Liz Dee, co-president of American sweet firm Smarties along with her sister Jessica Dee Sawyer and cousin Sarah Dee, did not at all times know she wished to hitch the family business, which was based by her grandfather Edward Dee in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1949.
Nevertheless, Dee continued “responding to the decision,” engaged on copy for Smarties’ first website when she was in center college and serving to launch and keep its social media accounts in school and graduate college. She took on her present management function in 2008.
Smarties, which simply celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary, continues to be primarily based in New Jersey, the place Edward Dee immigrated together with his household from England the identical yr he began the corporate. Since its founding, and even over the course of Dee’s personal tenure as co-president, the marketing panorama has modified considerably.
“It’s an uphill battle to keep up relevance and shelf house,” Dee says. “Even when folks love your product and love your model, [you have] perhaps just a few facings on the shelf when a few of the different corporations on the market have, say, 25% of shelf house, and that is a restricted useful resource.”
Halloween is approaching, and Smarties attributes greater than 25% of its annual gross sales to the vacation. This yr, Smarties noticed the earliest demand for Halloween ever in Dee’s time with the corporate, with requests to ship for the vacation starting in June.
Smarties rolls out ingenious giveaway campaigns, together with one for Halloween: Sweet Switch, which permits folks with meals allergy symptoms or sensitivities to swap sweet that is unsafe for them for Smarties.
“You do not really have to ship your sweet again to us,” Dee explains. “Somebody can simply add a photograph of that to us, and we’ll go forward and ship them the Smarties. It is a good approach for us to each spotlight the truth that we’re high allergen-free [and] be there for people who find themselves going to be receiving quite a lot of sweet however could really feel a bit bit ignored.”
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Smarties
Throughout her time as Smarties’ co-president, Dee has led with an vital purpose: the corporate’s dedication to remaining family-owned whereas sustaining its relevance and authenticity within the crowded sweet house.
Associated: The Best Leadership Advice Isn’t Fancy. But It Will Get You the Greatest ROI.
Dee shares with Entrepreneur the management classes that assist Smarties meet these aims — together with the piece of recommendation she selected to disregard.
“No job is just too small.”
Fittingly, Dee’s grandfather, Edward Dee, who was simply inducted into the Sweet Corridor of Fame final weekend, gave her some management recommendation that is served her effectively throughout her time at Smarties.
“My grandfather attributed this quote to Thomas Edison, however he would say, ‘Alternative is missed by most individuals as a result of it is wearing overalls and appears like work,'” Dee says. “And that basically speaks to the way in which we handle, which is, no job is just too small.”
Associated: Passion, Grit, Resilience: The Formula for Success
At Smarties, Dee strives to guide with a sure “scrappiness” and “grit.” The manufacturing unit ground is simply on the opposite aspect of her workplace wall, and he or she’s no stranger to rolling up her sleeves for an up-close have a look at the manufacturing course of, she says.
“I’m able to be there supporting team members and likewise seeing what’s occurring the place the sweet is being made,” Dee explains. “If folks climb additional and additional up ladders, they could simply get additional and additional distance from the manufacturing of the merchandise that permit them to even have the lights on of their places of work.”
“You carry folks up with you.”
On the subject of ladders, Dee mentions one other management tip she strongly believes in: You do not climb a ladder and produce it up with you.
“You carry folks up with you,” Dee says. “[I’ve always] believed it is crucial to proceed to help, empower and lift up team members, and we search for alternatives to try this the place we will. It positively speaks to a way of the connection and gratitude that I really feel for a way I am right here and why I am right here — as a result of we’re supporting each other, working collectively to attain shared, company-wide targets.”
Associated: How ‘Elevator’ Leaders Lift Everyone to Higher Achievement
“We’re not going to cover who we’re.”
Moreover, early on in Dee’s profession, when she transitioned to leadership within the sweet business, she acquired a “unhealthy” piece of management recommendation she disagreed with — and opted to not take.
The suggestion got here from a 60-something man, Dee remembers, who informed her that she and her co-presidents ought to disguise the truth that Smarties is a women-run business. He did not suppose it could be good for the corporate — a perception that spoke extra to his perspective than any actual shopper evaluation on the topic, Dee says.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Smarties. Sarah Dee, left; Jessica Dee Sawyer, middle; and Liz Dee, proper.
“We’re not going to cover who we’re, regardless,” Dee says. “It is actually vital, notably as girls in management, to inform our tales [and] not be ashamed or afraid to be authentically ourselves. We’re a women-run enterprise. We’re a majority women-owned enterprise. And we now have a triumvirate management, which is an uncommon management construction, nevertheless it works for us.”
“Folks love Smarties.”
Now, as Dee seems to Smarties’ subsequent 75 years and past, she’s excited to push ahead its legacy, one rooted in a household historical past that is already laid the muse for a profitable future.
“Folks love Smarties,” Dee says. “[They] inform me about it. It brings them pleasure, they usually share that pleasure, and I would like for that to proceed. I do know we will proceed it by strolling our path, sustaining our household legacy and doing what we do, which is preserving our folks first [and] ensuring that we proceed to supply the identical constant, high-quality merchandise that individuals know and love us for.”
