"There is no traditional career path anymore. Instead of zeroing in on one thing, you’ve got to be open to new opportunities and skills."
What is your H-E-B story?
Before coming to H-E-B, I worked at another major retailer for 16 years as a Regional VP of Operations. Coming from a competitor, I already knew a lot about H-E-B and what always stuck out to me was the way they take care of the community. So, when I got a call from a recruiter at H-E-B, I said “Heck Yes!” so in 2005, I moved my family to New Braunfels and that’s where I started.
My first H-E-B role was as the Unit Director for our New Braunfels 1 store. After that, I moved around to several other stores as a Unit Director before becoming the Director of Regional Operations (DRO) for San Antonio, working closely with Greg Souquette, who was the Regional Vice President at the time. As a DRO, I worked alongside Javier Avalos, Michael Strauss, and Chris Cecchine, with Cathy Harm as the Director of Selling and Merchandising, and Sarah Elizondo, our Sr. HR Manager. We were a cast of characters, and I like to say I was part of the dream team. After that, I went to work with Roxanne Orsak and Bill Anderson on the new H-E-B plus! format, which was an exciting time for the company.
We like to say at H-E-B, you can have many careers within the same company. So, it is no surprise that somewhere along the way, I got a call – they asked me if I wanted to move into the supply chain.
Up until that point, my experience had been in store operations, and I didn’t know anything about the Manufacturing, Warehousing, or Transportation side of our business. Thanks to the guidance and knowledge from so many amazing Partners and Leaders, I assimilated into this new world quickly and it’s been 10 years that I’ve served as the Senior Vice President of Warehousing. To this day, I’m still learning. Things change fast around here, but it’s been an incredible journey.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Most of what I do daily revolves around walking our warehouses across the state and talking with our Partners. I agree with our leaders who say, “we’re in the people business, we just happen to sell groceries.” Getting to know our Partners and being an ally for them in creating a career that brings them fulfillment is the best part of my days. It’s so fulfilling when you can make a difference in someone’s life — whether they’re struggling and need help or looking for support to reach a goal they’ve set.
Once a period, I make it my goal to stop at every warehouse. It’s not always easy, but I have an incredible admin, Nadine, who helps make it all possible. The cool thing is Partners have really gotten used to seeing me, and they feel comfortable sharing what’s on their minds or asking questions. It’s by far the best part of my job.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
On the flip side, there’s nothing more challenging and disheartening than when you feel like you’ve missed the mark and haven’t been able to help a Partner achieve a goal they’ve set for themselves. At H-E-B, we want everyone to be successful, and as Leaders our job is to set Partners up for success and remove the barriers that get in the way. We don’t want our Partners to just have a job, we want them to have a career that they love, and when that doesn’t happen, it’s disheartening. That’s the hardest part.
What’s next for you?
Well, I’m not at the beginning of my career anymore, and my goal is to leave H-E-B better than I found it — and I found it in pretty darn good shape! My goal is to continue to mentor and coach young talent, so they can continue to make H-E-B the great company that it is. When we have great Leaders, our Partners, customers, and communities reap the benefits of all H-E-B has to offer.
What’s been a memorable moment at H-E-B for you
One moment I always go back to is when I was Unit Director at SA13 and one of my leaders shared with me that — in no uncertain terms — I was running the store with the worst mystery shop scores in the company. At the time, that was how they rated a store on service and condition, etc. And my store was at the bottom. Well, that just wouldn’t stand.
For the next six weeks or so, that same leader would come by the store and remind me about my mystery shop scores and I couldn’t figure out how to improve them.
Well, one day she walked in, and my mouth started talking before my brain engaged and I said, “I know, I know! I have the worst mystery shop stores in the company! From now on I’m going to stand up here at the front every day from 1:00-5:00 pm and I’m going to greet every customer who walks in and thank them for shopping at my store!”
She looked at me and said, “Ok, great!” and walked out.
So, that’s what I did! There were a couple of things that the experience taught me; first, I got to really understand our customers and Partners. Second, progress versus perfection. It took me so long to get started because I thought I needed to have this perfect, elaborate plan, but all I really needed was to just get started.
That’s when I learned to not overcomplicate things or take them too seriously! Not only did this have an impact on our customers, but it did on our Partners as well. When I wasn’t there to greet customers, our Partners stepped up and carried the torch. It really made a difference, and I’ll never forget the impact that leader had on me.
What advice would you give others about working for H-E-B?
There is no traditional career path anymore. Instead of zeroing in on one thing, you’ve got to be open to new opportunities and skills. Every leader I’ve ever worked with has had varied experiences, which really gave them an enterprise mindset. When trying to solve problems and find solutions, you want to look at it from as many perspectives as you can, and varied experiences help you have more to draw from.
Additionally, I always tell young leaders to focus on being the best at whatever role they’re in and it will open the door to more opportunities in the future. Suzanne Wade said that you don’t have to be a Subject Matter Expert to be a great leader, you just have to collaborate, listen, and always look for the good. If you can do those things, you can lead across any organization.
