Baking & Snack - October 2017 - 12

Transcending gender and generation
I had an interesting exchange at Pack Expo back in
September. A woman gave me a high-five on the fact that
Baking & Snack has a "female-driven" editorial team. To
be honest, I hadn't really thought about it. But truth be
told, we have a pretty dynamic little group. Of the five
of us, three are women. Three of us also are millennials,
book-ended by a Boomer and a Gen-X-er.
The industry puts a lot of emphasis on millennials these
days (spoiler alert: In the December issue, our resident
millennials will spill the beans about how they really
purchase your products), but at Pack Expo, gender was the
buzz. A year ago, PMMI, which puts on the tradeshow,
formed the Packaging and Processing Women's Leadership
Network (PPWLN). For this year's keynote, PPWLN
hosted Tana Utley, vice-president, Caterpillar, Inc.
Ms. Utley, who has held various engineering and
general management positions for Caterpillar,
spoke to more than 640 attendees - women and
men - about "Dancing on the glass ceiling."
Offering seven "dance steps," Ms. Utley
spoke on work-life balance, gave suggestions on how to get placed on the big projects
(hint: spend some time on the little projects
first) and outlined a formula for success:
Trust = Competence x Intimacy/Comfort.
These points speak to more than just women.
Actually, replace "women" with "millennial," and the
same rules could apply. Think about the workforce gap;
people erroneously assume it's a generational issue. But
guess what? I was 28 years old once, but I'm not a millen-

EDITORIAL
Editorial Director
Dan Malovany
Editor
Joanie Spencer
Senior Editor
Charlotte Atchley
Managing Editor
Nico Roesler
Digital Media Associate Editor
Anna Wiber
Contributing Editors:
Donna Berry
David Busken
Len Heflich
Jim Kline
Lynn Petrak
Joe Stout
DESIGN
Design Services Manager
Sadowna Conarroe
Design Services Assistant Manager Ryan Alcantara
Graphic Designer
Brian Peterman
Senior Design Consultant
Becky White
Graphic Designer
Nick Martens

12 Baking & Snack October 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

nial. However, many of the ideals millennials hold - just
like the ones Ms. Utley addressed - are similar to those
I had when I first entered the workforce. I still hold many
of them today.
For example, I'm a working mom, and work-life balance is obviously important to me, but there are times
when I have to sacrifice my home life for work. However,
my husband has just as much pressure to be there for our
son as I do. As working parents, we both are responsible
for our jobs and our home.
Ms. Utley nailed it when she said each of us should
view ourselves as a "whole person" and keep our personal and professional ledgers in balance. That transcends
gender and generation.
So when I look at our editorial staff, I really don't count
the heads. We are a team, and we focus on doing what it
takes to produce this highly reputable publication while
making time to care for ourselves and our families.
This should be a priority in our industry. Bakers
feel the stress of finding and retaining reliable workers
because the workforce gap is real. But it's not any specific group creating that gap. When baking companies
consider each and every employee - from the production line to the c-suite - as a whole person, the tide
could start to turn.
It's time to stop counting heads and instead focus on
providing the right tools to accomplish meaningful work,
whether it's publishing a magazine or feeding the world.
- Joanie Spencer, editor
jspencer@sosland.com

PUBLISHING
Publisher
Paul Lattan
Associate Publisher
Steve Berne
Audience Development Director Michael Barbee
Audience Development Specialist
Molly Brown
Director of Digital Media
Jon Hall
Advertising Manager
Nora Wages
Advertising Assistant Manager
Erica Reyes
Preflight and Adobe Support Specialist Marj Potts
Digital Advertising Manager
Carrie Fluegge
Promotions Manager
Jim White

CORPORATE
Chairman and CEO
Charles S. Sosland
President
L. Joshua Sosland
Chief Financial Officer
Staci Greco
Director of Publishing
G. Michael Gude
Director of Operations
Meyer Sosland
Editorial and Midwest Sales Office
4801 Main St., Suite 650, Kansas City, MO 64112
Phone: (816) 756-1000; Fax: (816) 756-0494
E-mail: BakingSnack@sosland.com
Internet: www.bakingandsnack.com

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without written permission is prohibited. Printed in USA

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Baking & Snack - October 2017

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