Latest / SHeCOMMERCE / Ep 35: Laura Thompson - Trust Never Gets Old, Reinventing Canada's Most Trusted Health Brands

Transcript

Ep 35: Laura Thompson - Trust Never Gets Old, Reinventing Canada's Most Trusted Health Brands · SHeCOMMERCE

0:08
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to SheCommerce, where power women and real talk collide in the world of CPG.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm Christina.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: And I'm Jackie.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: Every episode we sit down with the leaders who are shaping the future of commerce.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: From media to shelf.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: And today we're talking about something every one of us can relate to.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: Trust.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: And just think about like your own medicine cabinet.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: There are probably brands in there that have been part of your family's routine, maybe your younger routine for decades.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: And the question is, how do those brands stay relevant in a world where consumers are questioning everything?
0:55
SPEAKER_01: Everything.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: Today's consumers expect more.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: They want efficacy, transparency, authenticity, personalization.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: And increasingly, they expect brands to meet them all, wherever they are, whether that's in a pharmacy's uh aisle or social media or through an AI assistant.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: So our tea today has a common theme.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: The future of consumer health is being shaped just as much by leadership as it is by innovation.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: So let's get into it.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: Well, the first cup of darjealing that we have today is a big leadership move at Bayer.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: Samantha Avivi has just been appointed Global Chief Marketing Officer for Bayer Consumer Health, joining the global leadership team as Bayer continues to accelerate its road to billions growth strategy.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: Alongside her appointment, Bayer also announced new global leaders for commercial operations and data and analytics, a signal that marketing, commercial execution, and consumer insights are becoming even more integrated.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: Halley freaking luya.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: I know, right?
2:21
SPEAKER_00: I love this move.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: Marketing today, you know, isn't just about building campaigns anymore.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: We talk about this a lot.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: It's about understanding consumers deeply, leveraging that data, and building trust at scale.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly where today's conversation with our guest in a few minutes fits.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: Because while Samantha is shaping the global marketing agenda, our guest is bringing those strategies to life in Canada.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Little hint for you.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: Now, our second tea on the tasting menu is a lapse of shang.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: Another leadership move that cost that uh caught our attention this week, former glossier CEO Kyle Lee.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, and Kyle, I hope I pronounced that right, has joined Whoop as chief commercial officer.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Now that is an interesting pivot from beauty and wearable health technology.
3:25
SPEAKER_01: But maybe it isn't such a leap after all.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: I actually don't think it's that big of a leap because consumers don't think in categories, isolated categories anymore.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, beauty, wellness, healthcare, fitness, they're all related.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: They're all blending together into this one holistic conversation about helping people live more healthier lives.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: And Kyle's experience building Glossier into a mega omnichannel brand and really serving its consumers and listening to its consumers and now helping Whoop scale globally just shows how interconnected commerce and health have become and will increasingly become.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: All right.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: Well, with that, one thing that's we know helping, and we can't have a conversation without talking about it, is AI changing shopping.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: So one AI trend that's impossible to ignore is that Shopify recently shared data showing that shoppers who arrive, this is interesting, who arrive from the AI assistance, convert at a significantly higher rate and spend more than shoppers arriving through traditional search.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: So we're literally watching shoppers evolve from that search and brows behavior to ask and decide.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: It's insane.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: And for healthcare brands, that is huge.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: When consumers ask AI what's the best allergy medicine, or which vitamins should I take, uh brands won't just need to win the shelf, they'll need to earn that recommendation.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: And this is where trust becomes even more important.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: And speaking of trust, today's guest spends every day thinking about exactly that.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: Yes, she does.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: Not only is she leading one of the most recognizable consumer health portfolios in the country, she's also helping redefine what trust looks like for today's consumer.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Laura Thompson is the country division head of consumer health at Bayer Canada, where she leads a portfolio of iconic brands, including Claritin, a must-have during her viewers', caniston, hydrocense, and one-a-day, brands that Canadians have relied on for generations.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: She was recently appointed to this role after serving as VP of Sales, bringing more than 25 years of commercial leadership, experience, and deep expertise in Canada's over-the-counter health market.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Laura's career has taken her through Johnson ⁇ Johnson Consumer Health, Kenview, and now Bayer, where she's built a reputation as a collaborative commercial leader who understands both the retailer and the consumer, which is so critical.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: Along the way, she's led customer organizations, shaped commercial capability, contributed to global business model innovation, and built high-performing teams across North America.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: But what really drew us to Laura isn't just her resume, it's her perspective.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: She understands that consumer health isn't simply about the products on the shelf.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: It's about earning trust in some of life's most personal moments.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And because women are so often the ones making health decisions for not only themselves, but their children, their parents, and their partners, etc., understanding women isn't just a marketing strategy.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: It's a business imperative.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Laurel recently shared that perspective shared that perspective in an interview with Strategy, where she spoke about why efficacy and trust have become even more important as Canadians navigate economic uncertainty.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: Her belief is that innovation doesn't replace trust, it strengthens it.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: And that's such an important conversation for anyone building brands today.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're so excited to explore what it really takes to modernize these legacy brands without losing the equity that has been built over decades and how Laura's leading through that change inside one of the world's largest consumer health companies and what she believes the future of self-care and consumer health looks like.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: Laura, welcome to SheCommerce.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: We're so thank you.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to be here.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's jump in then.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: We want to talk about this reinvention of trusted brands.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: So you lead, as Jackie said, some of Canada's most iconic consumer health brands.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: She's named a few.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: These are brands that uh Canadians have trusted for decades.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: So, how do you keep them relevant for today's consumer without losing the trust that made them iconic in the first place?
8:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, a small feat.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: No, no, it's not.
8:24
SPEAKER_03: Uh, first of all, I do want to say, and I should have said this in the beginning, congratulations on your 50,000 downloads.
8:32
SPEAKER_03: Very exciting, and I feel honored to be here.
8:34
SPEAKER_03: So thank you for having me.
8:36
SPEAKER_03: Um, yes, uh, leading iconic brands is uh not uh an easy thing to do, but thankfully I have a really great team that surrounds me every day.
8:46
SPEAKER_03: So I just want to shout out to them because they are the ones uh that are living and breathing uh it every day.
8:52
SPEAKER_03: But I think um what's really important to recognize is that building brands today is very different than it was even two years ago.
9:01
SPEAKER_03: And if we were having this conversation in two years, we probably would be saying the same thing.
9:06
SPEAKER_03: And what underlines that is data and access to data.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: And that is just rapidly growing.
9:13
SPEAKER_03: So if we think about that, consumers have more information, they have more choices, they have more influence, right?
9:21
SPEAKER_03: And they have more needs than ever before and more platforms to talk about those.
9:26
SPEAKER_03: So for us, as we think about iconic brands, truly understanding what made them iconic is the first step in understanding like what not to do.
9:37
SPEAKER_03: Um, and in the healthcare space, the iconic brands is really around the science and the efficacy.
9:44
SPEAKER_03: That's the root of healthcare.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: That is the root of our brands that we're really, really proud of.
9:51
SPEAKER_03: Now, how do you involve them and you keep them relevant is um is really important.
9:58
SPEAKER_03: And if we think about data and we think about choices, we have to think about how our brands show up.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: That's where they shop, where consumers shop, where they're researching, how they're making decisions.
10:13
SPEAKER_03: And those are the tweaks that you can make to your brands.
10:17
SPEAKER_03: So, where are those white spaces today that maybe we can make different claims on our brands?
10:23
SPEAKER_03: That's innovation, right?
10:25
SPEAKER_03: Where can we think about how our brands show up, whether it's in different articles, whether it's um on different websites, whether it's, you know, in different platforms or online or in store.
10:40
SPEAKER_03: Like there's a lot of different ways that you can look at your brands and think about reinvention.
10:46
SPEAKER_03: I'll tell you guys a story though.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:48
SPEAKER_03: It's not my story, but I think the team's gonna be okay if I share it.
10:52
SPEAKER_03: When I was onboarding uh into the company, uh, we were looking at one a day, and we saw I saw a trend, like it had gone massively down, and then we were lapping over that, and I was like, well, what happened here?
11:04
SPEAKER_03: And the one thing I'm gonna tell you about Bear that why I love it is the team laughed.
11:09
SPEAKER_03: And they laughed at an error that they had made and then fixed.
11:13
SPEAKER_03: So that's a really great environment to be in as well.
11:16
SPEAKER_03: It was a big check mark as I was onboarding.
11:18
SPEAKER_03: Um, but when you think about how your brand show up and how trust and relevancy is created, they took a different direction completely on the just the color of the packaging.
11:29
SPEAKER_03: And it massively made an impact to the negative on the brand.
11:35
SPEAKER_03: So that's not what made the brand iconic, but those vistas are very, very, very important.
11:42
SPEAKER_03: So I think it's like understanding your root and the science behind things and the claims and the efficacy and the trust, but then also really understanding what is making your brand the one that people are picking up from like a relevancy perspective.
11:58
SPEAKER_03: And that could be in packaging, that could be in design, etc.
12:02
SPEAKER_03: So just a sh a story to share, um, a quick story, but not my story, but I think the team would be okay with it.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh those semiotics matter so much, Laura, to your point.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: And they really they become like distinguishers for people as they navigate the shelf and look for that familiarity and one's trust and credibility, to your point.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
12:23
SPEAKER_03: And I think like as you kind of think about it, it's not like changing who we are, but it's just reinventing how consumers experience us.
12:30
SPEAKER_03: That's what underlines like how do you evolve an iconic brand.
12:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: Sort of going into your your concept, or not your concept, but your points about trust and efficacy.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: What strikes me from that story too, Laura, is that the team w trusted Bayer to allow them to do a test and learn.
12:56
SPEAKER_01: Right?
12:57
SPEAKER_01: And that, and and it didn't work, and that was okay.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: And I love the fact that when you asked them the question of you failed really badly, they laughed because you're like, oh, we tried, we failed, we we moved on.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: That is such a powerful story.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: And in your recent, which kind of ties into your recent strategy um interview where you talked about trust and efficacy being more important than ever, especially in today's economic climate, you know, where consumers are looking for value, but they want brands that they can rely on.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: So, how has that changed the way that you think about innovation and marketing?
13:34
SPEAKER_01: And and and what I guess, what has surprised you about um consumer behavior over the past years as it to that?
13:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think there's two different things going on, and it's like this internal, not battle, but this internal conversation about how do we how do we ensure that we're satisfying both of them.
13:58
SPEAKER_03: And the first one is the fact that the economic environment only is allowing people to have so much money in their pocket, right?
14:08
SPEAKER_03: So, what is that doing?
14:09
SPEAKER_03: That's that is driving channel change, that and that is driving pack size change.
14:17
SPEAKER_03: And so when we think about innovation in that pillar, you have to think about do you have the right products at the right place for the right consumers so that they we have we have a saying at bear, we have a mission at bear, and it's called road to billions.
14:31
SPEAKER_03: And what that really means is how do we serve billion people to ensure that they have access?
14:39
SPEAKER_03: So access is critically important to us, and access in today's world does mean dollar value value.
14:49
SPEAKER_03: So, do we have the right amount of product that is going to allow a consumer that's on a fixed income to purchase our products because they deserve it, and that is at the root of our company.
15:01
SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of one side of the value chain.
15:05
SPEAKER_03: The thing that sort of sways us both ways is there's also consumer insight that one in four Canadians are not happy with their health and their health journey.
15:17
SPEAKER_03: And since COVID, they're willing to spend more on their health care.
15:22
SPEAKER_03: So you kind of have this two sides of the coin as you think about innovation and you think about marketing.
15:28
SPEAKER_03: So you have innovation to ensure that you allow access to your products to everyone.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: Very core to us, very important.
15:36
SPEAKER_03: But then you have the other side where you're going, okay, well, where are those white spaces that we can add value to the category, but also add value to the consumer and what does that look like?
15:50
SPEAKER_03: So when we think about innovation, we're always kind of in those two parallels.
15:55
SPEAKER_03: And then marketing is all about getting your message in a clear and concise way that is relevant to that consumer group that you're targeting.
16:06
SPEAKER_03: And those messages can change based on how you're delivering and what method that you're delivering that message in.
16:14
SPEAKER_03: So it's more personalized in the messaging.
16:17
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then we're looking at innovation in in those two spaces because they're kind of they're both relevant at the same time and at the same time contradict one another.
16:28
SPEAKER_03: So we we have to look at both sides of the coin.
16:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: I I love how you talk about access more holistically though, right?
16:37
SPEAKER_00: It's access at different price points, it's access at different channels where people will be shopping and it's access at um with the right message to resonate and and drive that like awareness and engagement.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: So I think that that when people sometimes think about access, it might just be more, you know, linear, um, one-dimensional versus really thinking about it in all these different ways.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and you know, you talked about how consumers expect their expectations have evolved, right?
17:07
SPEAKER_00: After COVID, they have higher standards for healthcare and that they want more than just great products.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: They also want this a level of transparency, inclusivity, access, like you said, authenticity from the brands they buy.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: So, how do you balance those evolving consumer expectations while, again, still protecting this, you know, immensely strong brand equity?
17:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's uh it's evolving every day.
17:36
SPEAKER_03: And again, it goes back to the data and the access that people have.
17:41
SPEAKER_03: Um, I think if you think back kind of 20 years ago, brands really controlled all of the information, right?
17:49
SPEAKER_03: It was the access just wasn't there, probably even 10 years ago, if I'm being honest.
17:53
SPEAKER_03: But we'll go back 20 years uh to the beginning.
17:56
SPEAKER_03: Um, and today consumers really control that information.
18:00
SPEAKER_03: So when you think about ratings and reviews and you think about AI, which I'm sure, you know, we'll talk, can't have a conversation today without AI, but you think about AI, I think it's really important that we as a company look at two things.
18:15
SPEAKER_03: One is truly staying, and I've said this and I'll continue to say this, but true to our science.
18:22
SPEAKER_03: Our science is the backbone of our organization.
18:27
SPEAKER_03: And we're really, really proud of the studies that we do and how we contribute to even broader organizations because the science and the access to the science is public.
18:40
SPEAKER_03: So the companies that are doing it are really supporting the entire healthcare system.
18:45
SPEAKER_03: So we're really proud of that.
18:47
SPEAKER_03: And I also um think that really understanding your Canadian consumer and being able and those communities that you're serving and being able to tie those things together in a relevant way is how you're gonna protect your equity, but then also evolve your brand.
19:05
SPEAKER_03: Um, I think like an example within that would be um, as we think about our restora in the US, it's MiraLax.
19:13
SPEAKER_03: In Canada, it's Restorax, because we always have to have a little bit of a spin on things.
19:18
SPEAKER_03: Um, but our Restoralax brand, um, you know, we in Canada were able to say, hey, there's a real consumer need for fiber.
19:29
SPEAKER_03: And this was a few years ago.
19:31
SPEAKER_03: I mean, fiber is a huge trend.
19:33
SPEAKER_03: We understand the importance of it, especially with GLP1s and metabolic health.
19:38
SPEAKER_03: But that's uh an example of how we were able to take a very iconic brand of Astora Lax and build that into restorative fiber in a different format of gummies.
19:53
SPEAKER_03: And so you're taking these, the science, right?
19:56
SPEAKER_03: And you're matching that with the consumer need and that white space.
20:00
SPEAKER_03: And it allows you to evolve with the consumer expectations while staying true to what built that brand in the in the first place, all around gut health.
20:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then we know that's evolving, gut brain access and all that science.
20:16
SPEAKER_03: So lots of places to explore within within that area of healthcare.
20:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: I love that pivot.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: So would you say that that would have been one of the consumer insights that you've uncovered recently that's kind of been a surprise where you've used it for one way for so long because of GLP or GLP one, you've had to pivot the science behind it to be used in another way for the consumer.
20:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I wish I could say that.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, but I think that there is an underlying uh fiber gap in the market that's just now become even more relevant uh with the growth of GLP ones and uh not that fiber and GLP ones go together, but it's just that it seems to be that there is a connection uh between the two and the way that people are looking at their diets and the shift that's being made.
21:15
SPEAKER_03: But I will tell you that the other area that I'm super excited about and I'm deep into because I'm also a part of it is perimenopause and menopause.
21:27
SPEAKER_03: So I can give you guys a few stats on perimenopause and menopause that I think would blow your mind.
21:35
SPEAKER_03: And the deeper I go, the more I can't like wait to be supporting women and kind of that more angrier I get.
21:42
SPEAKER_03: But um we were looking at like the impact of menopause on like the the economic impact.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:51
SPEAKER_03: And there was a few stats I wanna, I wanna I have them written down because they're really important to me.
21:55
SPEAKER_03: And so I keep them uh top of mind.
21:57
SPEAKER_03: One in two are embarrassed to ask for.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Help women.
22:02
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
22:03
SPEAKER_03: Now 27% growth in perimenopause and menopause age coming into the economy right now.
22:12
SPEAKER_03: 27%.
22:13
SPEAKER_03: So we have about 40 million people in Canada, but 10 million in the next five years will be in perimenopause or menopause.
22:21
SPEAKER_03: So huge cohort.
22:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:23
SPEAKER_03: But one in 10 may leave the workforce because of menopause symptoms.
22:31
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
22:33
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
22:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:34
SPEAKER_03: And one in five believe that their symptoms are gonna hold them back from progression in at work.
22:43
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
22:45
SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
22:45
SPEAKER_03: So like when I think about those stats and then think about the space that needs to be uh nurtured, created, talked about, which I know we're talking about it, and a lot of other people are talking about it.
23:03
SPEAKER_03: Thank goodness we can step back and say we are the generation that talked about it.
23:08
SPEAKER_03: I think that that to me is just uh blows my mind that um this isn't new.
23:18
SPEAKER_03: No, this isn't something new that's happened.
23:20
SPEAKER_03: It's just that we're finally talking about it and realizing the impact that it has on the economy and women and life.
23:31
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I think that's the space I'm super excited about right now, and I'm really excited about the work that Bear's doing within it.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: Laura, I mean, we could talk about this for actually years, right?
23:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, but yes, absolutely.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: It's the some women, the the really lucky ones, they don't have uh all the symptoms.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: Everything goes fine, you're you're all good.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: But some of the symptoms, you know, like the brain fog, for example, if you don't know what you don't know about what you should know about menopause and perimenopause, because this is your body, then you don't know whether you're you're okay or you're just having uh a bad day or you know, uh, you don't know that.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: And um recently I found out that, for example, for menopause, you don't just have hot flashes, you have cold flashes.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: That was uh that was like uh uh a what now?
24:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh moment.
24:30
SPEAKER_03: I'm I would I I'll I'll take a cold flash.
24:33
SPEAKER_03: I I'll put my hand up for that one.
24:36
SPEAKER_03: But I didn't know that.
24:37
SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that.
24:38
SPEAKER_03: Okay, there's another stat.
24:39
SPEAKER_03: This is awesome.
24:41
SPEAKER_01: There's there's cold flashes.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, what why?
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Why do we not know as women, why do we not know any of this like that?
24:52
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's about missed as something else, or you know, just deal with it.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: And I think your point about like the embarrassment, like women aren't asking for help.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: So, like, we we need to vocalize it, we need to ask why is this happening and uh be our own advocate because you you need those answers to be the best you to show up.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: But Christina, it's not only about the embarrassment as well, right, Laura?
25:16
SPEAKER_01: It's also about fear.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, look at society right now, just across the entire world.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: Every woman needs to be younger than they are, needs to look younger than they are.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: You start talking about parametopause and menopause, ooh, that's not 30-year-old folks talking about that's the aged people.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: And you know, and then there's the fear of, oh, if I if I talk about this, does this mean that you know the age I'll suffer age discrimination to your point where you say um, you know, one in five uh worry about uh progress of work.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: And I I think this brings us to our sets up our next topic, which is like we talked about in the intro, women are the chief health officer of their household, with their families, with their um, you know, extended families, etc.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: So uh you guys are obviously leaning in and need to understand this, but just more broadly, like how do health brands need to, what is their role and their um uh important part in understanding uh how to serve women at these different stages of health?
26:25
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
26:26
SPEAKER_03: Well, I think uh the first step is uh, you know, allowing women to be in research, which started in the 1980s, if you'll believe that.
26:38
SPEAKER_03: Um but I digress.
26:40
SPEAKER_03: Uh there's so many, I just read these stats and we go through these presentations and I just get, you know, I just get more frustrated.
26:47
SPEAKER_03: But again, at least we're making progress.
26:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, when when I think about women and I think about what they're managing, they're not just managing uh products, they're managing an entire system.
27:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:01
SPEAKER_03: They are caretakers, they are mothers, they are wives, they are friends, they are all these things to all these people while dealing with uh 15 years of 47 unknown perimenopause, you know, um symptoms.
27:17
SPEAKER_03: So I think uh besides that, I think that the uh importance of brands is to understand that the shopper and the consumer may be something completely different.
27:30
SPEAKER_03: So that's number one, like as you're looking across healthcare, right?
27:34
SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of women that are in charge of people's health.
27:38
SPEAKER_03: And that includes access to health, that includes products, that includes everything uh under the sun.
27:45
SPEAKER_03: But I also think that as we think about our responsibility as organizations to women's health specifically, there's an education around all the fluctuations that happen in women's lives, whether it's getting your first period, whether it's, you know, becoming a mother for the first time, whether it's being a caretaker to aging parents, whether it's working, you know, with teenage families and kids, etc.
28:12
SPEAKER_03: We owe um easy access to information, to credible information.
28:19
SPEAKER_03: We owe very quick and um, you know, sound bites around benefits of products that really, really relate.
28:29
SPEAKER_03: And I always talk about it in transitions.
28:31
SPEAKER_03: There's major transitions that happen in women's lives.
28:35
SPEAKER_03: And it's our jobs as brands to be able to identify and recognize them and understand what is the most important to an individual, a female in this case, during that transition.
28:50
SPEAKER_03: Um, and that I feel if we could all as an industry kind of step back and and look at it that way, that you know, we would be better off as a complete industry if we were if we were really not trying to sell products, but really understanding transitions and pivotal moments in people's lives and what it is that they need during that time period.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Well, that that is how you build trust and credibility and that relationship that is going to extend someone's lifetime, that those needs are going to evolve, and how do you continue to show up for them in those different, you know, parts of their life or chapters of their life?
29:27
SPEAKER_00: And I I one thing that I I'm hearing from you is also the responsibility of the organizations to normalize these conversations, right?
29:36
SPEAKER_00: And provide that information and be a credible source and hopefully remove some of the stigmas around them.
29:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I think it's uh it's important for the entire industry, you know, not just us as um as um consumer health brands, but also our retailers and our, you know, online platforms.
29:59
SPEAKER_03: How do we remember I was working with Target a few years ago with J and Kenview?
30:05
SPEAKER_03: And one of the really great conversations that we had is, you know, why are menstrual cycle products in the back corner of stores?
30:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
30:14
SPEAKER_03: Right?
30:15
SPEAKER_03: How do we not make that the aisle that nobody wants to go down?
30:21
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think that becomes relevant when we're thinking about brands like Kinestin, which is obviously an immediate need brand for um uh vaginal yeast infections, et cetera.
30:37
SPEAKER_03: The amount that we sell that is not immediate, so online next day delivery, et cetera, is a pretty good cue of the fact that women would rather order and wait than head to the local store to purchase.
30:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
31:00
SPEAKER_03: So we have a collective responsibility to create this access and this open conversation that this is this is normal and this is okay.
31:14
SPEAKER_03: Part of life, part of life, yeah.
31:19
SPEAKER_01: Completely, completely agree.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's getting there, but just so slowly, right, Laura?
31:24
SPEAKER_01: So very slowly.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully we're doing a better job with our with our kids to boys and girls.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: So periods are not a thing for giggling, but it's just a thing.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: But let's pivot uh to leadership to leadership.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, you built your career across, as you said, you know, J and J and Consumer Health and Ken View and now Bayer.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: Looking back, what experience uh what experiences I guess shaped your leadership style that you have today?
32:01
SPEAKER_03: I actually started my career at Kraft Foods.
32:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
32:09
SPEAKER_03: So I think Christina, you and I did a little similar circles.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: We did it, we did a little flip-flop.
32:15
SPEAKER_03: So I started at Kraft Foods uh when they had just acquired Christie's, so now I'm gonna really date myself.
32:22
SPEAKER_03: Um uh and then Cadbury and went through the split with Kraft and Mondelee.
32:27
SPEAKER_03: So I was there for 15 years.
32:29
SPEAKER_03: Um, and so that really built a foundation for me.
32:33
SPEAKER_03: And the reason that I bring it up is that the roles that I had when I started my career, I think really shaped who I am today.
32:43
SPEAKER_03: And that role was a sales rep.
32:46
SPEAKER_03: And I was out and I was building displays, I was ordering DSD cookies, I was slogging through moldy cheese in the back room.
32:56
SPEAKER_03: Um, right.
32:58
SPEAKER_03: And uh and I loved it.
33:00
SPEAKER_03: I loved the freedom of it.
33:01
SPEAKER_03: I love the uh ownership of my territory.
33:05
SPEAKER_03: I love that I could wheel and deal and see the fruits of what I did uh at the store, whether I over-ordered or underordered or whatever I did.
33:14
SPEAKER_03: But I love that ownership of it.
33:18
SPEAKER_03: I love the hustle.
33:20
SPEAKER_03: And I think that shaped me as a leader in the sense of, you know, being able to hustle, get my hands dirty, roll up my sleeves.
33:33
SPEAKER_03: I'm still that way today.
33:35
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think that that's been really, really, really important to me.
33:39
SPEAKER_03: I've had great, great, great people leaders and mentors.
33:45
SPEAKER_03: And I've also had the opposite.
33:47
SPEAKER_03: And I've been able to kind of step back and have a little like notebook in my brain going, yes, nope, yes, nope, I will do that, I won't do that.
33:58
SPEAKER_03: And I think being able like working for very large organizations allow you to really have access to a lot of different leadership styles.
34:08
SPEAKER_03: And from a very, very early in career, I I've always been very aware of my surroundings and what's going on.
34:15
SPEAKER_03: And it just sort of naturally came to me to really pay attention to how people do things, presenting or negotiating or leading.
34:25
SPEAKER_03: And I think that has really shaped who I am.
34:29
SPEAKER_03: And I think the the last thing that I'll I'll say is I've said yes to things that people didn't want.
34:41
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I said yes to um figuring out how we're going to sell short data products and our vaults of cheese.
34:50
SPEAKER_03: And I didn't even know we had vaults of cheese.
34:52
SPEAKER_03: And I just think of like this big bank with this big, you know, thing that I had to turn.
34:56
SPEAKER_03: I have no idea where these vaults were, but I figured out how to sell them.
35:00
SPEAKER_03: It might have been 10 cents on the dollar, but it was better than nothing.
35:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, and so, you know, having those experiences and being able to really be diverse experiences with a lot of different leaders, I think has given me the opportunity to feel confident and comfortable in who I am, but also like tweak based on all of the different leaders and different things that I've seen.
35:28
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I I feel very blessed for the career that I've had over the past 25 years for sure.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I love that you said the saying yes to things that maybe you didn't know how to do, but you're gonna figure it out later.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Or the things that may not be as attractive that create that challenge and opportunity, because that's where growth comes from.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: We've heard that actually quite often from uh a number of the people on the podcast about just the power of saying yes and that authentic leadership.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: Like you said, you've learned from so you've had this exposure to so many different styles and people.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: And you take something away from each, whether it's I don't want to do that or I want to do that, but then you shape it into your authentic leadership.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: So um also change brings about some of that.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: We know that stepping into the country division head role meant leading through some significant change for you.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: So, what did that transition teach you about authentic leadership?
36:28
SPEAKER_03: I uh I'm still in it, to be honest with you.
36:32
SPEAKER_03: I'm still in the transition.
36:33
SPEAKER_03: I think well, I know that I'm coming out of it for sure, in the sense of uh, you know, you can see the bigger picture, you're starting to make um moves and whether it be structure or how we're gonna do things, etc.
36:48
SPEAKER_03: And I think that that's really important that you take your time to do that.
36:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:52
SPEAKER_03: But I would say over the the last five years, I've had a ton, I've had a ton of change.
36:57
SPEAKER_03: I went into a global role.
36:58
SPEAKER_03: So I left Canada, I went into a global role, and I've, you know, and then I went into the US for two years, which is a whole other big transition.
37:08
SPEAKER_03: And then I left that organization, transitioned into BARE, and then transitioned into this role.
37:13
SPEAKER_03: So the last five years has been a lot of transition.
37:16
SPEAKER_03: And the reason that I'm talking about it is because I've become very comfortable in my learning curve.
37:24
SPEAKER_03: And I've I've I've I've paused and intentionally told myself to enjoy the learning curve.
37:34
SPEAKER_03: And and then what that has enabled me to do is it's enabled me to be cure to be authentically curious and to ask questions and actively listen to the answers and be okay and vulnerable to not know what I was doing or if I was asking the right question, or you know, my team will say, they'll they'll hear me say, is there anything that I haven't asked that I should have?
38:07
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because I can't pretend I have all the answer or all the questions to even ask for the answers.
38:12
SPEAKER_03: So, so I think being authentic to who I am and being authentic to really understanding my values, um, because what I know that I'm good at as I'm going through this learning curve is connecting dots, whether it's processes, people, systems, overlap of work.
38:35
SPEAKER_03: And I know that I'm really good at building networks.
38:38
SPEAKER_03: So while I may not know your role, because I'm stepping into a role where I haven't done all of the roles, and that can be an uncomfortable space when you are used to being able to build or draw on experiences.
38:53
SPEAKER_03: Now, what I have to draw on is my ability to connect people and networks, to ask the right questions, to trust in myself that I can create a vision, right?
39:08
SPEAKER_03: That I can lead through um example.
39:13
SPEAKER_03: And I'll always roll up my sleeves.
39:15
SPEAKER_03: The team knows that.
39:16
SPEAKER_03: Even if I don't know what I'm doing, I will be a body there and what direct me, tell me what you want me to do.
39:22
SPEAKER_03: But I think being really, really clear in your values and understanding your strengths allows you to become a very trusted and authentic leader because it's coming from a place of self-awareness.
39:39
unknown: Yeah.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: But I think on top of that, Laura, you talked about how you bring your authentic self.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: But what you haven't mentioned is that the integrity that you bring to the to the to the room as well.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: It takes integrity and it takes humility to hold your hand up and say, let me know if I have not got all the information, if I have not asked all the questions.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: It needs a lack of ego, which, you know, everything that you talk about in terms of how you lead and how you support and how you work in a team, it's all of our favorite leaders that we have spoken to have had this incredible lack of ego.
40:21
SPEAKER_01: And it's just and it's and it's um fostered by this curiosity to and and this um this this humility, but mostly to just be able to do whatever it is that you need to do to do well.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: And that you forgot to mention.
40:38
SPEAKER_03: Yes, I do.
40:40
SPEAKER_03: But you were right, and I think it starts it starts, we'll bring it right back around.
40:44
SPEAKER_03: It starts because I love the hustle.
40:46
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we are going to uh be able to uh do the right thing, and and yeah, I mean, I am ambitious, I want us all to achieve, and I want us all to, you know, do really well, but we will do the right thing, and my people come first, always.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: That is absolutely wonderful.
41:04
SPEAKER_01: So we've talked about your leadership style, but also um all the transitions you've gone through for you know global to US to Canada.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, you're leading uh within a global organization, but serving very uniquely Canadian customers.
41:23
SPEAKER_01: So, how do you build a culture that feels locally connected but continues to stay aligned with the global business?
41:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
41:37
SPEAKER_03: I love the way that Bear creates the environment for this.
41:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'll talk about that in in a second, but it's well, it's very intentional the way that they create the environment for this.
41:51
SPEAKER_03: So we um as country heads come together four times a year to steer the business.
41:59
SPEAKER_03: And when we come to the global uh headquarters, we come without our country hats on.
42:05
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
42:06
SPEAKER_03: And so what that allows us to do is it allows us to collectively set a vision for the organization, lean on global resources when it's like our innovation and our science and all the work they're doing within white spaces.
42:22
SPEAKER_03: So we're really, really clear on where it is that we're going to innovate as an organization.
42:28
SPEAKER_03: We're really clear on what it is and how we're gonna financially steer the organization.
42:34
SPEAKER_03: And it also creates a global network of uh other country heads that may be in similar situations with you.
42:43
SPEAKER_03: So they do that intentionally, and that's something new that Bear has been doing.
42:47
SPEAKER_03: Um, and and you know, it's really, really a great thing.
42:51
SPEAKER_03: However, it's also very important for the countries to build their unique presence within that vision.
43:00
SPEAKER_03: So, as a Canadian culture, what we just did actually a couple of weeks ago is we took a core group of people off site and we said, within this global framework, what does Canada stand for?
43:15
SPEAKER_03: Like how are we gonna be a part of the puzzle piece for these targets and these goals that we're trying to achieve over the next 10 years as bare consumer health?
43:27
SPEAKER_03: And it was so inspiring and empowering to have a group of cross-functional team members be a part of that conversation to really carve out what it means to be a Canada business within this global framework.
43:44
SPEAKER_03: Um, and then we collected evidence points.
43:46
SPEAKER_03: So we in Canada are brand builders and we have a lot of evidence of how we can build a brand that establishes high share, high value, and high loyalty.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: With our can Canadian consumers.
44:02
SPEAKER_03: HydroSense is one of those pieces of that evidence.
44:05
SPEAKER_03: That is a uniquely Canadian brand that does not exist in other parts of the world for bear.
44:12
SPEAKER_03: The hardware may, but the brand doesn't exist.
44:16
SPEAKER_03: And so in order to do that, you need to understand your Canadian consumer, you need to understand your Canadian customer, and you need to maintain what's critical about the Canadian culture.
44:33
SPEAKER_03: Right.
44:33
SPEAKER_03: And those three things are, as I kind of think about it as like an iceberg.
44:39
SPEAKER_03: So that's what's under the water.
44:41
SPEAKER_03: That's what's keeping this thing afloat.
44:44
SPEAKER_03: And global is above.
44:46
SPEAKER_03: Right?
44:46
SPEAKER_03: Global kind of sits above the water, but that foundation needs to be strong underneath.
44:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's how I look at it and that's how I think about it.
44:57
SPEAKER_03: Um and I I I think that the way that bear is managing global versus local is very unique.
45:04
SPEAKER_03: It's very unique.
45:05
SPEAKER_01: I utterly love that viewpoint and that and that that that process because I have been working from from like Microsoft onwards, I've been in global worlds, right?
45:18
SPEAKER_01: And it is something that individuals, uh, myself included, have tried to do in terms of trying to take, you know, best practice and trying to, you know, uh trying to stitch together um good plans, good ideas, but a structured framework where every single uh uh region or geographic region brings to the to uh to the table what it is that they are best at, so you create a global framework.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: I that is I mean, that is so ridiculously simple and yet perfect.
45:59
SPEAKER_01: And and how many people do this?
46:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can tell you from my times, we we didn't do that.
46:05
SPEAKER_03: That was this is this is like oh what oh my god, you know?
46:09
SPEAKER_03: I know, I know.
46:10
SPEAKER_03: And we just started doing this as an organization um under our CEO Julio, and it was at a perfect time where I was taking over the CDH role, and then all of the country heads were coming together.
46:24
SPEAKER_03: We had full transparency to vision, PL, and we started to build out what are the building blocks that are gonna get us to the enterprise goals that we need to get to.
46:37
SPEAKER_03: So you don't go, the only time you have your country hat on is when you're sharing best practices or when you're talking about specific financials, et cetera.
46:48
SPEAKER_03: The rest of the time it's about how are we building capabilities?
46:52
SPEAKER_03: How are we hitting our financial targets?
46:55
SPEAKER_03: Yes, where are we innovating and what does that white space look like?
46:58
SPEAKER_03: And how do we scale that?
47:00
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't need to be all under the same brand, but how do we scale the formulations?
47:04
SPEAKER_03: How do we scale the hardware, et cetera?
47:06
SPEAKER_03: And what are the clusters of countries that are working on the same challenges?
47:12
SPEAKER_03: And they we call them our peer support groups.
47:15
SPEAKER_03: I don't think that was a formal name of them, but that's what we we call them.
47:18
SPEAKER_03: But we have these kind of clusters of countries.
47:20
SPEAKER_03: So it's myself, Mexico, Australia, um, and a portion of the US that, you know, having the ability to look over the top has created this network that we never would have had.
47:34
SPEAKER_03: We never would have had.
47:36
SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, it's a it's a it's a really cool shift.
47:41
SPEAKER_03: Um, and that it allows us as Canadians to say, okay, where do we fit in this puzzle?
47:46
SPEAKER_03: What value can we bring?
47:48
SPEAKER_03: And why would they choose us if they were gonna do X?
47:52
SPEAKER_03: And that's what we're defining right now.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: And what you've done here is this is how you add to the big global puzzle whilst maintaining your unique geographical cultural identity, in this case Canadian, which is ladies and gentlemen, please speak to Laura Thompson for a masterclass and how to be a global organization.
48:18
SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you.
48:19
SPEAKER_03: I can't take credit for it, but I can definitely speak to it because I'm living it.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: No, it's genius because okay, and I know I'm talking about this uh a fair bit, but because this has been this has been a bugbear for me for so long, because so many clients, so many customers, so many organizations, they'll start off with, okay, we're all gonna work independently.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: Then they will have the global, let's have a global team, and we're gonna, you know, the global team will look after every single region.
48:46
SPEAKER_01: And then that doesn't work because that's insane.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, it's not working.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: So let's go back to everybody works regionally and in silos.
48:54
SPEAKER_01: And it's this eeny meeny miny mo scenario that you have with global and and regional all the time, which just makes me want to go.
49:06
SPEAKER_01: But this is I love it.
49:08
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
49:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh let's look at your career.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, has there been a moment where being a woman gave you a unique advantage as a leader?
49:20
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps something that shaped how you connect with teams or consumers or customers?
49:25
SPEAKER_03: I think we talked a little bit about this.
49:28
SPEAKER_03: Um but I would say that self-awareness and why I'm self-aware, I believe, is because I'm a woman.
49:42
SPEAKER_03: I don't know because I've only ever been a woman, but what I see in a lot of women leaders is there's a high degree of self-awareness, and that probably comes from overthinking, you know, what your steps are and how you're showing up, et cetera, et cetera.
50:02
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I think I like to believe that I I'm I'm kind of past that stage, but there was a time where that was a real big part of who I was as I was learning and growing.
50:12
SPEAKER_03: But I also believe that that self-awareness has gotten me to where I am today.
50:18
SPEAKER_03: And it's being able to show the authenticity, to understand where your gaps are, um, and to really put your hand up to say, like, hey, like I want to work on this.
50:29
SPEAKER_03: How do I do this?
50:30
SPEAKER_03: And how do I build my network around it?
50:32
SPEAKER_03: Um, so I don't know if there was like a specific moment.
50:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
50:37
SPEAKER_03: Um, but I do think that just in general, that being very self-aware and allowing yourself to have curiosity um lends you to being a leader that people want to follow, if I'm being honest.
50:57
SPEAKER_00: I love how overthinking actually serves you well in this situation.
51:02
SPEAKER_01: And I think the self-awareness as well is that we are, as women uh in in business, we are criticized X number of times more than men.
51:13
SPEAKER_01: So we are never let to rest on our laurels because you know, we barely get acknowledged for the laurels we bring.
51:22
SPEAKER_01: So we're always self-critical, always self-aware, always reviewing and analyzing and trying to do better, be better.
51:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
51:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
51:34
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
51:35
SPEAKER_00: I you know, one thing we care really deeply about here at ChiCommerce is mentorship and sponsorship because they're different.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, is there anyone who's helped open doors for you along the way?
51:48
SPEAKER_00: And how are you paying that forward for the next generation of women leaders?
51:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I have um had the opportunity to have a lot of male and female people open doors for me, mentors are open door for for me.
52:07
SPEAKER_03: Um, one of them, uh uh Holly Gray, she worked at JJ, has been a massive uh supporter and mentor of mine.
52:18
SPEAKER_03: And she was the one who just we were, I had she had a boss, I met with him, he was like, You remind me of her.
52:26
SPEAKER_03: And we connected at the time she was in Hong Kong, uh, she was leading a business out there, and we connected.
52:32
SPEAKER_03: And fast forward four years, she had a global role.
52:36
SPEAKER_03: I had not gone into global.
52:38
SPEAKER_03: I had been warned about going into global just because of some of the things that we've talked about, like global expands and then it contracts, you got to get in, you got to get out.
52:46
SPEAKER_03: And because of her and her belief in me, and because it was her, I was like, I'm all in.
52:53
SPEAKER_03: Say yes, I'm all in.
52:54
SPEAKER_03: I interviewed and I did all the things.
52:56
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, and and that global role not only gave me a view of how things work outside of Canada, which has been incredibly important for me as I'm talking to my counterparts or industry or whatever.
53:12
SPEAKER_03: You have a sense of how does Germany work?
53:15
SPEAKER_03: How does Japan work?
53:16
SPEAKER_03: What is e-com like in China?
53:18
SPEAKER_03: Like you just have this view of the world that you would never have.
53:22
SPEAKER_03: But she also threw stuff at me that I'm not sure if she knew that I didn't know how to do or she just had the faith in me that I would do it.
53:31
SPEAKER_03: I haven't had the guts to ask her.
53:33
SPEAKER_03: Maybe she'll listen to me so we can have the conversation.
53:36
SPEAKER_03: But all of a sudden, I'm working with consultants that I had never like briefing them and doing and I and and building brand playbooks for global and you know, doing all of this stuff.
53:47
SPEAKER_03: And I had never done any of it, but just the fact that one, I didn't want to disappoint her because she's incredible and she believed in me.
53:56
SPEAKER_03: And two, I was like, I'll figure it out.
53:59
SPEAKER_03: I had never grown so much in my career and then continued that continued my growth.
54:07
SPEAKER_03: So I owe a ton to her.
54:09
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I also have an old boss, he's still at Chemview, um, who to this day is just team Laura.
54:16
SPEAKER_03: And it doesn't matter what I'm doing or what's happening, it doesn't matter if we're competitors or we're not.
54:22
SPEAKER_03: It's not about that.
54:23
SPEAKER_03: It's about um, you know, it just his faith in me and I feel the same way.
54:27
SPEAKER_03: So I've had some really great mentors that I keep and I and I nourish.
54:32
SPEAKER_03: Um and I'll I'll tell you two quick stories.
54:36
SPEAKER_03: One is when I was transitioning back to Canada and I left JJ, I hadn't been in the Canadian marketplace in about five years.
54:44
SPEAKER_03: My body had physically been here because we were living here, but I was traveling all over and I wasn't a part of the marketplace.
54:50
SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I gotta kind of rebuild my network here.
54:53
SPEAKER_03: And I made a phone call to the old boss at Kemp View.
54:56
SPEAKER_03: He connected me with a couple people.
54:59
SPEAKER_03: But why I'm saying this to you guys is I had so many people that I had either not talked to in 15 years or I didn't know, clear their calendars, have conversations with me, ask me questions that helped me to formulate what it actually is that I wanted to do and how I wanted to work and who I wanted to work with.
55:20
SPEAKER_03: And I made a decision at that moment that no matter who reaches out to me, whether I knew them or I didn't know them, whether it was a connection through somebody else, that I will take the phone call.
55:33
SPEAKER_03: Even if I don't have an opportunity, if I can just have, I know how important it is when you're not working to have somebody to talk to while you're on that journey.
55:42
SPEAKER_03: One appointment a day is all you need to make you feel a little bit better.
55:45
SPEAKER_03: So I've made that commitment.
55:47
SPEAKER_03: And I also have a really um strong um reverse mentoring that I've kept alive.
55:55
SPEAKER_03: Mentorships that have turned into reverse mentoring.
55:58
SPEAKER_03: I'm in a program, um not in it right now, but actively with uh it starts with grade 10, 11 students, women, underserved communities.
56:07
SPEAKER_03: Um and one of them, she's near and dear to me.
56:11
SPEAKER_03: She has a friend now, but she's in her third year of university.
56:15
SPEAKER_03: She's interned interning at Sephora.
56:18
SPEAKER_03: She's doing incredible.
56:19
SPEAKER_03: Um, and you know, I I I cherish every moment that I have with her to guide her because she also teaches me all the cool stuff that I don't know about anymore, you know.
56:30
SPEAKER_03: So um it's a huge part of why I am who I am, and I make time to actively mentor um those that really put the time and effort into it.
56:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, it's the power of asking, right?
56:45
SPEAKER_00: We always say that.
56:46
SPEAKER_00: Like if you don't ask, you don't get, and the worst they can say is no, right?
56:50
SPEAKER_00: But exactly you ask, you lean into your network, and though those are important things not to neglect.
56:57
SPEAKER_00: And then I love that you made that commitment.
56:59
SPEAKER_00: That's so great to pay it back.
57:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
57:02
SPEAKER_00: Really, really definitely so much.
57:04
SPEAKER_01: I love the reverse mentoring as well.
57:07
SPEAKER_03: Really love you learn a lot.
57:09
SPEAKER_03: You just real well, I realize how uncool I really am, though I still think I'm 20.
57:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm not.
57:19
SPEAKER_03: I'm not.
57:19
SPEAKER_03: But like I remember years ago when somebody was teaching me what a hashtag was, and I was like, what?
57:25
SPEAKER_03: What are you talking about?
57:26
SPEAKER_03: What's in hashtag?
57:28
SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
57:31
SPEAKER_03: I need it.
57:32
SPEAKER_01: When when the hashtags came out, I would I was like, I did, I was proper sort of boomer material here, right?
57:38
SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, crazy hashtag.
57:41
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, no.
57:43
SPEAKER_01: No, it's hashtag crazy.
57:48
SPEAKER_03: Right.
57:49
SPEAKER_03: I I rarely still really use them, but I at least I know what what they are.
57:54
SPEAKER_03: I know what they are.
57:55
SPEAKER_03: All right.
57:55
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, my my my poor siblings.
57:58
SPEAKER_01: They're just like, oh, geez, woman, what the heck?
58:05
SPEAKER_01: All right, Laurel, we are now going into our lightning round.
58:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Christina and I are gonna ask you some questions, and it's the first answer that comes to your mind.
58:17
SPEAKER_01: All right.
58:19
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
58:20
SPEAKER_01: The health habit you never skip.
58:22
SPEAKER_01: Sleep.
58:23
SPEAKER_01: Consistent.
58:26
SPEAKER_01: I love that choice.
58:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm my husband here now.
58:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, one app you couldn't live without.
58:35
SPEAKER_03: I wish I was gonna be cool, but I'm gonna tell you it's probably Google Maps.
58:41
SPEAKER_03: Practical, we like it, reliable.
58:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
58:47
SPEAKER_01: One brand outside of healthcare that you think has reinvented itself brilliantly.
58:55
SPEAKER_00: Old spice.
58:56
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's a good one.
58:58
SPEAKER_00: That is a really good one.
59:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, all right.
59:01
SPEAKER_00: If you weren't leading consumer health, what career do you think you'd be pursuing?
59:07
SPEAKER_00: So something totally different.
59:11
SPEAKER_03: Um either professor or coffee shop owner.
59:17
SPEAKER_03: Ooh, barista.
59:20
SPEAKER_03: Professor?
59:21
SPEAKER_03: Coffee shop owner.
59:22
SPEAKER_00: Very different.
59:23
SPEAKER_00: Either way.
59:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
59:24
SPEAKER_00: Or both.
59:25
SPEAKER_00: Both.
59:26
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say, why not?
59:27
SPEAKER_00: Why not?
59:27
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
59:28
SPEAKER_00: Just do both.
59:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
59:29
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
59:30
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
59:31
SPEAKER_01: Okay, your go-to hype song before a big presentation or meeting.
59:37
SPEAKER_03: That's the easy one.
59:39
SPEAKER_03: Lose yourself MM.
59:42
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
59:43
SPEAKER_03: I listened to it before the podcast.
59:47
SPEAKER_03: To get ready for you ladies.
59:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, love that.
59:52
SPEAKER_00: Love that you got yourself hyped up.
59:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, Laura, we always like to finish on a final question.
59:57
SPEAKER_00: You've already shared so much valuable advice for women and men in this industry.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_00: Is there one piece of advice, though, that you would love to give someone that is in a similar situation, leading an iconic brand or leading through change that you just want to reinforce before we close?
1:00:18
SPEAKER_03: I think the well, and I'm gonna say it, and I'm saying it to myself as well, is have uh growth mindset to be open and go for it.
1:00:35
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_00: Like you said, the power of yes and just going for those opportunities.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_00: We love it.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
1:00:44
SPEAKER_01: Laura, Laura, before we let you go, with every episode of She Commerce, we're building something much bigger than a podcast.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_01: We're building a community of women and allies who believe commerce is stronger when we lift each other up.
1:00:59
SPEAKER_01: And you clearly do that in states.
1:01:02
SPEAKER_01: So we'd love to invite you to join our She Commerce Pledge to pay it forward, to amplify women's voices, to build brands with integrity, and to help shape the future of commerce.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_01: Will you take that pledge with us?
1:01:17
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_00: Yay! Laura, thank you so much for joining us today.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_00: We really love this conversation and everything you're doing for healthcare and especially women's health.
1:01:28
SPEAKER_00: So, um, advocacy, sponsorship, mentorship, all of it.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_00: And welcome to our our sisterhood.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
1:01:35
SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me, and thank you guys for giving the platform um to us to share our stories.
1:01:41
SPEAKER_03: I really appreciate it.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_01: Oh, we we appreciate you.
1:01:45
SPEAKER_01: And and then thank you to everyone listening.
1:01:47
SPEAKER_01: If today's conversation resonated with you, please subscribe, leave us a review.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_01: We like the number five, and share this episode with someone who's building brands, leading teams, or navigating change.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_01: Because the future of commerce is built on trust and people and those courageous enough to evolve while staying true to what matters most, just like our guest today.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_01: Bold brands, fierce women, one sisterhood.