Grocery From Her Seat, Insights for Independent Grocers
Grocery From Her Seat
Welcome to "Grocery From Her Seat," the WGA podcast offering a unique perspective on the independent grocery industry, as seen through the eyes of remarkable women who shape and lead.
Your host, Kristin Popp, President of WGA, will bring to light the inspiring stories, triumphs, and challenges of the women serving the industry of independent grocery.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a young person considering the profession, a woman making your mark in the grocery industry, an industry vendor or simply intrigued by the stories of powerful women, "Grocery From Her Seat" will be a source of education and inspiration for you
Grocery From Her Seat, Insights for Independent Grocers
Stephanie Becker: On the Go, from DC Fly-ins to Mission Trips
What happens when you combine legal expertise with a passion for understanding the grocery business from every angle? Stephanie Becker, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Associated Wholesale Grocers Incorporated (AWG), reveals how her journey from real estate law to grocery leadership unfolded through curiosity and persistence.
"I just started asking questions and kept walking into meetings," Stephanie shares, explaining how she evolved from handling real estate transactions to becoming AWG's General Counsel in 2018. Her candid conversation with host Kristen Popp explores how AWG leverages its $12 billion balance sheet to secure favorable lease terms for independent retailers, creating a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Beyond the boardroom, Stephanie passionately advocates for independent grocers through congressional fly-ins, where she helps lawmakers understand how policies directly affect grocery operations and ultimately impact consumers at checkout. From the Credit Card Competition Act to SNAP program changes, these advocacy efforts illuminate how Washington decisions ripple through neighborhood stores. Stephanie's perspective is further enriched by her experiences on mission trips to Nicaragua, Honduras, and India, where she witnessed communities thriving despite limited resources.
For those aspiring to grow in the grocery industry, Stephanie offers refreshingly simple advice: find several mentors, ask questions, and then ask more questions. Because in an industry where "everyone needs to eat," the opportunities for impact are limitless. Subscribe to Grocery From Your Seat to continue exploring the remarkable stories of women shaping the independent grocery industry.
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Host: Kristin Popp
Producer: Rachael Melot
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.
Speaker 2:I am your host, kristen Popp, and today I have the opportunity to chat with Stephanie Becker, chief Legal Officer, general Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Associated Grocers Incorporated, AWG. Welcome to Grocery From your Seat, stephanie, and thank you so very much for sharing your time with us today. So, stephanie, I know I touched and stated your title, but sounds like a pretty big role within AWG, so can you share with us a little more in detail what that all entails and kind of what your day-to-day looks like?
Speaker 3:So my day-to-day nothing is normal about it. It ranges everything from the standard of I'm working on board meeting minutes to dealing with an investigation that might have come up into something dealing with a product. It might be litigation, it might be something related to tariffs an interesting topic these days. So a good day is a day that I get to either talk directly with a member of the board or a member of AWG.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a big range of things, and I'm sure in most days you never know what might be thrown at you.
Speaker 3:I joke that there was one day early on he had a new attorney start and on that day on his desk he had a waiver for a hot dog eating contest and a multi-million dollar acquisition that he was working on. So totally run the gamut in terms of what it might be.
Speaker 2:One aspect to the complete other. So let's talk a little bit more about your path into the independent grocery industry, because, as you didn't necessarily come into grocery for groceries, so is that correct?
Speaker 3:That is correct Now. I did have a summer job at Bob's IGA, so I have, as a member of the legal team, I have a law license. I graduated from law school and my background is in real estate law. I have a master's degree in real estate law and worked for a little bit of time in the Czech Republic, which was fun and exciting, and then got the opportunity to come to AWG as a real estate lawyer.
Speaker 3:So I spent the first number of years doing anything related to the real estate that we own or lease, and so we have a number of projects where we will work on helping retailers as they want to develop new sites and if it's possible, then AWG goes in through its subsidiary. Supermarket developers will acquire, will build, will end up with a great location for a retailer and then lease that to the retailer. We stay in the middle as the sort of the credit tenant in the middle is usually. Awg's balance sheet is a $12 billion company, is a little bit better than most independent retailers, so we can get the best pricing on rent. So is my, my standard world. I started at AWG in 2005, so it'll be 20 years in June and then in 2008, the real estate bubble burst, so that made for an interesting time, and then, as I like to put it, I just started asking questions and kept walking into meetings and I think people were afraid to tell me to leave the room. So I learned an awful lot along the way, and 2018 became general counsel.
Speaker 2:When you mentioned you just started asking questions. I think that's how we learn right. I think that's how a lot of us have learned and navigated our path to where we are today, and you can learn so much from asking questions to different people, and so many people are willing to share the knowledge that they have and the information that they can give you to continue to grow your career. As you settled into grocery, what are some of the highlights or things that have had the biggest impact on you?
Speaker 3:Fun things that I've gotten to do have been related with NGA. I really enjoy getting to go to DC to be part of the fly-in, to get to meet the legislators, to get to meet our retailers who are at these events, to get to meet other members of the grocery industry and to be able to really interact, learn more about the grocery world. I've learned more about how the actual retail grocery world works by being at a fly-in, having time to sit down at a meeting and chat with a retailer and what's their world like, how does their specific area that they work in, whether it be geography or their part of the business and learning that aspect of how what I do from the legal world can help and impact how the independent grocer is able to actually provide for their communities and to run their business.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about the impact of the meetings with lawmakers. I also have the opportunity to attend the fly-ins and the congressional meetings, and they are very impactful. Beyond learning what you've been able to take from interacting with the different participants of the fly-in itself, why do you feel that it's important, or how important is it, to participate in activities like that or some of those meetings and opportunities to share our story? Where do you feel that impact lies?
Speaker 3:I think that impact is so important for lawmakers who spend so much time in DC and so much time working on any number of disparate issues that they don't always have the time to hear from the people at home. They don't always get to hear from the person who is down the street in their congressional district who is trying to feed their own families and trying to feed the families of their community. I think there's an awful lot that's lost in terms of how the independent grocer actually works and how, as this independent world, we're able to really get involved within our communities to understand the issues that are within our communities. And I know many people I talk to say, oh, I don't know what I would say and I don't know what I would. You know the issues enough.
Speaker 3:Nga does a great job of dealing with making sure you're aware of the issues, but even on that, it's going in and sitting down and telling someone who is literally from your area because you're in their congressional district that, telling them what it's like back at home and they treasure that so much. And sometimes you talk with the lawmaker themselves, sometimes you talk with their staff. Their staff are the ones that they are listening to, so it's never a bad thing to have the conversations with their staff and to be able to really explain how what is happening in Washington DC is impacting the world at home.
Speaker 2:And I just want to reiterate what you said because I think there is I don't want to lose capturing that because I think the ability to sit in with a lawmaker who is looking at these policies and trying to make decisions on what is a good policy to pass and vote on how it directly impacts you doing business, but not only that how it then translates to the consumer at the checkout lane and how it directly impacts so I'm telling that story is so impactful. When you say maybe I'm not the most well-versed, I'm not going to lie. The first time I went in it was extremely intimidating. It's not necessarily they don't want to sit and talk policy with you. They want to hear from you. How does it affect your day-to-day? How is it affecting the consumer when they come through the checklist? What conversations are being had and why is that a challenge for you and for?
Speaker 3:them. There's any number of things we're dealing with right now that are very specific, that you know. When you look at words on paper it might make sense and then when you hear about how it actually gets implemented in the grocery store in the community, then it takes on a whole different meaning and a whole different aspect of how. That really does relate to the quote real world.
Speaker 2:Well, and just a story that I remember that was very impactful for me, when we were sitting in one of the lawmakers' offices from Wisconsin and we started talking about one of the particular bills that was up for vote and explaining how that would impact us. He actually pulled out the law itself and read through it because he didn't understand it that way and it's like, well, that's how it reads, but when you actually put that into play, this is what's going to result from that, and so it was a really productive conversation. So, as a result of those meetings, what is one of the initiatives you hope will have a big impact on the industry?
Speaker 3:Snap is a huge impact and a huge issue right now, on Snap Choice I also. Credit Card Competition Act is one of those. It's a really short act, talking to retailers and hearing specifically about their stories in that they get charged different amounts based on the different type of credit card that people have. They don't know how much they're going to get charged until they get the bill at least a month later. They're not always written in a way that makes any sense whatsoever. They're not always written in a way that makes any sense whatsoever.
Speaker 3:And even if they did make sense, it's not as though the retailer is going to have the option to be able to put up a sign at the check stand and say, ok, I'm going to take Visa cards, but I'm only going to take ones that have this type of a system, or I'm only going to take, you know, discover cards because it only has this or that.
Speaker 3:It really is trying to come together and Visa and MasterCard really are the two that we deal with in terms of looking at competition in the marketplace, but just being able for the retailer to be able to address something that is such a major, major, major expense within the store and making certain that if it's understood how that impacts their ability to set prices, their ability to provide jobs, their ability to support the communities. I think that's one of the most impactful ones, because if you're spending that much money on fees, then you may not have money for the new cases that you need to have, or the new promotion that you want to have, or upgrading something else within the store, hiring that extra person, all of those things that sort of go from how much money is spent in one aspect versus others others.
Speaker 2:So, stephanie kind of shifting conversation here a little bit as we prepared for the conversation you shared something that's not on your resume, that you are proud of, which actually led then to another significant part of your life. Can you share what that is?
Speaker 3:Well, I have been on a number of mission trips, so I've been to Honduras, nicaragua, india, and I like to tell people that I met my husband on a trip to Nicaragua. Now we're both from Kansas City. We attended the same church. He sat upstairs, I sat downstairs, and he would always sneak out after service was over, and so he decided one time that he wanted to get to know more people, and so he's going to do it in a small, small method, and he loves to travel, I love to travel, so we ended up on this mission trip to Nicaragua together. I think I went to Nicaragua eight times and ended up in Honduras once and India once. I say I practice law in the real world and I pretend to be a pharmacist at times in Nicaragua.
Speaker 2:One of the biggest takeaways that you took from participating in trips like that.
Speaker 3:How happy people are and how happy they are to share their lives with you.
Speaker 3:One of the things that I took upon myself when we did these trips is to make certain that the doctors and the nurses anybody that we had that was working in the clinic with us stopped during the middle of the day, took lunch and then actually was able to walk around the community and usually with an interpreter from our group just have even a small conversation with someone.
Speaker 3:They're like no, no, we have this huge long line of people that we need to see. I said, yes, you do, but you also need to see the community and kids who are out playing together and seeing the women supporting each other, seeing how hard everyone is working to provide for their families and to be happy in what we would look at and say, oh my goodness, how is that possible? And they loved life and it was awesome. Now, the mud one time was a little bit more than I was really excited about, but it was just seeing people being so happy in a setting that was so truly foreign, so unknown to me, and to be able to experience that and to be part of their lives was really amazing.
Speaker 2:The opportunity to experience a different culture and see a different perspective. I've not had the opportunity to do that in the capacity that you have, but I can only imagine the impact that that's left on you lifelong and just an awesome opportunity to partake in something of that nature. So I want to shift again a little bit and talk about your involvement with Women Grocers of America Kind of a two-part question. So what is your experience with the organization, ben? But also what role do you feel organizations like this play in the industry?
Speaker 3:I think I probably knew about women grocers for a long time, but then your involvement and making certain that really was becoming this vibrant community of women coming together really made it just so fantastic and exciting. I went to an EXFL Executive Leaders Female Leaders Group and I tell you, walking into that room of 30 or 40 women in the industry who were so passionate about grocery, who knew it from multiple different angles, and being able to hear that other women were dealing with some of the same issues in terms of how do you deal with the fact I have an eight-year-old, how do you deal with the fact that you've got a meeting at eight and he's just refusing to leave for school, and it's like, oh, been there, done that, and any of the other number of things in between. So having that come together has just been so amazing. Having this forum, this outlet for women to be able to form friendships across the industry. Able to form friendships across the industry.
Speaker 3:So whether it's with a vendor or whether it's with a competitor, whether it's with another retailer, whether it's one that AWG services or a different one, those have been just so fulfilling and seeing the way that the industry is doing more and really giving that opportunity. It's so easy to just put our heads down and work and not always step up and say, okay, I want to learn more, or even say, oh wait, I'd like to sit down and learn more about what this other woman is doing in her business. And I now find that if I go to the NGA show or if I go to our own AWG shows, I see women there that I've seen in different places, and it's just this nice, fantastic community that is available and has managed to put itself together. I think when we have the opportunity for women to support women, that it just adds another layer to give us the ability to know that the people that we're talking to are dealing with a lot of the same issues.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think I want to highlight something that you said and you talk about having an eight-year-old that's maybe not as willing to participate in activities that need to be done in the mornings, but I think everything ties into our professional role as well. So the ability to support and provide connections that can help support in some of those areas ties back into how well we show up for work, because if we can learn how to better manage some of those outside influences, we can be our best selves when we arrive to our professional careers as well.
Speaker 3:I think that there's an awful lot of pressure that we put on ourselves trying to deal with any number of things and trying to navigate. That world is not an easy, easy world. I think that's really a little scary and a little hard to navigate at times.
Speaker 2:Are there any females who have inspired you throughout your career journey, and in what way have they given that inspiration?
Speaker 3:The former general counsel here at AWG was a woman by the name of Chi Chi Poole. She was fantastic in all of the things that she was able to accomplish and to take care of, and I also take some amazing knowledge and skill from some women that I've worked with that I mentored, who were in a high school program, and their tenacity, their ability to figure things out, their desire to learn was fantastic and has been fantastic for me to be able to take that and say I can help by helping them learn things. But I can also learn so much in terms of curiosity and wanting to know more and peeling back layers and trying to figure things out behind the scenes.
Speaker 2:I absolutely love that there's so much value from both sides of it, not necessarily always the mentor giving the mentee insights and information. Yes, that happens, but it also goes the other way too. I love that you highlight that, because I've seen value in that as well.
Speaker 3:It's pretty amazing, when we can, what we're learning from others, and that it doesn't have to be a formal relationship and it doesn't have to be lunch every Tuesday and it doesn't have to be that we're doing this, that or the other together, but we can really just all learn at the same time and take from that experience.
Speaker 2:So, as we look at the industry, what trends do you see shaping the future?
Speaker 3:I see that resilience is one of the things that we are going to need to focus on the most and one of the things that I am doing some reviews with some members of my team right now, and managing ambiguity is one of the phrases that we deal with.
Speaker 3:I think there's an awful lot of ambiguity right now. I think we're trying to learn where things are going to go, whether it be from how we're going to be dealing with traceability on FSMA 204, how we're going to be dealing with SNAP and SNAP Choice, and how we're going to be dealing with the economy and any of the changes that are happening in the economy. I think being resilient, being willing to take an opportunity and run with it and, at the same time, if you get partway through and you look back and you're like, and, at the same time, if you get partway through and you look back and you're like, well, I'm not going in the right direction, to be able to shift and know that it's okay to shift, that you don't have to finish something through if it's not going to achieve your goal, but to shift and say, okay, that's not getting me where I want to go, so let me find the detour and get back on track that way.
Speaker 2:And what excites you the most about our future?
Speaker 3:Oh. I think the independent grocer is fantastic. I think that there is nothing more exciting about the fact that Main Street is still being able to be shaped by the local grocer, that the companies that are out there that are providing groceries to our communities, that they're able to pull together and to be able to say okay, I'm seeing that this change is happening. How do I adapt to that change? Over the last 20 years, I've learned that there's nothing that the independent grocer can't do if they set their mind to it.
Speaker 2:I think that NGA tagline the heart of the community. I always come back to that because it truly is truly are the heart of the community in so many aspects. Stephanie, what advice do you have for someone aspiring to join or advance their career in the industry?
Speaker 3:Find someone to talk to and it doesn't have to be a single person. Find three or four people, go sit down with them, ask lots of questions and then come back and ask more questions. It's not as easy these days to just walk into the meetings and sit down and learn. But find something that's going on, ask questions and be surprised that the person that you might learn things from could be the secretary, that the person that you might learn things from could be the secretary could be the CEO could be the cashier.
Speaker 2:It's a fantastic, amazing industry with so many different ways. Great advice to ask questions and then ask more questions. So, stephanie, as we look to wrap up this great discussion today, I'm going to throw you a little curveball. If you were writing a book or creating a podcast about the industry today, what would the title be?
Speaker 3:So it could go anything from wow to excellent. Everyone needs to eat and so, as I think through them, I think that is the we can help make certain that America is fed. That that's the great thing about grocery is that we have a product that everyone needs, everyone needs, and the independent grocer has the ability to be nimble to figure out how to provide that to their individual constituents, their individual shoppers.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. I can't wait to dive in when you release that book. Stephanie, I thank you so very much for sharing your time and your thoughts with us today. I appreciate you, your story and your contribution to the industry. Thank you for your valuable insights and I look forward to watching you continue to make a difference in all you do.
Speaker 3:Kristen, thank you for everything that you do. I have so enjoyed WGA, and your leadership has made it a fantastic and amazing place for women to come together. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you and to our guests. Thank you so very much for tuning in to today's episode. We hope you enjoyed the discussion as much as we did. If you found value, be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. Leave a review on your favorite listening platform to help others discover Grocery From your Seat and let us know how we are doing Until next time, keep making a difference in all you do, Thank you.
Speaker 1: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 Milo with SWA Marketing.
