Our Partners are what make us great.
What’s your H-E-B story?
In May of 2022, I was hired on as a Lead on the new Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) space within Digital Security. At that time, we were a team of four — our Manager, me as the Lead, an Analyst, and an Intern — and I like to say we were tiny, but mighty!
Just over a year after I came onboard, Digital Leadership identified the need for a team focused specifically on the compliance program within GRC. So, I became the manager of a newly created team – of four Analysts who are doing great work in the Compliance space!
Very cool! Can you tell us more about the broader impact your team has on our Partners and H-E-B as a whole?
The biggest area of what we do is forge relationships and educate teams on the importance of compliance with our Digital Security policies, standards and regulatory requirements—like HIPAA and PCI DSS — there is so much critical data and related processes to consider in our day-to-day operations. This area of our business is vitally important, because it helps to ensure we are keeping H-E-B, our Partners, and Customers secure and helps us run our operations more efficiently.
A great example of this is our annual PCI audits. There are hundreds of critical standards that must be implemented and followed for us to be able to accept credit cards in our stores, pharmacies, restaurants and via our mobile and web apps and sustaining compliance year-round. Our store Partners are really on the frontline ensuring we’re handling sensitive information like credit card information and health data appropriately. Training Partners on how to keep data safe is a big piece of this puzzle – we regularly check to ensure Partners have completed their training and understand the impact of following our standards. Digital and teams like Privacy, Corporate Security, Accounting, Contact Center and others are also critical to the success of the audit. Our customers trust us to handle sensitive information with care, and our Partners really take ownership of that – we couldn’t do it without them!
Did you have an experience with H-E-B when you were younger?
As a Houston native, I distinctly remember when H-E-B first came to town. My family and I were fast fans. I am close to my grandmother, an early adopter of the H-E-B way of life. Food was my grandmother’s love language. She was the head chef for our family and taught me how to cook, so I remember many trips to our H-E-B alongside her. In fact, when a new store opened in our neighborhood, she was the first of our family in line! She felt a strong sense of pride for H-E-B, the great selection, the freshness of the produce, and quality of the products. When family members who didn’t have their own H-E-B store came to visit, she would absolutely take them to ours. It was a destination. My Mom has followed the tradition taking visiting friends and family to her Central Market.
It sounds like she had quite the impact on you! What does a day in the life look like for your team?
We stay in close contact with Partners across the company. Our day is a constant stream of consultations on compliance and managing H-E-B’s compliance programs and related projects.
Our role is to inform and build a culture of security awareness related to compliance and regulatory requirements and consult with Partners on related changes the business is making. We have wonderful, symbiotic relationships within H-E-B, and we help the business identify any potential concerns, navigate impacts to regulatory controls, and influence how implementation for change initiatives can be done securely.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Almost every day there’s a new opportunity for improvements or to further support the amazing work our Partners are doing. Being a helper and facilitator is really what fills my bucket.
While what we’re asking our Partners to do may at times seem simple to us, that’s not always the case for our Partners. So, I really love getting to know them, understand their roles, and how they do what they do and the impact of our asks— which, in turn, helps us do our jobs more effectively.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Due to the sheer size and complexity of our amazing organization, there can be challenges from a Digital Security Compliance perspective, so we ensure we are staying connected with Partners regularly and that they are equipped with the awareness and support they need to meet H-E-B’s compliance standards.
We have created great programs and partnerships, and we have allies who are true champions of compliance and security. So, there is a sense of ownership from our Partners around this work which really helps to get the word out. We are truly so thankful for all the ways our Partners assist with these efforts and their desire to always do the right thing as is The H-E-B Way.
Considering October is Cybersecurity Month, how do you feel that your team’s contributions are valued?
We want our Partners to know who we are, what we do, and that we are here for them. We want to ensure if they see something, they are saying something. They can share any concerns or questions they may have. My team works closely with the Security Awareness Team to ensure trainings are completed and include the most up-to-date information in our area. We also make the rounds during Cybersecurity Month alongside the Security Awareness team to provide support during their activities with our Partners.
In August, we formally completed and passed our 18th annual PCI DSS audit – which is always great to announce and such a feat! It is a multi-team effort to conduct the audit, as well as sustain compliance. We also work on improvements to our controls year-round with the support of our Compliance Champions. Partners and Leaders we work with often express their appreciation for the Compliance Team’s efforts in coordinating and managing the program.
What advice would you give someone about working for H-E-B?
First off… working for H-E-B is 10/10! Highly recommend! We meet the needs where they are. We do hard things, and we have fun doing them. I am excited every day for the opportunity I have to support our Partners and customers. It is an honor to be here and to witness what makes H-E-B successful.
Secondly, getting to know the culture here is so important, because it’s what makes H-E-B so special. It’s vital to know and embrace The H-E-B Way, The Bold Promise and The Spirit of H-E-B.
H-E-B has been on such a journey of growth and change, so as a leader it’s so important to understand the path that has been forged by Partners who came before us, the Partners who are still here, and how we can help carry that torch into the future. I also believe, as leaders, it’s important that we understand the impact of change, even when it’s positive, for our Partners day in and day out. Our Partners are what make us great.
