real conversations I also
have a career and when I'm there, I have to be there.
You and I may have similaritiesand we can talk about ideas and
things that we do and we maytake nuggets of information, but
at the end of the day, you dowhat works best for you.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
To your point, like when I'm at work.
I'm at work, you know when I'm,especially when I'm traveling.
You know mom, mom can't bethere, but you know I hear my
daughter play and she's veryinto her American Girl doll
right now and hair accessories,and so her friends were over for
her birthday party not too longago and they were playing hair
salon, but it wasn't like theywere just doing hair.
One of them was the accountant,one of them was booking
(19:21):
appointments.
Of them was the accountant, oneof them was booking
appointments.
The other one was checkingcustomer satisfaction, so like
you hear, these are threedifferent girls, you know and
they're going through it andyou're like that's really cool
to hear.
And my kids pick up on thesethings.
You know Sam and Ted, my twoolder ones.
They have a Play Fancy Nancytelephone like old school rotary
dial and they'll put it on thetable between them sometimes and
(19:42):
they'll pretend that they'rehaving meetings.
So it's also a really goodexample, as hard as it can be.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
They must be watching mom often.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah Well, my husband and I both work from home, so I
think they have two pretty goodrole models to look at.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
There you go.
That's really cool to hear howthey've taken that and applied
it and how they can role playwith that.
We talk about work-life balanceand what that looks like, but
what other challenges inleadership maybe specifically
with females do you see intoday's environment?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
You know, I would say that there's two things
basically data bias and how itpresents to women.
I think a big part of thereason why I personally don't
land a message the way I want toall the time, as I'm doing
presentations, is because I'mnot speaking the language of men
as it's traditionally spoken,with numbers and that sort of
thing, and so I'm activelyworking to understand what that
(20:29):
looks like from a woman'sperspective and how to translate
that.
So I'm communicating to allaudiences because at the end of
the day, man, woman, it doesn'tmatter, it's got to make sense.
So I'm working on that.
But I think there's a realdifference in the way that it's
kind of feels like a stereotypeto say it, but like it's
intuitive, versus very black andwhite analytical numbers.
(20:52):
You know, I know things becauseI just feel like I know them,
whereas other people need to seethe hard math behind it.
So I'm trying to bridge thatgap, to make sure that I can
explain myself entirely From awoman in management perspective
and this is with differentpeople that I know in the
industry too is, I think thatwomen struggle more, like if one
person says to you that youdidn't do a good job or that the
way you manage them wasineffective.
(21:12):
Women hear that and theyinternalize it and they're like,
oh my gosh, I'm awful.
This person thinks I was amicromanager.
This person didn't enjoyworking with me.
And there has to be a thickerskin for management, because
there is a difference betweentaking a constructive piece of
feedback, hearing it anddeciding what you're going to do
with it, and there's anotherpiece of just hearing general
(21:32):
feedback and saying that thatdefines you because one person
said it and it's something thatwe all have to work on.
At some point you get to decidein your career the feedback
that's worth taking and thefeedback that would just miss
the mark, and how are you goingto move forward from there?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That is such an excellent point on letting
something define you, sometimesletting it shut us down Great
call-outs there.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Just shifting a little bit, Anne.
In your opinion, you'verecently become involved
somewhat with the Women Grocersof America and that organization
, but what role do you feelorganizations like that or
similar ones have in theindustry and how will that
impact our future Sure?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
You know, I think I actually just had one of the
parents on my daughter's soccerteam was able to attend an event
where they're talking about theOlympics and the shaping of
women's sports, ok, and what itmeans to see women in those
positions, and one of thecomments that came out of it was
if you can't see it, you can'tbe it.
You know like you can't imagineyourself there.
So when you're with a grouplike the WGA and you get to see
(22:39):
a woman and Christian, you'rethe president.
So it's going to again soundlike brown nosing, but when I
see someone like you, whodoesn't feel that different from
me, it gives me a hope that Ican achieve those same things.
But also as a leader outside ofthat, for the much larger group
is inspiring.
And so I think when you seethose people, when they're
willing to share theirinformation in a way that's not
(23:01):
like it's not tied to the nutsand bolts of us doing business,
it's just intended to inform andelevate us all, because I think
I really do believe when we all, when someone succeeds, we all
succeed, right, like thatmatters.
So it's really, reallyimportant to speak with people
who aren't going to look at youand you know, kristen, when I
looked at you I said how do youbalance all of this?
You didn't say, oh poor Ann,she's got so much going on.
(23:24):
You said, no, this is a realissue and let me tell you it's
got cycles to it.
You know, we're here, we'rethere, we're everywhere and we
all just do what's best for us.
And I think that's so importantto hear from people in
positions of authority that aresimilar in background, so that
you feel the confidence toachieve similar things.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
If you can't see it, you can't be it, and so also get
very excited about gettingstudents at universities
involved in things that we do,because the future of our
industry relies on it.
Right, if we can't bring inindividuals to help us form the
next, where do we go?
And to be able to bring astudent into a room you know
with individuals like yourselfand other CEOs and presidents
(24:07):
and vice presidents, and youknow directors, and let them see
these are women in the industry.
This is what you can be and weare all very similar.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
When you're in an open group where you can talk
freely, like you can in the WGA.
It gives you the insight toknow that you know whether it's
me, I'm just a mom from Michiganat the end of the day, like
that's what matters most.
So like it's great that I knowtechnology, but if I'm not there
to for school pickup, that's aproblem.
You know, it's very humanizing.
It makes makes it really, Ithink, comfortable for people to
(24:40):
start envisioning themselves inthose roles.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Funny story too, to to bring reality into who we are
and we live.
Our day is similar, as I'm themom that sent my kids to school
on the day that they didn't haveschool.
You know things happen andsometimes you miss something on
the calendar.
You know things happen andsometimes you miss something on
the calendar.
And when I'm at my desk andgetting a message or a phone
(25:05):
call from my nanny saying do thekids have school today, I have
to check.
Let me get back to you.
And the answer is no.
How about if you take them backhome and spend the day with
them?
That'd be great.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's fantastic, I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
We talk about others that are aspiring to join the
industry or continue theircareer forward.
What is some advice that youwould share that we haven't
already touched on?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Even when you don't get your dream opportunity,
there's an opportunity.
I think that's one of thethings you know.
Like, my career was kind ofhaphazard in the beginning.
Like I said, it was a recession.
I just needed a job, I neededto be able to pay my student
loans and move on.
So I just took whatever came myway until I finally had the
experience to kind of dictatethe direction that I took.
So any opportunity is anopportunity and if you're doing
(25:45):
something at the start that youknow doesn't fill your cup fully
, take from it what you can.
You know, and a network iscertainly always something that
you need.
I never want to have a burnedbridge anywhere.
I want to know somebody andknow we're not all best friends,
but I do want to feelcomfortable with all the people
that I meet, that I did good bythem in my best.
(26:05):
So that way, should I meet themagain or should I have a need
in the future, I'm able to callthem or speak with them
confidently, ask for referrals,recommendations or hey, what
would you suggest?
Have you heard of anybodyhiring?
That's really, really important.
The other thing I would say issimilar to how I started out
with my psych degree.
I had a business managementminor, mind you, but I had a
(26:27):
psych degree to start.
But then, you know, I went intobanking.
I was pulling people's creditreports and running loan debt
calculators.
All of that Didn't see thosethings going together but at the
end of the day I did my bestand I learned a lot from it.
So just not being afraid to jumpinto something that seems
totally outside of yourwheelhouse and taking that leap
(26:48):
of faith and seeing where ittakes you and then not letting
it deter you from eventuallygetting back on course or
choosing your destiny.
The last thing that I think isreally impactful in what I've
done in my career is not beingafraid to ask questions.
First started out, I was soworried that everybody in the
room knew more than me and then,as I went down the line and
kind of met more and more people, I figured out that the odds
(27:11):
are, if I don't understandsomething, someone else in the
room probably doesn't either,and it's better for me to
vocalize that question.
Get true understanding so thatI can apply the knowledge that I
need or something, or fill agap that I need to learn and
move forward with true expertiseso that I can really grow in
that role.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Absolutely great advice.
I think everybody should hearthat because I think every piece
of advice that you gave thereis solid and can help
tremendously in somebody'scareer path forward.
So, as we look at the industryas a whole, what trends do you
see now that we should bekeeping an eye on?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
For grocery specifically.
It's a weird time in grocery.
You know the things that I see.
There's a lot of buzz around AI.
I think for independent grocersit's not necessarily a bad thing
(28:10):
, but I think it's so importantto keep the pulse of who we are
as a industry front of mind andthat's that you know your
customers in a way that I dothink that e-commerce,
specifically, is a must do.
I know there's concerns aroundoperational labor support and
those sort of things, but it'skind of like if you want to want
to be in the game, it's likeputting on your tennis shoes to
play a game of basketball.
You got to do it, you know.
But beyond that, I mean,there's a ton of growth here in
grocery.
(28:31):
I think our independent grocerscan specifically fill a niche
role in their communities,whether it's because of the
donations that they provide tolocal organizations, the
groceries you provide locally,the ease of access, the
understanding of your communityneeds and the product mixes that
your community wants is very,very important.
It's really easy to find theretailer that has what you want.
(28:51):
So being ever present in anonline environment to be
competitive is a must.
And kind of going back to whatI said about someone starting
out like, even as a retailer,even as a seasoned retailer, you
should be asking questionsabout how this is going to be
done, why it's going to be done,and then really pausing to
understand what the benefit andthe costs are to your
organization.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, no, I think we wish we all did have that
crystal ball, but you touched onsome very important topics and
key things that I think we'reall trying to keep an eye on and
understand how that impacts usin our businesses individually.
What excites you the most aboutthe future of the industry?
Speaker 3 (29:24):
You know the opportunity for growth.
Certainly, there is a hugeupside for our independent
grocers to take back marketshare from some of the big
competitors in the market.
I think people are going to seethat value in the coming years
and I think there's going to bea lot of growth for our
independents.
I also think there's somereally cool partnerships that
are happening out there in themarket whether they're at
eGrocery or others that aregoing to optimize supply chains,
(29:48):
getting things to people in amore timely manner and having
specific items in stock at theright time.
I do think that's one thingthat AI is going to do really
well is the data lake work andsurfacing all that information
and trends you know, and justthe continued competition, I
think, among competitors drivesinnovation, and I do think that,
(30:09):
specific to my portion of this,with e-commerce, it's very,
very competitive.
Some organizations have beenbought up, Some are still out
there trying to figure outwhat's next, but as we shrink
our pool of options in terms ofcompanies that provide this but
also grow due to acquisitions,because all of a sudden you have
this ability to scale, theinnovation is just going to be
(30:30):
very, very cool over the nextfive to 10 years.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Thank you for those insights, Anna.
If you were writing a book orcreating a podcast about the
industry today, what would thetitle be?
Speaker 3 (30:39):
The title of it, I'm not sure the subject matter
would probably be satirical.
You hear so many differentconversations from potential
partners or new things in theindustry, and sometimes they're
just funny.
Again, going back to psychology, we're all human.
I had a psych professor myfreshman year that said the
human experience isn't unique.
But what makes it unique is weall think we're alone in
experiencing it, whether it's anidea we're being sold about the
(31:01):
latest greatest piece of techor just funny conversations.
Because I'm sure you've hadmany in the past where you walk
into a meeting and it's justkind of the same song and dance
about something that's supposedto be new, but it's really the
same over the ages.
So I would probably go withsomething satirical in that
manner.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
There's many times where I start off with remember
when we thought X, y or Z wouldbe a good idea, and thank you so
very much for sharing your timeand your thoughts with us today
.
I appreciate you, your storyand your contribution to the
industry.
Thank you for your valuableinsights and I look forward to
continue watching you make adifference in all you do.
Well, thank you so much,kristen.
(31:43):
I appreciate the opportunity tospeak with you today and to our
listeners, thank you so verymuch for tuning in to today's
episode.
We hope you enjoyed thediscussion as much as we did.
If you find value, be sure tosubscribe to never miss an
episode and leave a review onyour favorite listening platform
to help others discover Groceryfrom Her Seat.
Till next time, keep making adifference in all you do.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
On behalf of the Women Grocers of America, we
thank you for listening to ourpodcast today and ask that you
subscribe, leave a five-starreview and share with a friend.
If you have a suggestion for aguest from the industry, mention
them in the comments.
Episodes are released everyother week and they are
sponsored by NGA, hosted byKristen Popp, president of WGA,
and published by Rachel Milowith SWA Marketing.
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