Amy McClellan: Daily Lessons from Bagging Groceries

Amy McClellan takes us through her lifetime journey in the grocery industry from bagging groceries to becoming the Executive Vice President of Sales and Chief Customer Office of SpartanNash.  Amy believes the industry has a history for building leaders and teaching life skills.

In this episode, Amy gives thanks for the privilege of being essential, discusses the value of a family meal and gives a few shout outs to, not only mentors she has had, but also to other women on her teams that are and will continue to do great things. 

Learn more about another humble female leader in the grocery industry and be sure to reach out and connect with the women you get to know through the podcast. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-mcclellan-617b3b3/

Transcript

 Welcome to Grocery from Her Seat, the WGA podcast offering a unique perspective as seen through the eyes of remarkable women who shape and lead in the independent grocery industry. Your host, Kristen Popp, president of WGA, will bring you exclusive stories and insights from the women serving our industry.

From presidents to CEOs to entrepreneurs and students. This podcast is your source of information. Now listen, take notes, and welcome Kristen Popp.  

I am your host, Kristen Popp, and today I'm excited to have Amy McLeelan, Executive Vice President Sales and Chief Customer Officer with Spartan Nash. Welcome to Grocery from Your Seat, Amy, and thank you so very much for sharing your time with us today. 

Thanks, Kristen. I'm glad to be here.  

Amy, I'm going to go ahead and let you introduce yourself on a bigger picture, your role and kind of what that entails and how you got involved in the independent grocery industry. 

Sure. So, um, I have been in the business. I consider myself a lifer. So I actually started, um, in the grocery business way back, um, when I was in high school, applied to my local supermarket store and, um, started as a cashier at Martin's supermarkets.

Um,  many, many years ago, I spent.  Over two decades at Martin's, um, some in the stores and some in the corporate office environment came to Spartan Nash about five years ago via acquisition. And so at Spartan Nash, I've also held a variety of roles. Um, I stayed in the retail operations and merchandising space for a couple of years through the pandemic.

I led fresh merchandising here for about a year. Um, most recently I was the chief marketing officer and a couple of months ago, I, um, stepped into the chief customer officer here, which really brings me back to kind of where I started in that independent grocery, um, community. And, uh, that's, uh, been super exciting to transition, um, to the independent space and, and help our independence grow in this highly competitive market area. 

I love how you've, the experience that you've had along the way and how you've gotten to where you are and seen kind of full circle, um, the, the whole process through the, the grocery space. So let's talk about those experiences throughout your career. How do you believe those have helped shape who you are today and how you lead today? 

Sure. Um, I always say there's not a day in my career that goes by that. I don't leverage some experience from. Um, bagging groceries, right? When I started in this business, I interacted directly with consumers on a day to day basis, bagging groceries, checking out, um, their products and generally helping them create solutions for their lives through the grocery stores.

And that's, that's what here at Spartan Nash, I mean, we are a food solutions company and being able to continue to provide solutions to communities and families, um, through the neighborhood grocery store. Has just been inspiring. I've never really had a reason to look outside the industry because of the way in which we're able to connect with communities.

Um, it's a privilege to be essential. We learned that through the pandemic. And, um, I actually knew that very early in my career and. and just enjoy the interactions with communities that, that come when you serve, um, the general, the general public.  

I like how you use the begging experience and how you apply that to most everything that you do.

And I think there is so much value in that, the interactions that you have and what you see from that perspective and how you can apply that to everything you do throughout your career in the grocery space. Has there been any advice someone has given you throughout your journey that's stuck with you that you continue to use today?

I said, you know, the experience that you use and going back to your roots of bagging and cashiering, but is there any advice that somebody specific along the way has given you? Or in the alternative, anything somebody told you that you would warn others on? 

I would say some of the best advice I've been given is to, um, always be thinking about how we can reinvent ourselves to deliver those fundamental basic essentials in new and different ways that keeps people excited about food and about communities.

So I think about just the evolution of, um, of the business and how the competitive landscape has changed. And I anchor back to continuing to meet. Consumer needs. And, and, and that's really the advice that I was given early in my career. And, and I always want to help our merchants sell things. Um, so it's, it's not just about buying things.

It's about finding the products that our customers actually want. Um, and of course we can have great products and go find products for the, or go find customers for the products. Um, but if we continue to meet shopper needs, Then we'll be a step ahead of our competition and be relevant well into the future.

I like that advice. And I think that is conversations that I have regularly as we all sell food, right? But how do we do it in a way that connects with our communities and makes an impact at a different level to remain relevant? Yes. I know you said you haven't had, uh, you kind of touched on this and you said that you haven't had a reason to look outside of the industry, but what truly inspired you to continue your career in grocery if you haven't touched on it already? 

Yeah, I would say just the opportunity to grow and develop. I, Having started at a very low level in the, in the industry over 25 years ago. Um, just when I thought I was getting bored, I got to take on more responsibility. I didn't just grow up in the supermarket industry. I spent time at college and. Two years at an ad agency.

Um, but interestingly enough, I learned in my two year internship at the ad agency, which was super important and fundamental to, to my ability to grow marketing, but I think back and I got bored. It was really about people that drew me into the grocery industry. And, and I was able to learn at a very young age, how to manage a large team.

Um, and so. I think about all those benefits I got in the store environment and how those experiences have made me stronger as an executive leader. You can work at an ad agency. You can take on a lot of corporate responsibility, but I'm leading big teams and understanding how to get a large team all moving in the same direction for the benefit of, of consumers is going to be super important in any, um, sales marketing or merchandising role.

Love your perspective on that. I think that making a difference and being able to continue that and grow that is, uh, very rewarding. But what do you feel is the greatest impact that independent grocer has in any way? You talked about community, but can you dive into that a little bit further about where do you feel the greatest impact is? 

Sure. 

Community broadly, but I think about how independent grocers, especially in smaller communities, I mean, it's a great place of employment for that community. I think about my experience. I mean, I learned not only How to basically run a business growing up in the grocery industry. I also learned how to take care of people, how to, how to, you just learned some great basic life skills and anyone who's worked in retail understands that, and so grocery stores give young people the ability to, um, you know, to get gainful employment and just learn basic life skills that they may not learn elsewhere, of course.

the, you know, way in which we support nonprofits and food banks. And, and in many examples, I can think of some of our independent customers here at Spartan Nash. I mean, the store manager, the store director in smaller communities, it's, they're often As well known as town, as the town mayor, um, they are viewed as a go to resource.

Hey, I need help. Where do I go? I go to my grocery store. Um, uh, the neighborhood grocery store is just a great place where communities can gather. 

Looking at that from three year lens and the employment, I think we talk about how the impact and we watch our communities grow up and we connect with them and support them.

And when they're in the little leagues and we're, um, supporting that and all the way through their, uh, Careers and their families. Um, but then to look at it as also an employer, right? There's so many opportunities to learn and grow and, um, be a part of making that difference in the community. Yes, absolutely.

What is the biggest opportunity you feel we are facing as an industry? 

Biggest opportunity,  I think, is to keep people grounded in how valuable that family meal can be. Um, you know, we're experiencing Some loss to fast food, for example, as consumers are pressured for value. I just read something recently that, um, one in three of Gen Z feels that fast food is a cheaper option.

Then, you know, shopping for groceries and preparing meals at home. And so I think about the value and the power of a family meal and, and, um, the competitive landscape is certainly challenging that at this moment in time. 

So as we look at that, are there any trends that we should be keeping an eye on right now?



Definitely how we can help, um, how we can help busy consumers save time. Consumers are willing to pay for convenience. They're also willing to pay for some indulgence. And so how do we bring value forward with more convenient options and more affordable indulgent options as well? I think those are big trends.

You know, how can we help shoppers think about planning?  weekly meals and how can we help with portion sizing? I think there are a lot of ways in which we can help folks get more for their spend in our stores. 

I'm going to shift into you a little bit more personally. We've talked about the industry and trends and everything going on right now, but what are you most proud of personally?

And what are you most proud of professionally? 

Personally, I have I have two daughters who are, um, teenagers now are almost teenagers and you know what? I am proud of the way they, they're, they're already hardworking young ladies. And I sense that, you know, they, they get at least a little bit of that from me, but I'm super proud of the way that they're growing up.

So I have to, I can't think about of what I'm personally proud of without thinking of my, my two young girls, um, professionally. I'm just. Proud that I made it. I know that sounds very fundamental, but I started as a cashier in this business and many, many years later, um, here I am, chief Customer Officer at Spartan Nash.

And so, um, fundamentally, I don't know that there's anything I can be more proud of than just that I, as much as this is a family, um, oriented business. You know, I, I didn't have a family in the grocery business. Um, I worked for a family run grocery business. Martin's was third generation and, you know, we were actually very lucky to be acquired by Spartan Nash.

Uh, very family oriented, publicly traded, much different kind of company, but it's been an incredible journey to, uh, To just leverage my knowledge again, going back to those days, interacting directly with the consumer and getting to pretty cool place in my career. I'm also professionally very proud of, um, my teams.

I have had the. Pleasure of leading quite a few, very great teams. And I've watched people under me grow and develop and, and I've always most proud when, you know, they take my idea and make it even, even better than what I could have ever dreamt. But sometimes just asking the right questions. can get you to a whole new place if you surround yourself with great people.

I agree with, you know, building the teams and then watching them rise to success is very rewarding as a leader. And I'm kind of in that same boat with you when you see somebody on your team being able to rise above and continue to grow in their journey. I think that's so, Amazing to see I want to touch on being a mother of two daughters.

So I know a lot of times in conversations, I also have three young girls. And a lot of times people will say, how do you do it? How do you find that balance between, you know, raising children and being an executive in a large company? And make it all work. So any thoughts there on how you've gotten through that stage of your life where you have daughters and you're leading a company and, you know, commitments and demands are all over.

Yeah, you have to have a strong support system. And, you know, I'm lucky enough that my husband takes a lot of extra care with my kids when I'm not there, but I'm there as much as I can be. And. Virtual work is okay every once in a while. But even when you're virtual, you have to be present. Right. And so I find that, you know, it's the quality of the time I spend and the effort that I make as opposed to the quantity and anytime I can bring the kids.

into a grocery store after hours. And it's fun to see them get excited about the work I do. I think that's unique in our industry. I mean, through the pandemic, I was out in stores almost every day while the rest of the world was, you know, working remotely and my kids, I think.  that and had an appreciation for the fact that this is a service business.

And so, you know, when they were a bit younger, they wanted to be cashiers when they, um, grew up because that's kind of what they thought I did. They've learned a whole lot more about what I do now, but it's just been cool to watch them, um, watch me. And I think it works when you. Really invest that quality time, um, to make sure that you're there when, when they need you the most.

I love that you're getting them involved in the ways that you can to show them what the industry provides and how it has an impact in the, in, in our communities. So, and I agree too, with intentional time, right? It, you can't always be there for everything, but when you are there, it's very intentional and very purposeful so that you're getting the most out of the time together.

Yes, 

there are just some things that you can't miss, right? And so you have to know when to say when and if you have great people around you, um, not only supporting you on the personal side, building your professional network for that support. Um, when you need someone to jump in so that you can be, um, with family, that's important as well. 

Absolutely. What advice do you have for someone looking to enter the industry or for a female leader that's currently in the industry? 

Um, I would say this industry is full of opportunity and it has been, um, pretty incredible for me to watch the industry change and evolve over the last almost 30 years.

I mean, when I got started sort of in the, um, Corporate environment and grocery many years ago. I was often the only female in the room I mean, I remember being in a director role and the only female director I was also quite young in career and I didn't know any different and i'm glad I didn't  But today that is so very different.

The industry has absolutely embraced female leadership and the way in which we can leverage diversity in our teams to make an even stronger, um, value proposition, community impact. I mean, there's, there's so much more we can do. Collectively and holistically. And so it's been, it's been an awesome thing to see evolve.

So I would encourage, I would certainly encourage folks interested in the business to learn more and give us a, give us the opportunity to share with you how much fun we can have and how, how the impact, the positive impact that we create. 

The evolution of diversity among leadership and just among the industry has been fantastic to see.

And I feel like that's just going to continue forward, hopefully allowing everybody to work better together in their roles, um, whatever that makeup looks like, but with diversity.  Lastly, I'm going to ask you, have there been any female leaders in your career journey who have really stood out or inspired you?

And I'm going to ask you who and in what way did they stand out to you? Early in career, I 

didn't have hardly any female mentors. Um, and I didn't really even think About that being strange, but at my ad agency experience. Um, so I worked for a small graphic design ad agency firm that was female owned and I was super inspired.

Terry Emerson. Um, Emerson design studio. She inspired me at a very young age to, um, have confidence. She was a very confident person. She ran not only the creative direction for her agency business, but also one sales person. So she would take concepts into, um. Industries that are, we're frankly dominated by males and she had that confidence and she knew that she was the, she was the expert in the room on what she was presenting.

And I think that's what really stuck with me and my experience working for her. Don't doubt what you know, you know, but when you don't know, be confident about that as well. It's okay to say, Hey, I'm confused. I just don't know. So having confidence. In what you don't know, but also what you know is fundamental to your ability to influence others and get things done and develop both professionally and personally in the grocery industry.

You know, I've got a, I've got a peer here at Spartan Nash. I'm going to give her a shout out. Um, Nicole Also, I have Ileana McCallery and Adrian chance. on our executive leadership team here at Spartan Nash. All three of those females are super inspiring to me. And, um, it's, it's great to have some synergies in the way we think about things and the way we get things done.

Call out what you said to begin with that, you know, early on in your career, you didn't have other leaders that were female to look up to or kind of emulate their skills and kind of what they, how they presented or carried themselves. So I think it's important to know, like when you saw that and you were able to seek that out and how that inspired you to continue to grow and in what ways so that you could develop into the leader that you are today. 

Amy, I thank you so very much for sharing your time with us as a guest today. I appreciate your valuable insights and advice as well as your story. You truly are making your mark on the industry and I thank you for your leadership and the impact you are making. 

Thank you very much. This has been super fun.

Um, I appreciate the opportunity to share my story and I can't wait to meet another cashier made CMO here because I know 

it can be done. Absolutely. Thank you, Amy. On behalf of the Women Grocers of America, we thank you for listening to our podcast today and ask that you subscribe, leave a five star review, and share with a friend.

If you have a suggestion for a guest from the industry, mention them in the comments. Episodes are released every other week and they are sponsored by NGA, hosted by Kristen Popp, president of WGA, and published by Rachel Mila with SWA Marketing.