Jane Miller - When Big CPG Meets Passion Brand: Building a strong team starts w/ trust & compassion

The world of food and beverage is filled with darling passion brands. They’re fun, nimble and innovative. It’s no wonder that so many people want to work for them. Sometimes the expertise, working in a Big Brand, can cloud the objectivity of an incoming employee and overly-excite the leadership of these smaller brands. So, just how can you best avoid a bad fit and create powerful transitions?

In this episode Jane shares advice on how to best prepare for these changes and opportunities, leaning on her own experience of transitioning from running billion-dollar brand families to becoming CEO of beloved naturals brand.

If you’re a founder/owner/leader of a smaller brand - you will learn:

· How to honestly assess your brands leadership needs

·Strategic hiring tips to help manage your and your new team members expectations during transition and growth

· How hiring for key strategic roles for your company, is a lot like dating

If you’re considering taking on a leadership role at a smaller brand - you will learn:

·How your experience can be a liability as much as an asset

·That compassion and empathy are valuable tools for successful growth and transition

·How to evaluate your own potential for learning and flexibility in order to become a powerful resource for your new business partner

Show notes
Jane talks a little bit about herself and how she came to be where she is now [4:14]
Jane talks of her journey of starting her own business Lily’s Sweets [6:10]
Jane talks about why you should have ethics in relation to business [6:37]
Jane talks about where her altruism and desire for contribution comes from [7:31]
Jane talks about why you should have a mentor not only in your business life, but also in your
personal life [8:15]
Jane talks about horrible bosses and how they influence your mental wellness and your self esteem
and how you view the company [8:47]
Jane talks about how to deal with situation where you have a horrible boss [8:58]
Diana encourages people that they are not in bad situations alone and that people should read
Jane’s book [10:11]
Jane talks about her book and how she came to write it [11:42]
Jane explains why and how people transition from a big company to start their own businesses
[16:07]
Jane talks about why you as an entrepreneur should also have trained or skilled expertise in your
business [18:00]
Jane talks about the risk of quitting your job before your business starts to scale up [19:39]
Jane talks about why you should not treat your small business the same as the big company that you
came from because they are very different [20:02]
Jane talks about the gaps that people don’t always see when transitioning for big company to small
business [21:36]
Jane talks about ego and why you should not have ego while running a business [22:34]
Jane talks about the benefit of working together as a team in a business [22:50]
Jane talks about the technical, the tactical, and the emotional component in a business and how
they connect [23:10]
Jane talks about how people should deal with this hard situation of COVID and what they should do
[24:26]
Jane talks about why it is important to work out your relationship problems with business partners
for you to move forward [25:35]
Diana and Jane agrees that when you are in a good relationship with business partners, you tend to
move in the same direction and thus achieving your goals [26:13]
Jane talks of how to identify that you are moving in different directions with your business partners
and how it can be solved [26:45]
Jane talks about why you should first develop your work relationships before even starting the
business [27:32]
Jane talks about people and why they are the problem to your business [29:55]
Jane talks about how you get transitioned into a business in a way where you can really make an
impact right away [31:55]
Jane talks about the real specific goals that the board and the investors are looking for [33:37]
Jane talks about different mentality with people that work in the smaller brands versus the bigger
brands [36:36]

Books Mentioned:
Sleep Your Way to the Top by Jane Miller
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Quotes Mentioned:
“We make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time.” by Jane Miller
“Don' be afraid to chase whatever it is that you want to do in school or professionally because
somewhere it's going to stick and people will remember you for that combination.”
Guests Social Media Links:
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