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
Caroline Catoe: Family Business Insights and Predictions
What happens when you grow up immersed in grocery technology from age 14? For Caroline Catoe, President of ECRS, it created a unique perspective on both the challenges and opportunities facing independent grocers in today's rapidly evolving technological landscape.
From her early days taking support calls as a teenager to her current leadership role, Caroline shares the wisdom gained from working alongside her father in their family business. The daily mentorship she receives as her father continues in the CEO role provides her with an exceptional leadership development experience that few executives enjoy. This father-daughter partnership mirrors the multi-generational approach that makes independent grocery so special—a world where fourth-generation family business ownership isn't unusual but celebrated.
Caroline candidly discusses the leadership challenges facing the industry today, particularly the critical need to develop the next generation of leaders as experienced veterans retire. She also addresses the realities of being a woman in a predominantly male industry and how organizations like Women Grocers of America have created valuable networks that foster both professional development and personal confidence. "Having that focused group to talk about how we can be better leaders has been super helpful to me personally," she notes.
Looking toward the future, Caroline identifies three essential technology priorities for independent retailers. Most encouragingly, she emphasizes the unique agility of independent grocers as their secret weapon in adapting to technological change. "We're not gigantic national brands... but what the benefit of that is, we can turn on a dime."
Join us for this insightful conversation that bridges technology, leadership, and the enduring power of family business in grocery. Subscribe to never miss an episode, and help others discover Grocery From Her Seat by leaving a review on your favorite listening platform.
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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 Carolyn Cato, president of ECRS. Welcome to Grocery From Her Seat, Carolyn, and thank you so very much for sharing your time with us today. Thanks for having me, Carolyn. Can you go ahead and share your background with us and also how you got involved in the grocery industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure. So my dad started a point of sale business back in 1989 called ECRS. I've been working in that business throughout my whole life, so in some ways I feel like I've been a part of the grocery industry for decades now. I started doing support calls back when I was 14, 15, and just kind of worked my way up through the company, Came on full-time in 2013, and then moved into the role of president in 2021. So we do point-of-sale technology for the grocery industry and so I spend a lot of time in grocery.
Speaker 2:So essentially your life right. So, growing up in the family business, beyond the wealth of knowledge that I'm sure you've gained from your father, is there anyone else who's been influential in helping you navigate the industry?
Speaker 3:There's been countless people you know. A lot of them are just happen to be my retailers. Richie Morgan, who's our head of the NGA Board of Directors, has been really helpful in helping me understand the nuances of grocery. Michael Kneedler of Fresh Encounter was really one of those early people who stepped in to kind of show me around, and then even just other vendors and associate members like Bob Grayville of FMS. But I've had tons of people who have just grabbed me by the elbow and introduced me to people, showed me around, told me kind of the what's what of grocery and have been helpful along the way.
Speaker 2:So I'm curious too, with you know, working alongside your father in the business, is there any like great or best advice that he's given you about running the business as you've taken over as president?
Speaker 3:Well, I get advice from him just about every day. It's hard to pick any single thing. I feel really fortunate that we still work alongside each other, so he's currently in the CEO role, so it's almost like a daily mentoring exercise and I really don't think many leaders have that level of mentorship. You know going into them that I do, so I feel really fortunate in that regard and it's nice to have somebody I can bounce ideas off of and continue to kind of learn from on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, Carolyn. As president, can you give us a peek into what that looks like within your organization on a day-to-day and maybe how your responsibility is extended on operations of the business?
Speaker 3:So day-to-day in my role it's a lot of operational management obviously. So, you know, for those not in grocery they might be able to relate a little bit more to more of that corporate environment, but a lot of it is, you know, making sure things are shipping out to our customers, making sure our customers are receiving good support and service from us, working with different teams to ensure all of our processes are flowing and everything kind of just runs smoothly. It's a little bit of everything, but what I love about the role is my job is really interesting. It's never the same thing two days in a row, always just kind of tackling new challenges and looking for ways to grow the business each day. So it's a lot of firefighting at times, but also really neat to watch the business move forward in big ways over time.
Speaker 2:So I think we can. A lot of us in this space can relate to. Every day is a little bit different and things are coming at you from all different directions at all different times. But as we look at leadership dynamics within a tech organization right, so you know from the retailer side and then the vendor side but then when we look at your role in a tech organization, do you feel that there's any specific challenges within your space from a leadership perspective?
Speaker 3:Leadership challenges. I mean right now we're in a major generational shift in the workforce. So trying to find that younger round of leaders to come in and mentor them and get them to a position where they can be effective in our business, I would say, is a big challenge right now. I think maybe over the last decade or so it's been easy because we've had a workforce full of mature, experienced leaders, so we've been able to kind of grab from that as we need it, as that older generation is starting to actually retire. I think us and probably everybody across all business industries have struggled with how do we get that next group brought up in a way that we can keep running the business each day but know that we're building future talent to run the business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I think that we all face that challenge in building the bench right. And what is the next round of leadership? Diving into leadership a little bit further, carolyn, is there anything that you feel females specifically face, challenges that they face within the leadership role that they may be taking on?
Speaker 3:You know right now I would say it's still. You look around the room that you're in and it's still going to be very heavily skewed male. You know we go to these shows and nine out of 10 people were with our men. So understanding the way that men work together, I think, has been important for me over the years. And you know finding how to how to work across that group and then, over time, more, more women have obviously joined that leadership circle and but there still is this very heavily skewed demographic towards men when it comes to working in groceries. Figuring out how to communicate well, effectively with men and meet them where they're at, enjoy some of the hobbies they enjoy, has been helpful for me in terms of just creating closer relationships in the industry.
Speaker 2:So being a Women Grocers of America podcast. What role do you feel that organizations like WGA play in helping overcome some of the challenges or building that community and level of confidence in helping overcome some of the challenges or building that community and level of confidence for females that are in the room?
Speaker 3:I think this podcast has just brought a lot more transparency and I don't know FaceTime for women in grocery to the main stage. I feel like it's getting recognized now at NGA show and the board meetings and I hear people come up and mention it. So I think just hearing those other voices realizing that that is a piece of our leadership demographic in our industry is important. And then I also think women are learning from each other. I know my involvement with WGA has been really helpful to me over the last two years. I really never had a group of female business executives that I spent time with, and so having that really focused group to talk about how we can be better leaders, how we can develop and how we can educate ourselves, I think it's been super helpful to me personally.
Speaker 2:When you walk into rooms or you walk into events or shows or conferences and see that network, there's a level of comfort.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Yeah, I had failed to even mention that but that was probably the very first benefit that I got out of WGA was just having a group of women that when I showed up I immediately saw friendly faces that were smiling, waving at me to come over, and it kind of brought me out of my shell. You know, it's easy to go to these big events and just spend time with the people that you know, especially your work colleagues, and not get the full benefit of meeting others, learning about their experiences and growing. You know, I can't encourage other women to join enough just for that reason, so that when you go to the big show or to any of the other events you've got women that ask for you to come over and kind of immediately just make you feel at home. So that's been a great benefit.
Speaker 2:Definitely. You know the purpose and the role of WGA is not men versus women by any means, but in a historically male-dominated industry, you know, building the community and the network for females that has just inherently been there for the males of the industry so that we can support each other in the unique needs, just like males have unique needs that they need to be supported in. Yeah, I absolutely agree.
Speaker 3:I think you know women have not been in business for that long we're talking half a century of even having leadership roles in business. So you know we're still in some ways playing catch up in terms of establishing our networks and how we can best function in the business world, and so I think WGA has been a great way to foster that and make it a more equitable place for everybody.
Speaker 2:What are some of the key milestones or achievements throughout your career that you're most proud of?
Speaker 3:Well, kristen, I told you ahead of this that I do not like talking about myself, so I'm going to muscle my way through. So I would say one of the things I was really proud of initially, when I first joined ECRS full-time, was launching our Ignite conference that we do annually. So that's the conference where all of our retailers come together and we do three days of learning and education, networking. It's kind of a mini NGA show for catapult retailers Got that going.
Speaker 3:We started out with 70 people our first year and then we've been growing it and growing it now on our 11th year this year, and this year I think we're going to actually sell out that conference. It's in Minneapolis. We have 300 spaces reserved for retailers. Thinking that was more than enough and I actually think we're going to sell out. It's kind of cool watching something that was just this, you know, kind of side project to our bigger business really become this very important thing that we do each year. That really drives our business forward. So much great ideas, energy, momentum coming out of that conference and it truly drives our strategy and our direction as a company.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. Congratulations on that.
Speaker 3:In February this year.
Speaker 3:I was nominated back in the fall of last year and then February this year officially brought into back in the fall of last year and then February this year officially brought into the NGA Board of Directors, and I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 3:It's just I started in the NGA Foundation Board helping with some of the programming around the foundation, like the UGA and Executive Leadership Development Program and some of the. I actually got started because of the SEMTAC all of the technology and enablement that NGA Foundation helps with and then this past year was nominated to the board and I'm just I'm excited about that too. It feels like a really important milestone for participation in the industry and I really want to do something important while I'm there. I hope I can help shape technology space for grocery. It's becoming increasingly hard to compete as an independent and I feel like technology is really a great way and a great path forward for independents to remain super competitive. So I hope during my time on the board I can do something that helps retailers and helps the independent space stay strong in the coming years.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. The NGA does such fantastic work, and so I'm sure you'll make a significant impact in your role on that board and helping continue to carry everything forward. We talked about leadership and your role as a leader within your organization, but do you have any female leaders who have inspired you along your journey and, if so, in what way have they given you that inspiration From?
Speaker 3:the industry. I have to call out Stephanie Reed from the Shelby Report. She was probably the very first person ever within the industry that was not somebody in my workplace to take time to get to know me and to kind of start introducing me to people. Can't thank her enough. And then she's just an awesome leader. You look at the way she leads Shelby Report, the way she communicates and is a part of the industry and it's always with a lot of compassion.
Speaker 3:It Jordan was the founder of New Belgium Brewery. They make the pretty famous fat tire beer. You can find that on most shelves across the United States. Definitely had a heyday.
Speaker 3:In the early 2000s Kim started her brewery in her basement with her husband. You know she had a couple hundred dollars to her name and they really bootstrapped it and got it off the ground in Fort Collins, colorado and then over the course of 10, 15 years maybe even 20, she took that little basement brewery and turned it into a nationally recognized brewery and beer brand. Eventually she converted her organization into an ESOP. She just had this really cool, you know cultural belief about the way that employees should contribute to an organization and she really wanted all of her employees to act like owners and so to do that, she moved the organization over to an ESOP. She was one of those really early kind of culture trendsetters. You know, before Google did all their cool stuff, new Belgium was doing stuff like sending people to Belgium on their 10-year anniversary for a beer, sabbatical, and just cool things like that. So I had a chance to meet her a couple of years ago at an Inc conference, inc the magazine, and that was just a really neat moment for me.
Speaker 2:I'm not familiar with Kim, but I think I'll do a little research on her. Her story sounds absolutely fascinating, watching her journey and how she grew that business Two great leaders that you mentioned in that. What inspires you and who has inspired you along your journey? So, as we talk about leadership and inspiration, do you have any advice you would give someone aspiring to join the industry or continuing to advance their career in grocery? Just?
Speaker 3:get involved. If you're just now starting in the industry, I think looking around and seeing the different ways, there's tons of different associations that support grocery. There's state level, there's obviously NGA and then within those orgs there's probably with NGA, a lot of subset areas that you can get involved in. So I would just start early with getting involved in stuff and, you know, don't be afraid to ask questions and there's a lot of on the female side. We obviously have a really strong network. You know, reach out and ask anybody for help. We're all here to help bring you along. We want the grocery industry, the independent grocery industry, to thrive and live on and the only way it does that is if we bring new leadership and new energy into that, into the space. So we're definitely here to help.
Speaker 2:A couple of things that you said there. The state associations and NGA. Obviously at a national level has such a significant impact in supporting and continuing to help advance the independent industry. But there's several and many state associations throughout the country that are also very active and very involved. If you're not involved in your state association, definitely dive into that and see where there's opportunities there. I think that's a great call out and then asking questions. I'm a big one for asking questions and learning and grabbing all that knowledge that I can, and there's such a wealth of information from individuals within the industry who are so willing to share and help. So, yes, don't be afraid to ask the questions. There's a lot of us that are and a lot of individuals around that are willing to share that information and happy to do so, and really great conversations that come from that, Absolutely. So let's talk about the future. What trends do you feel we need to be keeping an eye on right now that might shape our future?
Speaker 3:So you know, being in tech, I'm all about where technology is headed. There's a lot going on right now and I know it's probably overwhelming for people who don't feel very tech oriented, but I do think it's important. I think we're at a very pivotal time right now in terms of where the speed of technology development and I really want independents to consider technology and their strategy and make sure that they're not just an afterthought, not thinking of it as the devil I have to deal with, but really think of it as something that could change the way that you compete and the way that your business exists long term. Some of the trends that I think are going to be important obviously we've got AI, and everybody's always talking about how are humans going to get replaced by AI and kind of really going out there. Yeah, maybe there's a time and a place for that, but today I think there's really practical technology. People should be looking into my top three right now that I would recommend to any retailer is going to be what is your ordering looking like? Are you using any sort of computer assisted ordering? I think at this point, computer assisted ordering has had a multi-decade track record of helping businesses and it's now getting some of that AI juice in it, where you can actually include things like you know, upcoming weather patterns as a part of your computer-assisted ordering strategy. You know, just be considering how you're doing ordering. If you are still doing pen and paper and sending people out to see what's low on shelf. There's a better way and it's going to save time. It's going to save money. It's going to give you a more accurate inventory on your shelves.
Speaker 3:The second thing I would be looking at is just practical vision technology. So one thing that I think is a really practical piece of technology you can implement on the vision side is produce recognition. In terms of accuracy we're seeing so, produce recognition being the technology that looks at the produce that you set down on a scale at the point of sale or self-checkout and identifies what that piece of produce is. It's becoming a lot more accessible at this point. It used to be a very expensive, clunky, difficult thing to implement and I think that's changing pretty rapidly right now. It's it really ups accuracy with your customers, who have absolutely no idea what any PLUs are. Period. They're going to speed up their transaction and they're most likely going to select a more accurate option than what they would potentially if they have to go through a menu and try to find exactly which type of apple they got. And then on the cashier side, with this younger generation of cashiers you don't necessarily have that institutional PLU knowledge that was in every cashier you previously hired, just kind of again speeding up their transactions and their accuracy. I think it's a really neat and practical use of AI.
Speaker 3:And then the third piece of that technology that I think people need to be thinking about is just this really isn't technology, this is just a fundamental right now is your data and making sure that you have clean, accurate data.
Speaker 3:Kind of taking a look at where you have systems of data in your business and how those systems play together. What we're finding as more of this great AI technology is coming out. When people don't have a straightforward data strategy, then it's very hard to implement this really neat and competitive technology because it thrives off of good data. So just taking a look at where you're at data-wise, how many systems are playing together, how many sources of truth you have for data, how presentable that data is to the outside world, your customers, I think that's a really fundamental piece of technology right now. That people it's an easy thing to say hey, next quarter we'll have a project to really get our databases cleaned up. But before long there'll be a time and a place where you're ready and you need to implement things, and that is a fundamental piece to implementing the stuff of the future.
Speaker 2:I think that's great advice I think data can become so overwhelming and you can get lost in it and to be able to take a step back and make sure that you have relevant and intentional maybe data that is actually productive for the business. I think it can be overwhelming. I think there's so much out there and there's so much opportunity, but making sure you have the right data and information for what you're looking to achieve and aligns with your strategy. So I think that's a great call out and don't be afraid to leverage.
Speaker 3:You know the pros out there. I think a lot of retailers. Like I said earlier, sometimes technology is a bit of an afterthought because you've got a lot of stuff going on in your stores. So you know, talk to your technology providers and ask for their help with best practices and you know ways to move your business forward from a technology standpoint. That's what they're there for and I think retailers would benefit from leveraging their providers a bit more.
Speaker 2:Talking about trends and what we should be keeping an eye on right now, but is there anything that excites you the most about the future of the industry?
Speaker 3:The rate and speed of technology change right now is faster than anything any of us have really seen in our lifetime, other than maybe those of us who are around during the move to personal computers. This is kind of that next iteration of that and I really think we're going to see some huge leaps over the next decade and in some ways I think that's really exciting because what is special about the independent space is the agility. We're not gigantic national brands, we're smaller format. We've got smaller headcount, smaller departments, but what the benefit of that is, we can turn on a dime Over the next decade. It's going to be really interesting and exciting to see who takes advantage of that agility and is able to really position themselves in a unique way for the long term.
Speaker 2:I think, as an independent, the ability to pivot quickly and make those sometimes rapid decisions to go in a different direction or look at something from a different angle is absolutely one of the strengths and continues to help carry us forward in everything that we do. So, as we look to wrap up today, I have two additional questions. First, you know we talk about a family business, working alongside your dad and all of the opportunities that that provides, and you know his mentorship. But is there any memorable or funny moments that you share working with your dad that you will always remember? Memorable or funny moment?
Speaker 3:Well, my dad is a bit of a jokester to surprise people in our company Once or twice a year. We'll get these emails at like four o'clock in the afternoon and he'll just shut the whole company down and say, hey, we're going to go over to this brewery, meet us there. It's my company, I get to do what I want and everybody loves that. We bring a lot of fun into the organization. He's really good about kind of. He's a very serious person, you know, on a day-to-day level, but he's also really good about remembering that you know, if we're going to run businesses, if we're going to own businesses, we might as well have fun while we're doing it. I really appreciate that about him and I appreciate that he loves to do it out of left field. It's never the day you think he's going to do something like that, but yeah, we've had a lot of moments like that over the years.
Speaker 2:And I'm going to throw you one little last curveball. If you were writing a book or creating a podcast about the industry today, what would the title be?
Speaker 3:What I think I would do is a podcast on family business. I really don't think I'm in a point in my career where I could write a book with expertise on anything. I'm still learning every day. So I would definitely opt for the podcast route because I'd love to bring other family business members on and just learn about how they're navigating. You know, working side by side across generations and bringing on different family members, maybe outside of just that parent-child relationship, learning how they're contemplating succession and kind of long-term business strategy. So I think that'd be really neat.
Speaker 3:And when you look at our industry, it's just fascinating to me how many multi-generation businesses there are. It's I mean, it's so I don't even raise my eyebrows when I meet somebody and they say, hey, I'm a fourth generation family business owner. In our industry that's a normal thing, but it's really special and unique. You look across the business landscape and the stats on business viability one generation to the next are so low. So when you meet these grocers who have managed to not only keep their business alive but in some cases even grow and expand it over multiple generations, there's some special information there that I would like to learn. I've got little kids so I'm already thinking about what it's going to look like when they're in their 20s and 30s.
Speaker 2:I think we should absolutely get you set up with that podcast, because I think the heart of the independent is that family-led, multi-generational format. Let's get that going your to-dos right. 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 continue watching you make a difference in all you do, kristen and to our listeners. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. We hope you enjoyed the discussion as much as we did. If you found value, be sure to subscribe to never miss an episode and leave a review on your favorite listening platform to help others discover Grocery From Her Seat. Until next time, keep making a difference in all you do.
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.
