July 3, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode, we’re joined by Amberle Thompson, Senior Sales Director for Walmart and Sam’s Club at The Heineken Company, overseeing a team that helps ensure products make it to shelves across the country.
Amberle shares her journey into the CPG and alcohol industry, demystifies how distribution works in the U.S., and explores how data and consumer trends drive innovation. She also reflects on raising three daughters while building her career, the power of networks, and why influence is knowing when you have it—and when you need to build it.
Episode Highlights
- How Amberle uses real-time data and consumer trends to guide product innovation, like Dos Equis Lime & Salt Zero.
- The unique challenges of alcohol distribution and why the U.S. three-tier system matters for brands like Heineken.
- The “COVID bump” in alcohol sales—and how the industry is right-sizing post-pandemic.
- Why looking at data and trends is Amberle’s favorite part of leading in CPG.
- Amberle’s perspective on raising daughters while modeling leadership and career growth.
- Why building your network is critical—and the advice Amberle gives young professionals about picking up the phone.
- A fresh take on influence: knowing where you have it, where you need it, and how to leverage your network to create meaningful change.
- Why Amberle believes that to lead effectively, you can’t—and shouldn’t—do it alone.
Amberle shares real-world insights for navigating leadership and driving innovation within and outside the CPG industry.
Links and Resources
Connect with Amberle Thompson on LinkedIn
Learn more about The Heineken Company
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Don't skip the lunches and building your
network, or don't not ask thequestions because you think you
already know the answer, becauseyou will be so much better off
and you will go so much furtherif you can bring others along
with you.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This season on the Women of Influence podcast, we
have been talking with women whoare working in industries that
we find fascinating and alsohave an impact on women who are
buying these products day to day.
Today's guest is AmberleeThompson.
She is a senior sales leader atHeineken, the brewing company,
and maybe a product that youhave bought before or you
certainly have seen before, andI really enjoyed this
(00:51):
conversation because Amberleeand I are very similar in the
sense that we both loveunderstanding consumer trends
and why people shop the way theydo, buy the way they do and
what is impacting that.
We talk today about how thealcohol business has changed
(01:13):
from the COVID days, from beforeCOVID to after COVID and now we
are in a period of COVID beingover and how has alcohol
consumption changed, what thingshave impacted it, and what I
love about this conversation ishow deeply Amberlee understands
(01:34):
those insights of what's goingon with how people are thinking
and buying within the spiritsand the alcohol category and
also helping to develop productsthat are non-alcoholic, and
thinking about how companieslike Heineken do that.
Not only do we talk about thoseelements of the industry, but
(01:56):
we also delve into Amberlee'sperspective on how she thinks
about developing talent withinher team and how she thinks
about what influence meanswithin her role.
I love her explanation, or herdefinition, which you will hear
in the episode, of how shedefines what influence means to
(02:19):
her.
I have not heard before, and Ihave heard lots of people talk
about influence in the past andwhat it means to them, and I
really love that.
So please look out for that inthe episode.
I think you're going to findthis episode very interesting if
you are someone who has, youknow, purchased products in this
category before.
(02:40):
The other thing that you'llnote about Amberlee is she's not
only worked at a big companylike Heineken, but she's also
worked at the maker of Lysol andMucinex and also at Kraft.
So she's really had very deepexperience in understanding what
motivates people when they'rethinking about buying products,
(03:01):
and I think you'll find thisconversation super interesting
to listen to.
I enjoyed having it.
With that, I'm going to let youhear my conversation with the
wonderful Amberlee Thompson.
Here we go.
Amberlee, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Alisa.
Good to be here.
(03:22):
I am excited to chat with youtoday.
We were just talking about howwe randomly ran into each other.
I was on a business trip toArkansas and happened to be in
the same office building thatyou were in and we ran into each
other in person, which waslovely because we'd only met via
video chat.
(03:43):
But there we were in person andnow here we are recording.
It's great to have you.
I'm excited to chat with you.
I am so fascinated by thespirits alcohol business and I
know that that is the world thatyou are in.
You are the Senior SalesDirector for Walmart and Sam's
Club for Heineken.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your role and what your
(04:06):
day-to-day responsibilities looklike?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Yeah, so I've been in the CPG industry for about 12
years in a variety of roles and,as you mentioned, I'm currently
the Senior Sales Director forHeineken.
So I lead a sales team thatcalls on both Walmart and Sam's
Club and we work with over 300distributors, 200 sales
colleagues within theorganization to help ensure that
(04:30):
our Heineken products and otherbrands that we carry are on
Walmart and Sam's Club shelvesevery day.
So really, what I think to dois I just like to serve our
customers, think about the waythat the industry is changing
and look for ways to grow ourbusiness with our partners.
You know, on a daily basis, Ilook at trends, I look at data
very heavily.
I work with our team to createprograms and promotions that
(04:55):
support our products.
I evaluate new items that arepotential innovation that would
be interesting to consumers, andthen, on a regular basis, we
meet with our Walmart and Sam'spartners to discuss these
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I have a few questions just to clarify, to
make sure that we understandsome of the terminology you just
talked about.
Tell us in this context yousaid you work with distributors.
What is a distributor for thoseof us who are not familiar with
distributors in the alcoholindustry?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, so the alcohol industry is very unique in the
US.
We, as a Heineken producer andsupplier, we cannot sell
directly to our retailers likeWalmart and Sam's Club.
We have to go through athree-tier network, which is the
distributor.
So Heineken sells our productsto a distributor and then our
(05:48):
distributor turns around andsells that product to Walmart,
sam's Club, costco, etc.
It's a DSD model and it datesall the way back to prohibition.
So it's really about doingbusiness in the legal capacity
with our distributors to get ourproducts to Walmart and then
eventually to our customers.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So I don't think that most people understand that.
I mean, I would say thatprobably a lot of people
listening are consumers orpurchasers of alcohol but may
not know that there is this veryspecific and unique
distribution model for alcohol.
Just in comparison, let's sayI'm somebody who sells chocolate
(06:29):
to Walmart, right, I don't havea distributor necessarily in
between me and Walmart, right, Idon't necessarily have to work
through a distributor to get myproduct on the shelf at Walmart
or Sam's Club or any otherretail for that matter.
But for a alcohol brand likeHeineken, like any of the others
(06:50):
, there is a required kind ofmiddle layer, which are the
distributors that you have towork through them in order to
get product on the shelf.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, and see, what makes it even more complex is
the distributors only haverights to sell alcohol in
territories that go down to thecounty level.
So I might have I have over 300distributors and they don't
overlap in geography.
So I'll have, you know, adistributor for Northwest
Arkansas and they can only sellour products in Northwest
(07:22):
Arkansas.
They cannot sell them in Texas.
Those rights go to adistributor like Andrews in
Dallas.
So it's very complex because ofthe number of teams and
individuals that we have to workwith every day to sell one
vision or one goal or one growthmodel.
It's very, very complex andkeeps us very busy.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, I can imagine, and thank you for giving us the
101 on that.
I have a dear friend who worksin the spirits business and when
she explained this to me yearsago I had no idea that there was
this very different model.
So you also mentioned thatinnovation is a part of what you
(08:05):
get to do and thinking aboutlike, okay, what types of
products do you decide to moveforward and you look at trends.
Can you talk just a little bitabout how you think about that?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Yeah, that is my favorite part of CPG consumer
packaged goods business thatI've been in for the last 12
years, especially working withWalmart and Sam's Club, who has
some of the best data you knowin the world, quite frankly, we
can see what is selling by dayby hour, by region.
(08:39):
We can see what types ofproducts are selling well or
growing.
And when you think about how toinnovate and how to be smart
about it, the best thing to dois think about the consumer and
understand using the data, likeif there's certain flavors that
are starting to grow, if there'scertain types of beer that is
(09:02):
showing a lot of momentum, wecan take that back to our
internal teams and share thatinformation and have a
discussion with R&D about.
You know what's the nextevolution of that product?
Or the next thing we can do.
I would say one I'm most proudof we launched a Dos Equis Lime
and Salt Zero a couple years agofrom the Walmart trend data.
(09:26):
So we found that non-alcoholicbeer was growing pretty fast and
fairly underdeveloped in themarket, and when we looked at
the entire beer category, wealso noticed what was missing
from the non-alcoholic segmentwas flavor.
And so, again, looking at thedata, looking at what was
missing understanding that lime,which doesn't seem like rocket
(09:49):
science, but was a core flavorin beer.
It brought us, you know, theinsights to put together a story
that ultimately created aproduct Dos Equis, lime and Salt
Zero that's now selling in overa thousand Walmarts and it's
doing very well.
And it's because we can usethat data, think through the
consumer trends and findopportunities to grow the
(10:10):
business.
So that's a fun one, but that'swhat we work on all the time.
We work on planning.
The innovation process takes alot of time.
So you know you might get anidea and it's a year really
before it gets into market andit takes a lot of time and a lot
of people to get that done.
But definitely a very coolaspect of our business.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
I love that and I love that example.
Thank you for sharing this.
So is the Dos Equis version.
Is that alcoholic ornon-alcoholic?
Speaker 1 (10:35):
This one's non-alcoholic.
The innovation wasnon-alcoholic.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
That's amazing and I love that you were able to kind
of keep your eyes peeled forthat stuff, because that's
certainly something that I knowpeople are talking about.
And then also one of the thingsthat always fascinates me about
the COVID situation.
This again goes back to thatfriend that I mentioned earlier.
Yeah, she worked at a spiritscompany.
(10:59):
She still worked when everyoneelse was on lockdown and her
office not only was open butthey were considered I forgot
what she called it maybeessential workers, because the
alcohol, the spirits industry, Idon't know if it was
technically called essential,but they went to work and I
(11:20):
remember thinking that it wassuch an interesting thing that
there were certain industriesthat were considered essential.
So I'm curious since COVIDhappened, were there any
specific trends that you'reseeing as an impact of the COVID
?
Speaker 1 (11:36):
years.
So I was with a differentcompany during the 2020 and
joined Heineken in the lastthree years, but prior to that I
was actually with Heinekenbefore COVID.
So I have quite a bit ofexperience in the alcohol
industry.
But my COVID years are actuallyspent with Reckitt on the OTC
cough cold flu side, which wasessential during that time, the
(11:57):
OTC medicines and everythinglike that.
We look at the beer industryright now and you hear the news
articles like oh, it's indecline, like, oh, it's
struggling, there's lessconsumers drinking, and that's
partly true, but really you needto take a look at the years
before covid to understandwhat's really going on.
So within the alcohol industryback 20 years prior to covid, we
(12:19):
have seen very steady growth inalcoholic beverage.
And then you came to 2020 wheneverybody was in lockdown and
everybody was staying at homewith extra income and the
alcoholic beverage industry justboomed.
We had fantastic years in 2020,2021.
And in 2022, we started gettingsome pot chain challenges.
(12:41):
But that volume increase overthose years when everyone was
staying at home with extraincome was quite remarkable.
So, what we're seeing now iskind of like a right sizing of
the industry In 2024, last yearwe actually sold more beverage
alcohol in the US than we did in2019.
(13:01):
So it does tell me that we'restill on that very stable growth
path.
We're just kind of right sizingfrom the COVID boom.
It's just we tend to thinkshort, short-term year-to-year
and we don't back up very oftenand really understand how those
trends have just shifted.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, it's interesting because when you
tend to have something that isout of pocket or out of pattern
in terms of growth and then yougo back to more of a stable
growth, it always looks like.
I remember one of my firstbosses when I was at a large
company that he said this thingthat has stuck with me happiness
(13:37):
is a low base and in the sensethat when your base is pretty
low and then you get growth, youlook amazing, you look like a
hero because your growth is yeah, times are good.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, you're so great .
Speaker 2 (13:51):
You're breaking your arm, patting yourself on the
back, but when you're working insomething that already is at a
pretty stable and steady growthand then you are looking to show
incrementality, I mean, itmakes so much sense how people
are viewing it now because youdid have this probably unnatural
(14:12):
bump during COVID in growth.
But then looking at growthcompared to that is probably not
the best way to look at it.
It's probably better to lookback to, as you said before.
That bump happened prior toCOVID.
So you mentioned, just as youwere talking, that this is your
(14:33):
second stint working at Heineken.
You took a little bit of abreak, but let's take a step
back.
You have spent a lot of yourcareer at large brands like
Heineken.
You mentioned Reckitt.
For those who are not familiarwith Reckitt, they are a maker
of a lot of products that youwill know, like Lysol and
Mucinex.
These are all, in differentways, consumer packaged goods,
(14:56):
meaning they're products thatconsumers like me, everyday
people, are buying.
What drew you to that industry?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, it's funny you mentioned you already pulled it
out the math, the trends, thelooking at data.
What brought me to the industryinitially was that.
So you know, through highschool and college I never had a
clear path of what I wanted todo, but I always loved math and
I always loved statistics andeconomics, and I just found
(15:27):
myself in business classes and Ifound myself at the U of A
getting my MBA in business,which opened up some doors for
me, and so that's kind of whatreally got me on the path that I
got into today was taking thoseopportunities, finding an open
door with Kraft Foods at theUniversity of Arkansas, getting
an internship there, and thenwhat really, I'd say, hooked me
(15:49):
was the ability to do work thathad such large impact.
So I'll back way up, as I wasfinishing college, I worked for
a very small supplier calledOutdoor Cap and we built
baseball caps and headwear fordifferent suppliers, and I was
on the Walmart account at thetime and I was working with a
(16:10):
factory in Bangladesh.
We had factories all over theworld to develop ladies golf
caps and this was my first likereal taste of CPG to develop a
line of ladies golf caps that weeventually took in and sold to
Walmart.
And then seeing those golf capson the shelf in the sporting
goods section at Walmart acrossthe country was, quite frankly,
(16:34):
jaw-dropping.
I just could not believe thatthe work that I had put in to
find the fabric, to find thelogos, to work with the graphic
designers we had to faxinformation to the factories
because there was an email backand build a product that we
could take to market, and it wasvery successful.
So I think that's really whathooked me is like the idea the
(16:55):
work that I did could matter atsuch scale and I just enjoyed
doing it.
So I've kind of been in it eversince.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I love that, that idea that you know having an
impact and being able to seesomething kind of come to
fruition.
It also has a little bit ofthat maker mentality.
There are people that are kindof known as makers and they
really love the idea of beingable to come from having the
idea to actually seeing thatproduct come to fruition.
(17:27):
That sounds like it tracks.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, it was a formative moment for me, for
sure, and those caps stayed onthe shelf for like three or four
years after I left that company.
They were very good, I lovethat.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So in terms of then thinking about the elements of
your life that are outside ofthe workplace, I know we were
just talking before we startedrecording that you had a
business trip recently out toCalifornia, I believe and you
were able to take your daughters.
So can you talk a little bitabout you have three daughters,
(18:00):
we mentioned there, and how oldare they?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Four, seven and nine.
I mean such great we're in thethick of it.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yep, yeah, you really are in the thick of it.
I also have only daughters, andI do think that there's
something that's interesting foryou know women like us who are
working have a professional lifebut also have daughters, and
I'm curious to hear yourperspective on how you think the
professional world might evolvefor their generation.
(18:32):
I have spent time especially asmy daughters, you know, started
getting older really beingfascinated, going to the trends,
conversation like how thingsevolve and you know where there
are different cycles withdifferent generations and in
terms of how they want to work.
But how do you think that theprofessional world might evolve
(18:54):
for your daughters?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, that's such a good question.
Like I said, I jumped into CPGand found my own drive, but then
having daughters and lettingthem see what I do, that adds a
layer, right.
I want to show them that whatthey want to do is possible, and
so that's just another reasonthat I'm excited to come to work
every day and do what I do, butI don't know how it's going to
(19:17):
change.
One of the things that I'vethought about is people can be
influencers and marketers atsuch a young age.
Now they can find their voice,and we have the technology to
give them their voice.
So that's exciting.
And then I even go back evenfurther and think about how,
like I said, I was faxing afactory to tell them
instructions on developing aproduct, and now we're using
(19:40):
Excel and then we're moving intoAI.
So I just think technology isgoing to keep going, but our
kids they seem to pick it upfaster and faster too, so it'll
be interesting to see how theywork.
I hope they still meet inoffices and face-to-face.
I hope they still come togetherin the workplace in the future,
I guess.
At minimum I hope that.
(20:00):
You know, our youngergeneration knows that they can
chase their dreams, and it'seven more possible now for them
to take on whatever they findpassion for.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, well, you mentioned this word as you were
just talking the word influence,and this podcast is called
Women of Influence.
I'm curious if you can shareyour thoughts on what does
influence mean to you?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
When I first saw your question, I thought influence
is really about knowing when youhave it, and where you have it
and also where you need it, andso you know, there's cases, like
as a mom, where I haveinfluence, whether I want it or
not, you know, and I think howyou show up every day for people
(20:42):
that you have influence overtakes extra thought, and I think
I think you need to be verysmart in how you're influencing,
because you are.
And then there's influence inthe workplace and, as I've
developed my personally overseveral years, know that there's
settings where I have lots ofinfluence, where it's similar,
where I carefully act in a waythat I want that influence to go
(21:06):
.
But then there's times whereyou need influence and you need
to build it and in those times,as I've learned, you really have
to leverage your network.
Understand when you needsupport, understand when you
don't have the influence, butyou need someone on your side
that does have influence to helpget something done.
So, more so than just influencein and of itself, it's knowing,
(21:29):
building a trusted network,leaning on others, not trying to
do it all myself, but helpingto drive influence through
building strong networks shared,because I think, in this day
(22:05):
and age where everyone thinks,well, I just have to figure out
how I influence, as opposed torecognizing that by building
relationships with others.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Sometimes it's not about you directly influencing
something.
It's about you having arelationship or a connection
that is able to influence thatthing that you are looking to
ultimately influence.
I think that is such abrilliant way to think about the
influence that it is not justabout what you as a person are
(22:37):
influencing within your world,but how the whole ecosystem
works.
So my last question for you,which I love to end the podcast
with, is if you could go back togive your younger self, who is
just getting started, one pieceof smart advice or important
(22:59):
advice.
What would that be?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, this is very connected to the last question
because, like I said, in mypersonal development, building
my network has been such a hugestep in the last four to five
years.
I would tell myself to notoverlook building your network.
So, as a young professional, Idon't think I'm that different
from other people.
You want to prove yourselfright.
(23:23):
You want to do everything onyour own, show that you can.
You've got a challenge in frontof you.
You kind of want to pull upyour bootstraps and show the
world what you're capable of.
And I have really found that Ihave gained so much more by
engaging other people, otherleaders, showing you know
transparently that not only do Ineed the help but I also can
(23:45):
value the different opinions ofothers to really come to better
outcomes as a leader.
It takes that because if youbuild something on your own,
then you're the only onefollowing you.
But if you pose a challenge ora problem or an opportunity to
say my team and we together comeup with the solution or the
(24:05):
next step, then I've got buy-infrom others and we have a better
outcome because we had morepeople identifying potential
pitfalls and kind of looking atthe problem holistically.
So if I were, and I do tellthis to any young person that I
get the chance to intern or hire.
Don't skip the lunches andbuilding your network or don't
(24:27):
not ask the questions becauseyou think you already know the
answer, because you will be somuch better off and you will go
so much further if you can bringothers along with you and so
missing out on that is a hugeopportunity that, like I said, I
always make sure to teach alongthe way because I feel like
I've learned it and seen thebenefits of it.
(24:48):
Just one other piece of thatthat I see in young
professionals is the not willingto pick up the phone and call.
Like we've come to COVID and wehave to schedule everything out
to have meetings and especially, like I said, I work with 300
distributors Letting go of fear,picking up the phone and
calling somebody doesn't have tobe scheduled.
That creates relationships overtime and that builds your
(25:11):
network.
So it's a very simple thing todo but it seems scary.
So, in addition to just don'toverlook building your network,
use simple things like gettingover your fear, pick up the
phone, ask a question.
Those are the things that aregoing to move you further than
you could ever move on your own.
So that's what I'll leave youwith, but those are kind of my
(25:31):
thoughts as I've come fullcircle in the last four to five
years.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I think it is such excellent advice and the notion,
as you were talking about thefirst part of this, about not
overlooking the value ofbuilding out your network.
I think the reason, too, thatit's so easy for young
professionals who are juststarting to overlook it is
because you're mostly anindividual contributor at that
(25:58):
point, meaning what you canaccomplish is generally very
much driven by what youpersonally can do.
But I think that the people whoare young and look at their
roles as it's not just aboutwhat I can accomplish, but if I
can build out relationships withother people, then I can be
(26:23):
more successful, because maybeI'm in marketing and I went to
lunch with somebody inoperations.
I now have an understanding ofhow their world impacts what I
do and there's so much value inbeing successful, and especially
, I think at big companies, butI think at all companies and I
(26:43):
think someone who's young, whogets the chance to do that, will
stand out so much if you areable to get a broader
perspective on what's happening,which means you have to talk to
other people.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
You have to engage.
It's as simple as go to thecompany lunch.
Your inbox will be there whenyou get back.
You know it's hard to step awaysometimes, but yeah, take those
moments and don't overlook themas not valuable, because over
time they become very valuable.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
To the other point you mentioned about just picking
up the phone or just likedirectly reaching out so
important and it saves so muchtime.
I mean, think about, like,sometimes, the back and forth we
have with an email versus justpicking up the phone and being
able to say hey, listen, this iswhat I'm thinking and you have
(27:34):
like that back and forthdialogue that gets you to
resolution faster.
If you even just think about itfrom an efficiency standpoint,
do it.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Absolutely.
Think of how much it takes toschedule a meeting right.
That takes like three emailsTotally.
Yeah, no, that's what I tell.
You know my team all the timeI'm like reach out directly nine
times out of 10, you'll get ahold of them and then, like you
said, you're working much moreefficiently because you have the
answer or you've been able toget the feedback you know on the
spot, and that you can continueto move forward.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I love that Well.
Amberlee Thompson, thank you somuch for spending this time
with me today and sharing yourexperience.
I think you have so muchvaluable advice and insights for
people and it sounds like it'svery consistent with kind of
what your interests are, too, inunderstanding the data and the
trends.
I love that we had a chance tochat today, so thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Thank you.
Thank you for the time and veryfun to meet you this week in
person, so hopefully we'll runinto each other again sometime
soon.
Yes,
Don't skip the lunches and building your
network, or don't not ask thequestions because you think you
already know the answer, becauseyou will be so much better off
and you will go so much furtherif you can bring others along
with you.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This season on the Women of Influence podcast, we
have been talking with women whoare working in industries that
we find fascinating and alsohave an impact on women who are
buying these products day to day.
Today's guest is AmberleeThompson.
She is a senior sales leader atHeineken, the brewing company,
and maybe a product that youhave bought before or you
certainly have seen before, andI really enjoyed this
(00:51):
conversation because Amberleeand I are very similar in the
sense that we both loveunderstanding consumer trends
and why people shop the way theydo, buy the way they do and
what is impacting that.
We talk today about how thealcohol business has changed
(01:13):
from the COVID days, from beforeCOVID to after COVID and now we
are in a period of COVID beingover and how has alcohol
consumption changed, what thingshave impacted it, and what I
love about this conversation ishow deeply Amberlee understands
(01:34):
those insights of what's goingon with how people are thinking
and buying within the spiritsand the alcohol category and
also helping to develop productsthat are non-alcoholic, and
thinking about how companieslike Heineken do that.
Not only do we talk about thoseelements of the industry, but
(01:56):
we also delve into Amberlee'sperspective on how she thinks
about developing talent withinher team and how she thinks
about what influence meanswithin her role.
I love her explanation, or herdefinition, which you will hear
in the episode, of how shedefines what influence means to
(02:19):
her.
I have not heard before, and Ihave heard lots of people talk
about influence in the past andwhat it means to them, and I
really love that.
So please look out for that inthe episode.
I think you're going to findthis episode very interesting if
you are someone who has, youknow, purchased products in this
category before.
(02:40):
The other thing that you'llnote about Amberlee is she's not
only worked at a big companylike Heineken, but she's also
worked at the maker of Lysol andMucinex and also at Kraft.
So she's really had very deepexperience in understanding what
motivates people when they'rethinking about buying products,
(03:01):
and I think you'll find thisconversation super interesting
to listen to.
I enjoyed having it.
With that, I'm going to let youhear my conversation with the
wonderful Amberlee Thompson.
Here we go.
Amberlee, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Alisa.
Good to be here.
(03:22):
I am excited to chat with youtoday.
We were just talking about howwe randomly ran into each other.
I was on a business trip toArkansas and happened to be in
the same office building thatyou were in and we ran into each
other in person, which waslovely because we'd only met via
video chat.
(03:43):
But there we were in person andnow here we are recording.
It's great to have you.
I'm excited to chat with you.
I am so fascinated by thespirits alcohol business and I
know that that is the world thatyou are in.
You are the Senior SalesDirector for Walmart and Sam's
Club for Heineken.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your role and what your
(04:06):
day-to-day responsibilities looklike?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Yeah, so I've been in the CPG industry for about 12
years in a variety of roles and,as you mentioned, I'm currently
the Senior Sales Director forHeineken.
So I lead a sales team thatcalls on both Walmart and Sam's
Club and we work with over 300distributors, 200 sales
colleagues within theorganization to help ensure that
(04:30):
our Heineken products and otherbrands that we carry are on
Walmart and Sam's Club shelvesevery day.
So really, what I think to dois I just like to serve our
customers, think about the waythat the industry is changing
and look for ways to grow ourbusiness with our partners.
You know, on a daily basis, Ilook at trends, I look at data
very heavily.
I work with our team to createprograms and promotions that
(04:55):
support our products.
I evaluate new items that arepotential innovation that would
be interesting to consumers, andthen, on a regular basis, we
meet with our Walmart and Sam'spartners to discuss these
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
I have a few questions just to clarify, to
make sure that we understandsome of the terminology you just
talked about.
Tell us in this context yousaid you work with distributors.
What is a distributor for thoseof us who are not familiar with
distributors in the alcoholindustry?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, so the alcohol industry is very unique in the
US.
We, as a Heineken producer andsupplier, we cannot sell
directly to our retailers likeWalmart and Sam's Club.
We have to go through athree-tier network, which is the
distributor.
So Heineken sells our productsto a distributor and then our
(05:48):
distributor turns around andsells that product to Walmart,
sam's Club, costco, etc.
It's a DSD model and it datesall the way back to prohibition.
So it's really about doingbusiness in the legal capacity
with our distributors to get ourproducts to Walmart and then
eventually to our customers.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So I don't think that most people understand that.
I mean, I would say thatprobably a lot of people
listening are consumers orpurchasers of alcohol but may
not know that there is this veryspecific and unique
distribution model for alcohol.
Just in comparison, let's sayI'm somebody who sells chocolate
(06:29):
to Walmart, right, I don't havea distributor necessarily in
between me and Walmart, right, Idon't necessarily have to work
through a distributor to get myproduct on the shelf at Walmart
or Sam's Club or any otherretail for that matter.
But for a alcohol brand likeHeineken, like any of the others
(06:50):
, there is a required kind ofmiddle layer, which are the
distributors that you have towork through them in order to
get product on the shelf.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, and see, what makes it even more complex is
the distributors only haverights to sell alcohol in
territories that go down to thecounty level.
So I might have I have over 300distributors and they don't
overlap in geography.
So I'll have, you know, adistributor for Northwest
Arkansas and they can only sellour products in Northwest
(07:22):
Arkansas.
They cannot sell them in Texas.
Those rights go to adistributor like Andrews in
Dallas.
So it's very complex because ofthe number of teams and
individuals that we have to workwith every day to sell one
vision or one goal or one growthmodel.
It's very, very complex andkeeps us very busy.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, I can imagine, and thank you for giving us the
101 on that.
I have a dear friend who worksin the spirits business and when
she explained this to me yearsago I had no idea that there was
this very different model.
So you also mentioned thatinnovation is a part of what you
(08:05):
get to do and thinking aboutlike, okay, what types of
products do you decide to moveforward and you look at trends.
Can you talk just a little bitabout how you think about that?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Yeah, that is my favorite part of CPG consumer
packaged goods business thatI've been in for the last 12
years, especially working withWalmart and Sam's Club, who has
some of the best data you knowin the world, quite frankly, we
can see what is selling by dayby hour, by region.
(08:39):
We can see what types ofproducts are selling well or
growing.
And when you think about how toinnovate and how to be smart
about it, the best thing to dois think about the consumer and
understand using the data, likeif there's certain flavors that
are starting to grow, if there'scertain types of beer that is
(09:02):
showing a lot of momentum, wecan take that back to our
internal teams and share thatinformation and have a
discussion with R&D about.
You know what's the nextevolution of that product?
Or the next thing we can do.
I would say one I'm most proudof we launched a Dos Equis Lime
and Salt Zero a couple years agofrom the Walmart trend data.
(09:26):
So we found that non-alcoholicbeer was growing pretty fast and
fairly underdeveloped in themarket, and when we looked at
the entire beer category, wealso noticed what was missing
from the non-alcoholic segmentwas flavor.
And so, again, looking at thedata, looking at what was
missing understanding that lime,which doesn't seem like rocket
(09:49):
science, but was a core flavorin beer.
It brought us, you know, theinsights to put together a story
that ultimately created aproduct Dos Equis, lime and Salt
Zero that's now selling in overa thousand Walmarts and it's
doing very well.
And it's because we can usethat data, think through the
consumer trends and findopportunities to grow the
(10:10):
business.
So that's a fun one, but that'swhat we work on all the time.
We work on planning.
The innovation process takes alot of time.
So you know you might get anidea and it's a year really
before it gets into market andit takes a lot of time and a lot
of people to get that done.
But definitely a very coolaspect of our business.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
I love that and I love that example.
Thank you for sharing this.
So is the Dos Equis version.
Is that alcoholic ornon-alcoholic?
Speaker 1 (10:35):
This one's non-alcoholic.
The innovation wasnon-alcoholic.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
That's amazing and I love that you were able to kind
of keep your eyes peeled forthat stuff, because that's
certainly something that I knowpeople are talking about.
And then also one of the thingsthat always fascinates me about
the COVID situation.
This again goes back to thatfriend that I mentioned earlier.
Yeah, she worked at a spiritscompany.
(10:59):
She still worked when everyoneelse was on lockdown and her
office not only was open butthey were considered I forgot
what she called it maybeessential workers, because the
alcohol, the spirits industry, Idon't know if it was
technically called essential,but they went to work and I
(11:20):
remember thinking that it wassuch an interesting thing that
there were certain industriesthat were considered essential.
So I'm curious since COVIDhappened, were there any
specific trends that you'reseeing as an impact of the COVID
?
Speaker 1 (11:36):
years.
So I was with a differentcompany during the 2020 and
joined Heineken in the lastthree years, but prior to that I
was actually with Heinekenbefore COVID.
So I have quite a bit ofexperience in the alcohol
industry.
But my COVID years are actuallyspent with Reckitt on the OTC
cough cold flu side, which wasessential during that time, the
(11:57):
OTC medicines and everythinglike that.
We look at the beer industryright now and you hear the news
articles like oh, it's indecline, like, oh, it's
struggling, there's lessconsumers drinking, and that's
partly true, but really you needto take a look at the years
before covid to understandwhat's really going on.
So within the alcohol industryback 20 years prior to covid, we
(12:19):
have seen very steady growth inalcoholic beverage.
And then you came to 2020 wheneverybody was in lockdown and
everybody was staying at homewith extra income and the
alcoholic beverage industry justboomed.
We had fantastic years in 2020,2021.
And in 2022, we started gettingsome pot chain challenges.
(12:41):
But that volume increase overthose years when everyone was
staying at home with extraincome was quite remarkable.
So, what we're seeing now iskind of like a right sizing of
the industry In 2024, last yearwe actually sold more beverage
alcohol in the US than we did in2019.
(13:01):
So it does tell me that we'restill on that very stable growth
path.
We're just kind of right sizingfrom the COVID boom.
It's just we tend to thinkshort, short-term year-to-year
and we don't back up very oftenand really understand how those
trends have just shifted.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, it's interesting because when you
tend to have something that isout of pocket or out of pattern
in terms of growth and then yougo back to more of a stable
growth, it always looks like.
I remember one of my firstbosses when I was at a large
company that he said this thingthat has stuck with me happiness
(13:37):
is a low base and in the sensethat when your base is pretty
low and then you get growth, youlook amazing, you look like a
hero because your growth is yeah, times are good.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, you're so great .
Speaker 2 (13:51):
You're breaking your arm, patting yourself on the
back, but when you're working insomething that already is at a
pretty stable and steady growthand then you are looking to show
incrementality, I mean, itmakes so much sense how people
are viewing it now because youdid have this probably unnatural
(14:12):
bump during COVID in growth.
But then looking at growthcompared to that is probably not
the best way to look at it.
It's probably better to lookback to, as you said before.
That bump happened prior toCOVID.
So you mentioned, just as youwere talking, that this is your
(14:33):
second stint working at Heineken.
You took a little bit of abreak, but let's take a step
back.
You have spent a lot of yourcareer at large brands like
Heineken.
You mentioned Reckitt.
For those who are not familiarwith Reckitt, they are a maker
of a lot of products that youwill know, like Lysol and
Mucinex.
These are all, in differentways, consumer packaged goods,
(14:56):
meaning they're products thatconsumers like me, everyday
people, are buying.
What drew you to that industry?
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, it's funny you mentioned you already pulled it
out the math, the trends, thelooking at data.
What brought me to the industryinitially was that.
So you know, through highschool and college I never had a
clear path of what I wanted todo, but I always loved math and
I always loved statistics andeconomics, and I just found
(15:27):
myself in business classes and Ifound myself at the U of A
getting my MBA in business,which opened up some doors for
me, and so that's kind of whatreally got me on the path that I
got into today was taking thoseopportunities, finding an open
door with Kraft Foods at theUniversity of Arkansas, getting
an internship there, and thenwhat really, I'd say, hooked me
(15:49):
was the ability to do work thathad such large impact.
So I'll back way up, as I wasfinishing college, I worked for
a very small supplier calledOutdoor Cap and we built
baseball caps and headwear fordifferent suppliers, and I was
on the Walmart account at thetime and I was working with a
(16:10):
factory in Bangladesh.
We had factories all over theworld to develop ladies golf
caps and this was my first likereal taste of CPG to develop a
line of ladies golf caps that weeventually took in and sold to
Walmart.
And then seeing those golf capson the shelf in the sporting
goods section at Walmart acrossthe country was, quite frankly,
(16:34):
jaw-dropping.
I just could not believe thatthe work that I had put in to
find the fabric, to find thelogos, to work with the graphic
designers we had to faxinformation to the factories
because there was an email backand build a product that we
could take to market, and it wasvery successful.
So I think that's really whathooked me is like the idea the
(16:55):
work that I did could matter atsuch scale and I just enjoyed
doing it.
So I've kind of been in it eversince.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I love that, that idea that you know having an
impact and being able to seesomething kind of come to
fruition.
It also has a little bit ofthat maker mentality.
There are people that are kindof known as makers and they
really love the idea of beingable to come from having the
idea to actually seeing thatproduct come to fruition.
(17:27):
That sounds like it tracks.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, it was a formative moment for me, for
sure, and those caps stayed onthe shelf for like three or four
years after I left that company.
They were very good, I lovethat.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So in terms of then thinking about the elements of
your life that are outside ofthe workplace, I know we were
just talking before we startedrecording that you had a
business trip recently out toCalifornia, I believe and you
were able to take your daughters.
So can you talk a little bitabout you have three daughters,
(18:00):
we mentioned there, and how oldare they?
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Four, seven and nine.
I mean such great we're in thethick of it.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yep, yeah, you really are in the thick of it.
I also have only daughters, andI do think that there's
something that's interesting foryou know women like us who are
working have a professional lifebut also have daughters, and
I'm curious to hear yourperspective on how you think the
professional world might evolvefor their generation.
(18:32):
I have spent time especially asmy daughters, you know, started
getting older really beingfascinated, going to the trends,
conversation like how thingsevolve and you know where there
are different cycles withdifferent generations and in
terms of how they want to work.
But how do you think that theprofessional world might evolve
(18:54):
for your daughters?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, that's such a good question.
Like I said, I jumped into CPGand found my own drive, but then
having daughters and lettingthem see what I do, that adds a
layer, right.
I want to show them that whatthey want to do is possible, and
so that's just another reasonthat I'm excited to come to work
every day and do what I do, butI don't know how it's going to
(19:17):
change.
One of the things that I'vethought about is people can be
influencers and marketers atsuch a young age.
Now they can find their voice,and we have the technology to
give them their voice.
So that's exciting.
And then I even go back evenfurther and think about how,
like I said, I was faxing afactory to tell them
instructions on developing aproduct, and now we're using
(19:40):
Excel and then we're moving intoAI.
So I just think technology isgoing to keep going, but our
kids they seem to pick it upfaster and faster too, so it'll
be interesting to see how theywork.
I hope they still meet inoffices and face-to-face.
I hope they still come togetherin the workplace in the future,
I guess.
At minimum I hope that.
(20:00):
You know, our youngergeneration knows that they can
chase their dreams, and it'seven more possible now for them
to take on whatever they findpassion for.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, well, you mentioned this word as you were
just talking the word influence,and this podcast is called
Women of Influence.
I'm curious if you can shareyour thoughts on what does
influence mean to you?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
When I first saw your question, I thought influence
is really about knowing when youhave it, and where you have it
and also where you need it, andso you know, there's cases, like
as a mom, where I haveinfluence, whether I want it or
not, you know, and I think howyou show up every day for people
(20:42):
that you have influence overtakes extra thought, and I think
I think you need to be verysmart in how you're influencing,
because you are.
And then there's influence inthe workplace and, as I've
developed my personally overseveral years, know that there's
settings where I have lots ofinfluence, where it's similar,
where I carefully act in a waythat I want that influence to go
(21:06):
.
But then there's times whereyou need influence and you need
to build it and in those times,as I've learned, you really have
to leverage your network.
Understand when you needsupport, understand when you
don't have the influence, butyou need someone on your side
that does have influence to helpget something done.
So, more so than just influencein and of itself, it's knowing,
(21:29):
building a trusted network,leaning on others, not trying to
do it all myself, but helpingto drive influence through
building strong networks shared,because I think, in this day
(22:05):
and age where everyone thinks,well, I just have to figure out
how I influence, as opposed torecognizing that by building
relationships with others.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Sometimes it's not about you directly influencing
something.
It's about you having arelationship or a connection
that is able to influence thatthing that you are looking to
ultimately influence.
I think that is such abrilliant way to think about the
influence that it is not justabout what you as a person are
(22:37):
influencing within your world,but how the whole ecosystem
works.
So my last question for you,which I love to end the podcast
with, is if you could go back togive your younger self, who is
just getting started, one pieceof smart advice or important
(22:59):
advice.
What would that be?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, this is very connected to the last question
because, like I said, in mypersonal development, building
my network has been such a hugestep in the last four to five
years.
I would tell myself to notoverlook building your network.
So, as a young professional, Idon't think I'm that different
from other people.
You want to prove yourselfright.
(23:23):
You want to do everything onyour own, show that you can.
You've got a challenge in frontof you.
You kind of want to pull upyour bootstraps and show the
world what you're capable of.
And I have really found that Ihave gained so much more by
engaging other people, otherleaders, showing you know
transparently that not only do Ineed the help but I also can
(23:45):
value the different opinions ofothers to really come to better
outcomes as a leader.
It takes that because if youbuild something on your own,
then you're the only onefollowing you.
But if you pose a challenge ora problem or an opportunity to
say my team and we together comeup with the solution or the
(24:05):
next step, then I've got buy-infrom others and we have a better
outcome because we had morepeople identifying potential
pitfalls and kind of looking atthe problem holistically.
So if I were, and I do tellthis to any young person that I
get the chance to intern or hire.
Don't skip the lunches andbuilding your network or don't
(24:27):
not ask the questions becauseyou think you already know the
answer, because you will be somuch better off and you will go
so much further if you can bringothers along with you and so
missing out on that is a hugeopportunity that, like I said, I
always make sure to teach alongthe way because I feel like
I've learned it and seen thebenefits of it.
(24:48):
Just one other piece of thatthat I see in young
professionals is the not willingto pick up the phone and call.
Like we've come to COVID and wehave to schedule everything out
to have meetings and especially, like I said, I work with 300
distributors Letting go of fear,picking up the phone and
calling somebody doesn't have tobe scheduled.
That creates relationships overtime and that builds your
(25:11):
network.
So it's a very simple thing todo but it seems scary.
So, in addition to just don'toverlook building your network,
use simple things like gettingover your fear, pick up the
phone, ask a question.
Those are the things that aregoing to move you further than
you could ever move on your own.
So that's what I'll leave youwith, but those are kind of my
(25:31):
thoughts as I've come fullcircle in the last four to five
years.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I think it is such excellent advice and the notion,
as you were talking about thefirst part of this, about not
overlooking the value ofbuilding out your network.
I think the reason, too, thatit's so easy for young
professionals who are juststarting to overlook it is
because you're mostly anindividual contributor at that
(25:58):
point, meaning what you canaccomplish is generally very
much driven by what youpersonally can do.
But I think that the people whoare young and look at their
roles as it's not just aboutwhat I can accomplish, but if I
can build out relationships withother people, then I can be
(26:23):
more successful, because maybeI'm in marketing and I went to
lunch with somebody inoperations.
I now have an understanding ofhow their world impacts what I
do and there's so much value inbeing successful, and especially
, I think at big companies, butI think at all companies and I
(26:43):
think someone who's young, whogets the chance to do that, will
stand out so much if you areable to get a broader
perspective on what's happening,which means you have to talk to
other people.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
You have to engage.
It's as simple as go to thecompany lunch.
Your inbox will be there whenyou get back.
You know it's hard to step awaysometimes, but yeah, take those
moments and don't overlook themas not valuable, because over
time they become very valuable.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
To the other point you mentioned about just picking
up the phone or just likedirectly reaching out so
important and it saves so muchtime.
I mean, think about, like,sometimes, the back and forth we
have with an email versus justpicking up the phone and being
able to say hey, listen, this iswhat I'm thinking and you have
(27:34):
like that back and forthdialogue that gets you to
resolution faster.
If you even just think about itfrom an efficiency standpoint,
do it.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Absolutely.
Think of how much it takes toschedule a meeting right.
That takes like three emailsTotally.
Yeah, no, that's what I tell.
You know my team all the timeI'm like reach out directly nine
times out of 10, you'll get ahold of them and then, like you
said, you're working much moreefficiently because you have the
answer or you've been able toget the feedback you know on the
spot, and that you can continueto move forward.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I love that Well.
Amberlee Thompson, thank you somuch for spending this time
with me today and sharing yourexperience.
I think you have so muchvaluable advice and insights for
people and it sounds like it'svery consistent with kind of
what your interests are, too, inunderstanding the data and the
trends.
I love that we had a chance tochat today, so thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Thank you.
Thank you for the time and veryfun to meet you this week in
person, so hopefully we'll runinto each other again sometime
soon.
Yes,
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